CSUS Senior Staff

Dr. Louise H. Feroe has served as Acting Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) for the past seven months, and is the highest ranking CSUS official. Previously, as CSUS senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs since July 2008, Dr. Feroe was responsible for facilitating effective collaboration among the four CSUS universities - Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut State Universities, with 36,600 students - to better serve students and advance the policies of the Board of Trustees.

Through her work, CSUS serves as a catalyst for Connecticut, graduating students who are agile learners with critical thinking skill and technical know-how in their fields, prepared to succeed in today's competitive workforce.

Prior to joining CSUS, Dr. Feroe served as President of Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a multi-campus institution which includes five sites and a fully on-line campus.

Trained as a philosopher, Dr. Feroe possesses a unique blend of the philosopher's wisdom and the social scientist's pragmatism. She graduated from Wheaton College, Norton, MA with a BA in philosophy Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, and earned a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, at New School University in New York City.

During her tenure as Provost and President at Mercy, Dr. Feroe focused on ensuring that students from all academic and social backgrounds were given the opportunity to transform their lives through higher education. Dr. Feroe also led Mercy College through a process to reunite the college with its core mission, assuring the quality and effectiveness of all academic programs and support services and implementing an ongoing and integrated planning and assessment process. Her tenure also was highlighted by tremendous growth in the College's e-learning on-line education offerings.

Pamela J. Kedderis has been CSUS' chief financial officer since 1998. She joined CSUS in 1997 as executive officer for finance and then assumed additional duties as interim chief financial officer following the former CFO's retirement. Before joining the Connecticut State University System, she had a successful career in the insurance and banking industries. She came to CSUS after 14 years with the CNA Insurance Companies, where she held numerous financial management positions, most recently that of vice president and chief financial officer for the Marine, Pools and Warranty Group, a $900-million division of CNA. Kedderis holds an M.B.A. degree with a finance concentration from the University of New Haven and a bachelor's degree from Assumption College. She is a certified management accountant and is certified in financial management.

As the current vice chancellor for finance and administration, she has system-wide responsibility for accounting, reporting, financial systems, planning and budgeting (operating and capital), accounts receivable/payable, purchasing, receiving, payroll, inventory control, and capital projects and facilities management. She also provides oversight of yearly financial audits and establishes and promulgates financial policies and procedures system-wide. Kedderis works closely with the board of trustees, CSUS's senior staff members and external agencies. She also oversees the periodic sale of revenue bonds through the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA) to finance auxiliary services construction. Kedderis also serves on the State Insurance and Risk Management Board, which is responsible for all non-employment related insurance matters for the State of Connecticut.

Contact: Rosalie Butler, administrative assistant. Phone: 860-493-0041. Fax: 860-493-0006, ButlerR@ct.edu

Wendy C. Chang was appointed chief information officer for the Connecticut State University System in October 2010. Previously, she served as chief information officer in the Officer of Information Technology at Southern Connecticut State University for two years. Chang possesses more than two decades of academic, industrial, and information technology experience in strategic planning and research.

Before joining Southern, she was the senior advisor to the chancellor at Indiana University East. Previously, she was IU-East's vice chancellor for information technology, and has held faculty appointments at D'Youville College in Buffalo and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Earlier in her career, she was an independent consultant for various Fortune 500 companies. Chang holds a B.S. in Control Engineering from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, an M.S. in Systems Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, an M.S. in Computer Information Systems from Cleveland State University and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Contact: Victoria Thomas, administrative assisstant. Phone: 860-493-0100. Fax: 860-493-0026. Thomasv@ct.edu

Jill E. Ferraiolo was appointed to her current position in March of 2006. Prior to joining CSUS, she had a 19 year career in Connecticut state government working with the legislative and executive branches. After beginning her career in the Legislative Office of Fiscal Analysis, she served in the administrations of State Treasurers Frank Borges and Joseph Suggs, State Comptroller Nancy Wyman and most recently State Treasurer Denise Nappier as the agency legislative liaison. She was designated as the Treasurer's designee on three state oversight boards in Bridgeport, West Haven, and Waterbury. A graduate of UConn with a BA in political science and a Master's in Public Administration (MPA), Ferraiolo remains active in a number of public service activities.

The government relations office seeks to affect legislation and regulation in ways that are favorable to the CSUS mission of education and academic excellence. Its activities include: advising the chancellor on legislative and regulatory matters; serving as CSUS' advocate before federal, state and local legislative bodies to enhance the formulation and application of laws and regulations affecting CSUS; analyzing and developing strategies for affecting and influencing public policy and legislation impacting the system.

Contact: Patricia Mulcahy, administrative assistant. Phone: 860-493-0014. Fax: 860-493-0026. Mulcahyp@ct.edu

Bernard L. Kavaler joined the Connecticut State University System as assistant vice chancellor for public affairs in January 2007, after a 26-year career in Connecticut government, spent primarily on the executive staff of four of the state's constitutional officers, serving in communication, policy and program positions in the Offices of Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the State and Treasurer. He holds a masters degree in public administration from the University of Hartford, where he received the Public Management Award, and a bachelors degree in mass communication.

The public affairs, marketing and communications office is responsible for public and media relations, advertising and marketing, publications, outreach, internal and external communications, strategic communications planning, web design, and the coordination of special events and activities, promoting the efforts of the Connecticut State University System and in support of the work of Central, Eastern, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities and the system Board of Trustees.

Contact: Patricia Mulcahy, administrative assistant. Phone: 860-493-0014. Fax: 860-493-0026. Mulcahyp@ct.edu

D. Mitch Knight was appointed to his current position in May 2003. He joined CSUS after a distinguished audit and compliance career in private industry on the staff of organizations ranging from Hartford Hospital to Aetna and National Grange Mutual Insurance to Ernst & Young. Knight is a veteran of the U.S. Army Security Agency, a summa cum laude graduate of UConn with a B.S. in accounting, and holds the professional distinctions of Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

The internal audit unit independently appraises CSUS activities to assist the Board of Trustees and its executive committee in fulfilling the board's fiduciary responsibilities. Internal audit also helps managers discharge their responsibilities effectively, efficiently and economically. Internal audit further assists staff and managers in identifying deficiencies within their operations. In summary: the internal audit staff reviews financial and operating activities, analyzes internal control structures and procedures, and recommends corrective measures to both administrators and operating managers.

Contact: Mitch Knight, director of internal audit. Phone: 860-493-0173. Fax: 860-493-0026. Knightm@ct.edu