Partner Spotlight
2-Year Public
Cranford, NJ
for C.C. Excellence, 2025
Learn how ACUE’s Effective Teaching Practice Framework equipped UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ faculty with a toolbox of practices to implement in the classroom, leading to transformational results.
"We have some of the most highly qualified faculty that I have ever worked with in terms of content expertise. But as we all know, getting a PhD in a discipline isn’t going to teach instructors how to teach students."
Dr. McMenamin
“I’m very connected to project-based, experiential learning. ACUE provides many examples within the modules. We were also already looking for ways to engage students. An engaged student is a successful student. It’s not a new thought, but it wasn’t happening in every classroom.”
Dr. Lown
We had a culture where we had passive, faculty-centric teaching and learning, and now we have an active, engaged teaching and learning culture.
It is far less frequent that I walk around and see classrooms where the instructor is lecturing from a chair at the front of the room."
"That before-culture was primarily lodged in the lecture approach. Some of us are brilliant speakers, but that is few and far between. The reality is that most of us could use a little bit of help. I think the success resulting from our partnership with ACUE, and the fact that it is anchored in data, were important factors in establishing faculty acceptance of the new culture."
"I love the fact that you connect data to each class. I share reports with academic deans, and it resonates with faculty because they get to see that there is data associated with the program and that it does make a difference with students."
We have seen improved course completion, which is a critical leading indicator to student success and graduation."
"In many cases, our faculty wanted this. They’re like sponges. They wanted to learn about teaching because they knew their subject, but let’s face it, kids are different today and they’re not going to put up with someone at the front of the room talking for an hour and a half."
Every single person who’s taken an ACUE course has loved it. Every single one. That is very unusual for higher education.
And faculty can be a skeptical lot. The positive feedback from course-takers helped to recruit the next group. They also appreciated ACUE’s expertise and respect for faculty. The fact that ACUE’s instructors and Academic Directors have a background in higher education goes a long way."
Dr. McMenamin's legacy in the making
“We are committed to supporting faculty in the classroom so that our students get better instruction and our faculty become the best professors they can be. The institutional goal of many colleges, in the past, was to expand access, to give people an opportunity. Getting women, people of color, and impoverished people into higher education. But that didn’t get students across the finish line. So, the focus moved beyond access to thinking about how we can support students so that they earn their degree.
Now, we are starting to think about students’ post-completion agenda. Are they matriculating into bachelor’s programs in their majors? Are they graduating with a bachelor’s in a reasonable time after they transfer? For career students, are they earning family-sustaining wages?
But we can’t do that unless students are completing their degrees, so the focus on student success remains vibrant.”
Dr. McMenamin
Instructional Staff: 610
Enrolled Students: 11,353
Retention Rate: 67%
President
Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs
ACUE has helped over 550 institutions achieve student success by supporting great teaching. Our faculty development solutions, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE), will help you build a culture of great teaching.
Let’s connect to talk about how partnering with us will boost retention, empower faculty in the classroom, and build the foundation of student success upon which you can execute your strategic vision.