Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am very pleased to report that the recently approved U.S. Department of Defense Appropriations bill allocates $750,000 for Fairleigh Dickinson University. These funds will be dedicated to developing additional online courses for National Guard members as part of the University’s National Guard Global Education program.

The program, begun in 2003, is a collaboration among the University, the State of New Jersey and the National Guard Bureau’s Distributive Training Technology Project. Since 2003, the Department of Defense has awarded $2 million to support the program. More than 200 students representing the National Guard and other law enforcement agencies have thus far studied in 19 online and graduate courses that lead to certificates in areas such as global security and terrorism studies. Students also participate in the online master in administrative science degree program.

I want to especially thank the members of the community who have helped us build an innovative program that has earned national recognition and praise. I also want to thank our representatives who have been instrumental in securing past and current federal support for this project: U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and New Jersey Congressmen Rodney Frelinghuysen and Steve Rothman.

We are excited to continue this partnership and proud to provide unique educational programs for these special students.

Michael Adams