Changes on campus, community kept out of the loop

This week, the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President announced the dean to the new medical school in partnership with Hackensack University Health Network (HackensackUHN) to be Dr. Bonita Stanton. The announcement reveals that Stanton will officially assume her duties in March, as the first class is now projected for the fall of 2018, later than past projections. As previously reported by The Setonian, according to President A. Gabriel Esteban, the new dean will play a role in planning the initial outline of courses for incoming students. This email announcement came as somewhat as a surprise for the average student. As a newspaper that has been closely following the development of the school and trying to convey that information to our audience, we try to be on beat anticipating any big revelations with campus projects. Even in this case, the appointment of the dean, one of the most pivotal moves in developing the new school, seemed to come completely out of the blue. As we get to the bottom of crucial campus happenings, the average community member is informed by means of media and the University. With a lack of transparency on the part of the school, it seems to students like we are just sitting back and finding out after-the-fact what is happening over at the Clifton/Nutley campus, while decisions are being made behind closed doors. Meanwhile, a similar situation has occurred in the decisions to forgo a keynote speaker at graduation, which was announced last week in The Setonian. Since then, a petition circulating on social media has accumulated well over 600 signatures, demonstrating the dissatisfaction with how the decision was made and requesting consideration for a speaker who is not a student. This mobilization of students after the news became mainstream exemplifies that the community was kept in the dark about the decision until after it was announced. The same can be said about many details revealed about the new medical school. The community should have a say, or at least be informed constantly along the way, about major decisions made by the University that have an impact on everyone. Although it is unrealistic to believe that the University constantly has all of the answers, the community would appreciate a little more transparency when it comes to decisions concerning all of us.