MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. —A New Jersey community college affiliated with Rowan University has limited other four-year schools’ on-campus contact with its students.
Rowan College at Burlington County says it wants to maximize its “3+1” program with Rowan University, which allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree while staying on the community college’s Mount Laurel campus.
The two-year school told Rutgers, Temple and other four-year schools that Rowan is “the only college permitted to advertise, display logos or distribute collateral on common grounds,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The schools were also told that the community college won’t be hosting a fall transfer fair because the other schools are competing with Rowan, community college President Paul Drayton said.
“We’re now competing. It doesn’t make sense to do transfer fairs,” President Paul Drayton said. “We have on-site partners who brand their colleges that we’re now competing with. Does it make sense to continue to do that?”
Materials from other schools will still be available in the transfer office and online. Drayton said digital marketing has made on-campus outreach less important in recent years.
But administrators from four-year institutions said canceling college transfer fairs and removing promotional materials can make it difficult to connect with students.
“There’s something to be said for being able to make on-campus connections,” said Karin Mormando, Temple University’s undergraduate admissions head. “It certainly makes it easier for the student who is running from class to work to commuting.”
