Convocation, the University’s annual academic celebration, provides us with a unique opportunity to rededicate ourselves to NJCU’s mission of teaching, research, and service. The ceremony serves as a proud reminder of the tremendous depth of knowledge of our faculty and of their commitment to the NJCU community.

The 2018 Convocation ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 5 at 2 p.m. in the Margaret Williams Theatre, located on the Second Floor of Hepburn Hall. Alumni, faculty, staff, and students are invited and encouraged to attend the ceremony.

The Margaret Williams Theatre will be open for general attendance at 1:30 p.m. Convocation begins with a procession of faculty and professional staff in academic regalia. The procession into the ceremony will begin promptly at 2 p.m.

Keynote Address

Professor Teboho Moja is a Director and Professor of the Higher Education Program at New York University, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape, and a Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria. She joined New York University in 1999.  She has held visiting professorship positions at universities in Europe and Asia.  

She has published extensively on higher education and presented numerous keynote addresses at international conferences on higher education issues. She  focused her career on higher education policy research. In 1991/92 she became involved in the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI), a project initiated by the Mass Democratic Movement in South Africa. The project goal was to investigate policy options for the new government in all areas of education. She was the founder member of the Union of Democratic University Staff Associations (UDUSA) and was also elected national president of the organization. She later focused her career on higher education policy research. In 1992 under the leadership of Dr. Moja as national president, UDUSA produced a higher education policy document for the transformation of higher education. 

In 1993 Dr. Moja was appointed to the Centre for Educational Policy Development (CEPD) as a policy analyst for higher education. The Centre produced policy documents and also proposed implementation strategies for hand-over to the new Minister of Education after South Africa’s first democratic elections. Following the elections Dr. Moja served as a Special Advisor to two Ministers of Education and was appointed Executive Director and Commissioner of the National Commission on Higher Education by the late President Mandela. She has served on numerous committees and boards of international bodies such as UNESCO and Councils of Universities in South Africa. She is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Center for Higher Education Trust (CHET).

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985.

Community Reception 

Immediately following the Convocation ceremony, a reception for attendees will be held in the Gilligan Student Union, First Floor.

Please RSVP to Carla Johnson at 201-200-3196 by Monday, December 3 if you would like to attend.

Reception: Tuesday, December 4, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Urban landscapes are crowded with a dense network of stores, signs, and messages that we have grown accustomed to seeing. Super Brights explores this culture of convenience and the choices available to the neighborhoods that house these consumer systems.

Image: Newark Avenue, Jersey City, 2018, PhotoTex Print, 42x36 inches