Advisory regarding Southern California wildfires

Advisory regarding Southern California wildfires

On behalf of everyone at Thomas Edison State University, we hope that students affected by the wildfires in Southern California remain safe. The University is offering accommodations to students affected by the wildfires:

  • Students who are directly impacted by the fires and who are currently registered in courses for the November 2024, December 2024 and January 2025 terms have the option of receiving a free eight-week course extension without mentor approval; or, a 100% tuition credit for their course(s) to a future term. Affected students should submit a Request for Course Extension Form or a Request for Course Withdrawal Form indicating “Southern California wildfires” as the reason for the request. Please note that TECEP exams in these terms cannot be extended, nor credited for tuition after the exam has been taken.
  • Impacted students who are currently on a course extension for the September 2024 and October 2024 terms can request a second eight-week extension on their current term at no additional cost.

Request an Accommodation: Students affected by the wildfire and evacuations who need an accommodation should contact the Office of the Registrar by email at registration@tesu.edu or by phone at 609-777-5680. Accommodation requests should be submitted by January 24th. Requests after that date can be accommodated if the student provides documentation of the reason for the late request.

Dr. Larraine R. Matusak

1979–1982

Dr. Larraine R. Matusak

Dr. Larraine R. Matusak became the institution’s second president in July 1979. She became a leader in developing higher education programs for adults through her work at the University of Evansville and the University of Minnesota. Interestingly, she worked with Dr. James D. Brown, the institution's first president, as part of the team that helped establish the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), and he actually recommended her for the position at Thomas Edison.

Matusak created a structural context that the school needed and completed a major reorganization that created three divisions headed by vice presidents. She also oversaw the institution’s move from Princeton, N.J., to the Kelsey Building in Trenton, N.J., and played a key role working to make the presidents of other senior public institutions for familiar with the school. In 1982, she decided to leave Thomas Edison for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she served as a leadership scholar and director of the Kellogg National Fellowship Program. She died in March 2021.

Adult learners should receive credit for the learning they achieve in ways other than at Socrates' knee. And so, it was an interesting first couple of months getting acquainted with New Jersey, getting acquainted with presidents of other state colleges and getting them to recognize that Edison was one of the state colleges."
Dr. Larraine R. Matusak, 1995 institutional interview