Strengthening Community: Middlesex College Hosts Intercollegiate Dialogue
The Edison campus welcomed attendees from Raritan Valley Community College for a collaborative dialogue about experiences, challenges, and solutions.
Over 50 students, faculty, and administrators gathered in West Hall for the Middlesex College X Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) Interactive Dialogue on February 5. The event, hosted by Middlesex College’s Political Science Club, was the first of its kind between New Jersey community colleges–designed to uplift student engagement and build meaningful cross-campus partnerships.
“For me, colleges are like threads in a fabric,” said Middlesex College Political Science Club Founder and President Nina Salamatova. “Individually, each thread is fragile, but woven together, we create strength. This dialogue exemplified it – the moment we started asking questions, there were answers after answers, and follow-up questions. The energy, curiosity, and leadership potential we’ve noticed from both colleges was outstanding.”
Salamatova met Jei Budiharto, a biomedical engineering student at RVCC, over the summer while participating in the Princeton Transfer Scholars Initiative, an eight-week program that welcomes students considering transfer to four-year colleges to the Princeton University campus. The two immediately bonded over the similarities in their community college experiences, which sparked the idea of hosting an event to bridge the gap between the two institutions. Planning for the event began at the beginning of the Fall semester. Budiharto says the energy from participants was more electric than they could have anticipated.
“Hands were flying left and right, answers being rapidly fired-off, as both colleges came together in a room,” said Budiharto. “Ideas turned to discussions, and discussions turned to actions. Even with heavy brains, the room had still managed to create tangible action plans, all in the aim of improving engagement in their communities.”
The main focus of the event were the breakout groups. After a brief icebreaker, attendees were asked a series of questions to discuss in their groups, including what their expectations were for the event and what challenges they faced in their respective circles. Each group discussed and then shared their thoughts with the room, with the goal of building united solutions.
Participants from both colleges expressed their gratitude for the event’s opportunity to collaborate with those they might not have otherwise met.
“I now fully understand my capabilities of helping the community college population and making my college better,” said one participant from RVCC. “This dialogue has been really helpful in finding my true potential.”
“It truly inspires me to be surrounded by such motivated individuals,” said Tisha Madalia, vice president of Middlesex College Political Science Club.
The dialogue concluded with student-driven actions aimed at strengthening engagement and leadership across campuses. Some of these tangible actions included outreach to professors for extracurricular participation incentives, establishing leadership guidelines for student club leaders, and targeted club recommendations to students based on fields of study.
The Political Science Club’s hope is that this event will spark more collaborations and partnerships down the road.
“I want these conversations to extend beyond the room—helping cultivate a more communicative, inclusive, and engaged community of community college students across New Jersey,” said Salamatova.
