Bergen Welcomes Student Affairs Leader to Cabinet
PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College has hired longtime Ocean County College student support services leader A.J. Trump, Ed.D., as vice president of student affairs. Trump represents the latest executive hired by the College as second-year President Eric M. Friedman continues to build a comprehensive leadership team.
Trump will have the responsibility for overseeing a division that features critical areas such as enrollment management, support services and athletics.
“Onboarding Dr. Trump represents an important moment in the College’s reimagination of student affairs,” Friedman said. “Dr. Trump will have the opportunity to assess the division, identify areas for continuous improvement, and enhance Bergen’s existing stellar student support services that were recently recognized so wonderfully by the federal government.”
First Lady Jill Biden, Ed.D., and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Ed.D., recently visited the College’s main campus to applaud its student services as a national model when it comes to developing innovative tactics that help students succeed. Among them, the College highlighted how a one-stop campus environment connects students with registration, academic and wraparound support services.
Bergen’s new vice president comes to the College after nearly 20 years at Ocean County College in leadership roles such as executive director of student services, director of admissions and athletics director. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Ocean and Kean University. Trump began his career as a science teacher at Brick Memorial High School.
He earned a B.S. in physics from The College of New Jersey, an M.S. in sports science from the United States Sports Academy and an Ed.D. in higher education leadership from Rowan University.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.