Union County Review

Kean University is collaborating with Union County’s municipalities and the county government to support public employees through a new consortium, highlighting the university’s educational offerings and research expertise.

The U-22 Consortium, which includes the Union County government and the county’s 21 municipalities, provides Kean education to workers through KEANetwork. The program offers tuition discounts for eligible students, application fee waivers, and other services to members.

As part of the consortium, Kean is sharing its expertise with local government partners through Spotlight Series events, focusing on hiring, retention, and other workplace issues.

"We are forging collaborative partnerships with Union County and our local municipalities. By doing so, we establish Kean University as the preeminent source for developing the region's public service workforce talent and meeting its evolving labor needs," said Kean Senior Vice President for Transformational Learning and External Affairs Joseph Youngblood II, Ph.D.

Youngblood noted that the university and the county have successfully collaborated on numerous partnerships. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kean served as a site for the county’s testing, vaccination, and food distribution programs. When KEANetwork was formed in 2019, Union County became its first member.

“We’re here to have a serious conversation about how we as an educational institution can work with you to support what’s happening in the public sector,” Youngblood said. “We are an urban research university and an anchor institution for our communities. We’re better together.”

The Spotlight Series launched in late May with a panel discussion on government hiring and retention. Panelists included Adrian Mapp, mayor of Plainfield; Claudia Martins, director of personnel and labor relations management for Union County; Veysel Yucetepe, Ph.D., professor and department chair of the Kean College of Business and Public Management; Michele Meade, deputy director of the state Division of Local Government Services; and Ed Lee, director of human resources for Peerless Beverages.

The panelists discussed attracting and maintaining talent with employee perks such as tuition reimbursement through KEANetwork and more intangible benefits.

“People want meaning. They want to know they can make a difference,” Meade said.

Union County Commissioner Alexander Mirabella attended the Spotlight Series event. He emphasized that U22 Consortium provides valuable connections for its members.

“I appreciate that Kean held this forum for Union County’s mayors, business administrators, and leaders who were able to visit the campus and learn about resources available,” he said. “Through KEANetwork, local and municipal government workers in Union County have access to Kean University and can acquire skills and education that will help them succeed in their careers."

Additionally, Kean Vice President for Transformational Learning Jay O’Callaghan spoke about KEANetwork's benefits and introduced a new degree-completion program at Kean University Global Education and Resource Campus. This program targets students with some college credits but no degree by providing a faster path to graduation.

The initial cohort of 30 students had an average age of 47 did "really well" in their first semester according to O’Callaghan. The program celebrated its first graduate in May.

“Higher education needs to think about who our students are in a new way. Kean is a leader across the state in recognizing that today’s traditional student was formerly the non-traditional student,” O’Callaghan said. “The average student we see at Kean is not 18.”