The College has appointed two new staff members to the office of College and Community Relations - Matthew Golden to the position of assistant director of Public Information and Emily Weiss to the position of Public Information Officer and Writer.
Golden has a number of job duties that include, most importantly, supervising public information and community relations.Weiss, on the other hand, serves as a writer for special projects, responds to the media and promotes programs and events.
Golden holds a Master of Arts degree from Rutgers University in communications and information studies and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Princeton University.
"As an undergraduate, I wasn't certain of what I hoped to pursue professionally," he said. "I sampled a number of different courses during my freshman and sophomore years before deciding on sociology as a major. I was interested in learning more about societal phenomena and how they can affect personal interactions as well as group dynamics."
While a master's degree in communications seemed like a natural fit to Golden, it was his belief in the importance of education that brought him to higher institutions of learning. He has worked at Princeton University, Kean University and Mercer County Community College.
Prior to coming to the College, Golden was deputy director of communications for the State of New Jersey Department of the Treasury. "When I learned of this opportunity (to work at the College), however, I thought that it would be a perfect fit. This is a great college that reminds me, in many ways, of my own undergraduate institution. This school provides a very stimulating environment and offers a great deal," Golden said.
Weiss grew up in Allentown, N.J., and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in journalism/professional writing from the College in 2003.
"I've wanted to be a writer since I was a little girl," she said. "When I was younger, I would carry a notebook everywhere and write whenever the urge hit."
She even confessed to experimenting with writing a novel about unicorns. "Also, I was an avid pen pal-er. For several years when I was 11 or 12, I was writing and receiving 20-plus letters a day from pen pals all over the world," Weiss said.
She enjoys reading as well, and admitted that she wishes there were 27 hours in one day so she could have more time to read.
Having worked in the office of College and Community Relations as a student at the College, it only seemed practical that she return to this office for a career. Weiss takes great pride in her family connection to the College.
"Not only am I a proud graduate, but my father was a member of (Trenton State College) class of 1975, and my younger sister is currently in her sophomore year here," Weiss said. "I absolutely love the College, and I feel extremely honored and privileged that I can continue my connection with such a wonderful institution."
While Golden described starting his new position during the first week of the academic year as somewhat of "a baptism by fire," he is learning a great deal while getting to know a number of people. Weiss, similarly, has particularly enjoyed the exciting, unpredictability that every day on the job brings.
"I'm always learning something new and meeting new people, both on campus and in the community," she said. "The office staff is extremely supportive and talented - it is a pleasure to come to work every day."
There is more to Golden and Weiss than their educational backgrounds and current positions, however.
Golden loves to golf and go to the movies when he isn't caring for his three children under the age of four.
He played minor league baseball in the St. Louis Cardinal organization for about four years after graduating from college, so he continues to work at baseball camps and coach at a local baseball academy as well.
Weiss marches in a competitive drum and bugle corps, for which she plays the mellophone, the marching equivalent of the French horn.
"It requires a lot of hard work and dedication, as for the past eight years of my life I've given up every weekend in the summer to march ... but it has been the most rewarding experience of my life," she said. "I've gotten to tour the country, one football field at a time!"
