A Robust Communiversity: Rutgers Statewide @ Brookdale

Rutgers Statewide Partnerships offer students access to a Rutgers degree from their home communities 

In describing the innovative Rutgers program residing on his campus, Brookdale Community College president David Stout, PhD, aptly dubs it a Communiversity—a place that blends the best of what a community college offers with the resources of a major university, all in a student’s backyard. “It’s about access,” Dr. Stout says. “The program reaches students who have the aptitude to achieve but might otherwise not be a Rutgers student.” 

It's about access.

David Stout, PhD

Brookdale Community College President

The Rutgers Statewide Partnerships program is housed within and supported by University Academic Affairs, reflecting Rutgers’ longstanding commitment to access, institution-wide. At each of the five New Jersey community colleges that host the program, Rutgers Statewide extends a unique opportunity to complete the bachelor’s degree. Students undergo a seamless transition from the two-year to four-year program, offered close to home, on an already-familiar campus, with personalized advisement services provided on site. 

Importantly, because the associate’s degree coursework has been intentionally aligned with the corresponding major program offered by the respective academic unit at Rutgers (Camden, New Brunswick, or Newark), the transfer is experienced as a natural progression. This thoughtfully designed partnership has broad appeal for students who would not ordinarily have considered Rutgers a viable option. 

One such student is Brilliza Jimenez, who enrolled at Brookdale right after high school to pursue an associate’s degree. To Jimenez, Brookdale made sense: she would obtain a solid educational foundation while meeting her priorities of affordability and convenience. After finishing her associate’s degree, it was a short leap to the next step: entering the Bachelor of Social Work major offered through Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences–Newark (SASN) via the Statewide program, from which she is set to graduate in May 2026.  

Though staying local, Jimenez has made it a priority to be connected in ways large and small: she is a diligent reader of the daily universitywide news publication, Rutgers Today, and has made the most of co-curricular activities and programs that come along with a Rutgers education, including the Rutgers Scarlet Service Internship program and the Newark-based Social Work Student Organization (SWSO), where she serves as vice president.  

“Our students receive the same communications from the campus responsible for their academic program as on-campus students, and can participate in anything that catches their eye—any club, internship, special event, or guest speaker,” observes Joseph Walsh, MA, assistant director of Statewide Programs.   

We want to feel involved and included.

Brilliza Jimenez

Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, '26

A proud first-generation student of Mexican heritage, Jimenez is passionate about creating a community at Brookdale and having aspects of Rutgers campus life available locally to Statewide students: “We want to feel involved and included,” she stresses. Jimenez was instrumental in arranging for a visit to Brookdale from SASN Department of Social Work staff as part of a “Coffee and Convos” event she developed. Kaleena Rogers, MSW, LCSW, associate director of practicum education in the Department of Social Work at SASN, has mentored Jimenez in her role as SWSO advisor, describing her as an exceptional student leader. “Brilliza is working intentionally to build bridges between Brookdale students and the broader Rutgers–Newark social work student community,” says Rogers.  

So, what does the Rutgers-Brookdale “Communiversity” look like? President Stout, who has taught classes to Rutgers students both on campus and at the Brookdale location, calls the Brookdale cohort “a mature and focused group,” observing that Statewide students have already demonstrated an indicator of academic ability by obtaining their associate’s degree. “These students are living complex lives,” Stout says. “Some of them are caretakers in addition to working and pursuing a degree. They’ve figured it out.”  

Thomas Cioppa, PhD, a Rutgers–Camden lecturer in political science who teaches in the Statewide program at Brookdale, agrees. “The workload is heavy, but most students coming into the program after completing an associate’s degree at Brookdale are successful in navigating the transition. It’s a testament to their drive to succeed.” 

Cioppa and Stout both praise the work of the on-site Rutgers staff—Joe Walsh, along with colleagues Marie Jones and Lorraine Mitsiopoulos—in keeping students engaged and supported at every point along the way to a bachelor’s degree. Walsh and Jones possess an encyclopedic knowledge of which major is aligned with what Rutgers campus, the various requirements, and opportunities for internships and other student experiences. 

“Some of our majors require internships,” Walsh explains, “and Rutgers has established a rich network of employers where students can be placed in an experience aligned with their interests and schedules.” Staff will also work with students to create an internship at an employer of the student’s choosing, if outside of the existing network. 

Brilliza Jimenez’s experience is a testament to the richness of career and internship offerings. Through the social work practicum, she has been placed in a variety of youth-oriented settings ranging from a preschool in Lakewood, to an inclusive children’s gym called “We Rock the Spectrum,” to a stint at her alma mater, Red Bank High School, where she spent time shadowing a staff clinician. Jimenez found the high school internship to be the sweet spot, and it strengthened her desire to work with teenagers following the completion of her education, which includes pursuing the Master of Social Work degree.  

The ways in which Brilliza Jimenez, and students like her, have made the Statewide Partnership work for their short- and long-term goals are a source of great satisfaction to all involved. “We’re lowering hurdles for entry—hurdles such as distance and cost—and it’s amazing to see what these students have been able to do with the degree once they’ve earned it,” says Walsh. “We’re opening the door to credentials that have real value for their lives and careers.”  

Brookdale’s president, David Stout, agrees. “I’m proud of their achievements, and I’m incredibly proud of the partnership, and the difference it makes in people’s lives.”