President’s Report

The Adelphi University 2022–2023 President’s Report, Bold Change, Extraordinary Results, highlights a year in which our community rose to heights never before reached in our 127-year history. With student outcomes at the forefront—and with support from our hard working staff, distinguished faculty and generous donors—we made tremendous progress as a leader in modern education.

The second year of our Momentum 2 strategic plan brought a stronger commitment to our three goals of academic distinction, inclusive community and connectivity, and smart growth. At the same time, we remained nimble and adapted to challenges that required innovative solutions. The results shown in this report are inspiring, and they speak to our potential to exceed our own expectations and transform lives for decades to come.

But beyond a one-year snapshot of our success, this report is a culmination of the past eight years of strategic planning and execution. Together, we’ve built our most diverse campus community ever, welcomed our largest first-year class on record, deepened our connections with alumni, expanded our partnerships and graduated thousands of changemaking students who earn salaries well above the national average. As a result, we climbed the college rankings as one of the best universities in the country for social mobility, first-year experiences, and value.

I hope you enjoy reading our stories and celebrating our milestones with us. I’m grateful to everyone who has joined us in our mission, and I can’t wait to see what Adelphi University can do next. 

President Christine M. Riordan, PhD

Highlights From the Adelphi University 2022–2023 President’s Report

Goal 1: Academic Distinction in Our Core Four—page 6

• Two faculty members received Fulbright awards to support their international research projects. Adelphi was also chosen as one of only 20 institutions to participate in the Fulbright Program Adviser Development Initiative, a program to increase participation in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.
• Adelphi won the Innovative Academic Support Initiative award from the Commission for Academic Support in Higher Education (CASHE) for its interdisciplinary 360 courses designed to help students who are undecided about their major. The number of undecided students decreased by 21 percent in the program’s first three years.
• The Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health was one of 10 schools nationwide selected to participate in a new initiative from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to train future nurse leaders in self-care, resilience and well-being.

Goal 2: Inclusive Community and Connectivity—page 14

• David Machlis, PhD, associate professor of finance and economics, launched the Two Museums Program to help bridge societal divisions and combat intolerance by taking Black students and Jewish students on a trip to the National Museum of African American History & Culture and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum—garnering national coverage in Inside Higher Ed.
• The STEM-designated MS in Business Analytics program at the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business received the 2023 Inspiring Programs in STEM award from INSIGHT Into Diversity. With nearly half of its students being women, the program is helping to level the playing field for women, who are still underrepresented in the growing data science industry.
• Adelphi’s student body became the most diverse in University history, with 44 percent identifying as students of color, 28 percent receiving Pell Grants and 22 percent identifying as first-generation college students. 

Goal 3: Smart Growth and Infrastructure—page 22

• We reimagined student communications to become smarter and simpler through the launch of the Adele chatbot which sends two-way SMS text messages to students and the One Stop Student Services Center and which combines financial aid, billing, payments and registrar-related functions in one convenient place.
• Reconfigured admissions practices with an emphasis on affordability—including offering scholarships to 100 percent of incoming first-year students—resulted in a 25 percent surge and a record-setting number of deposits received by National Decision Day, which carried through the summer to Fall 2023, when Adelphi welcomed its largest-ever first-year class.
• Adelphi achieved its highest first-year retention rate in 10 years, with 85 percent of Fall 2021 students returning for their sophomore year, thanks to award-winning mentorship and community service programs, multidisciplinary first-year seminars and removing the GPA requirement to retain academic scholarships.