Rutgers University has been providing students of all ages with a good education for almost 250 years! Founded in 1766 as “Queen’s College” in what was then the Province of New Jersey, this esteemed institution currently offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of fields, including health sciences, law, business, and liberal arts. However, the university knows that education isn’t just limited to four or six years during a person’s life, so they established the Division of Continuing Studies (DoCS) to support a wide range of learning goals for people in the New Jersey area. Whether you’re a high school student trying to prepare for university life, a busy college student needing to catch up on class work, a professional looking to expand your skill set, or a retiree who wants to keep an active, growing mental life, the Division of Continuing Studies can help you meet your educational goals. We talked to the current Vice President of DoCS, Dr. Richard Novak, about the resources that the university provides.
7S: You’ve been involved with continuing education at Rutgers since 1996. What got you interested in this aspect of education?
RN: I have been involved in adult and continuing education for my entire career and I have a lifelong dedication to serving adult students. My doctorate is in adult and continuing education and my doctoral research was on the positive impact that adults make in the college classroom. Continuing education at Rutgers was a natural fit for me as it tied in to my experience, professional training and lifelong dedication. It opens up opportunity for adult students to have access to higher education resources. But our continuing education program is now broader than just adult students and includes individuals across the life span from pre-school through senior adult.
7S: Many people are going back to school these days to get a degree because they’re finding that it’s just not possible to reach their career goals with only a high school diploma. How has your student population changed with the changing employment environment?
RN: We have seen the age shift in the college population. Today, from a national perspective, the majority of students belong to the category that has been referred to as the non-traditional adult student. The irony, from a national perspective, is that the non-traditional student has become the majority traditional student. But the population has also changed with high school students taking college courses and active senior adults taking non-credit academic college courses for enrichment.
7S: Sometimes it’s not just what you study, but how. Do you offer support in areas like effective study habits, time management, and other things that students need to know to get the most out of their classes?
RN: The short answer is yes, but the more detailed answer is more complex and a wide variety of services is offered to students in a variety of formats – for example, remote proctoring and remote career coaching for our online students to many in-person services for our on campus students. We also make available various workshops for students and many online resources.
7S: The university offers hundreds of non-credit courses in subjects like employment law, management, and marketing skills. What’s the difference between “credit” and “non-credit” courses in terms of time, cost, and benefit?
RN: Rutgers offers thousands of non-credit courses that vary widely in terms of topic, length, format and cost. Sometimes several non-credit courses are bundled together to form a certificate, but these courses are typically not applied towards an academic degree. Courses vary in length from one hour to one week or more. Costs could be as low as $100 and as high as several thousand dollars. The benefits of the non-credit courses include: compliance with mandatory continuing education required by a profession for license renewal; career advancement because of new or specialized training; and, job placement through completion of short courses that are related to minimum job requirements. Non-credit courses also tend to be more readily available on a regular basis to facilitate just-in-time learning opportunities.
7S: The campus locations for the DoCS programs are all in New Jersey. Can out-of-state students also get help from Rutgers University with their continuing education goals?
RN: Absolutely! Rutgers offer completely online degree programs, especially for out-of-state students who will never come to campus. Rutgers also offers hundreds of online non-credit courses that benefit out-of-state and international students. Many are part of complete certificate programs. Our online continuing education courses are supported by 24×7 technical support also.
