Dr. David L. Levinson

Dr. David L. Levinson is the interim president of Connecticut State Community College (CSCC).  Previously he was president of Norwalk Community College (NCC) in Connecticut for fifteen years.  During his presidency, NCC completed a successful capital campaign for a new Science, Health and Wellness Center, became an Achieving the Dream Leader College, and was selected by MDC, Inc. as one of fifteen community colleges nationwide to receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a developmental education project.  Prior to NCC, Dr. Levinson served as Vice President of Academic Affairs at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey.

Dr. Levinson is the general editor of Education and Sociology: An Encyclopedia, published by RoutledgeFalmer in 2002 and author of Community Colleges: A Reference Handbook, published by ABC-CLIO, 2005.  Recently he contributed “Sociological Reflections on the Distance between Skin and Skin” to a special issue on Sociologists and Sociology During COVID that appeared in the May/June 2020 issue of the American Sociological Association’s Footnotes (https://www.asanet.org/news-events/footnotes/may-jun-2020/professional-challenges-facing-sociologists/sociological-reflections-distance-between-skin-and-skin).   He was guest co-editor of a special issue of The American Sociologist on community colleges where he contributed an article “Public Sociology: A Community College President’s Perspective (Volume 44, Issue 4, December 2013).  His other writings on community colleges have appeared in The American Prospect and the Community College Journal of Research and Practice.

 Dr. Levinson is the recipient of the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) Connecticut Higher Education Excellence Award, Friend of CONNTAC (Connecticut Talent Assistance Cooperative) Award, Shirley Gordon Distinguished College President Award from the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, and a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Dr. Levinson received an M.A. and Ph.D., Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and a B.A. in Sociology from State University of New York at New Paltz.

Dr. Michael Rooke

Dr. Rooke has worked within the Connecticut Community College system since 2006. He currently serves as President of Northwestern Connecticut Community College, joining NCCC in 2015.  Previously, he served as Dean of Academic Affairs at Tunxis Community College from 2009-2015 and prior to that as Division Director, Business & Technology Division, Manchester Community College from 2006-2009.

In May 2020, President Ojakian invited Dr. Rooke to serve dual roles as interim Provost and Vice-President of Connecticut State Community College, as well as NCCC president.

Dr. Rooke has also served as both assistant professor and associate professor of chemistry at the University of Hartford from 1996-2003 and later Director of Information Technology, as well as assistant director of instructional technology at the C.W. Post of Long Island University, from 2003-2006.

He holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Kansas State University, a M.S. degree in educational technology from Long Island University and a B.Sc. (Hons) in applied chemistry from Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Alison Buckley, Ed.D.

Alison Buckley joined Connecticut State Colleges and Universities in March 2019 as the Vice President of Enrollment Management. In this role she is responsible providing strategic direction for Connecticut’s 12 community colleges related to enrollment and retention. She also leads the division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs for Connecticut State Community College. Dr. Buckley has over 20 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education at enrollment driven institutions most recently at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland.

She has presented nationally on matters related to enrollment management and innovation in higher education. She served on the Maryland state Taskforce for Students with Disabilities and the Maryland Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on Two Generation Poverty. Dr. Buckley received her bachelor’s degree from Randolph College, a master’s degree in history and a postgraduate certificate in museum studies from the University of Delaware, an M.Phil. in women’s studies from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, an M.B.A from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park and a doctorate in organizational leadership studies from Northeastern University.

Francine Rosselli-Navarra

Dr. Rosselli has been in the CT Community College system at Manchester Community College since 1998. She started as a statistics tutor, then moved on to an adjunct faculty member position in the Department of Psychology, and in 2004 became a full-time faculty member in Psychology. She currently holds the rank of Full Professor. At MCC, Dr. Rosselli also served as Chair of the Department of Psychology and Anthropology, Program Coordinator for the Liberal Arts & Science degree programs, and chair of the Academic Standards committee, Library & Academic Technology committee, Curriculum committee, and Academic Senate.

In Spring 2018, Dr. Rosselli took a part-time leave from MCC to work with the CSCU Student Success Center on Guided Pathways and the Students First Academic and Student Affairs Consolidation Committee on consolidation. She serves as a lead for the Choice Architecture team, the First Year Experience work group, and the Alignment and Completion of Math and English work group. She is also a member of the General Education work group and currently serves as co-chair of the SF ASA CC.

Prior to, and during, her time at MCC, Dr. Rosselli was a visiting professor and research scholar at Wesleyan University (1998 to 2014). She has also held faculty positions at the University of California @ Santa Barbara, Central Michigan University, SUNY @ Buffalo, and Williams College. She has extensive teaching experience, ranging from 500-student lecture courses on introductory psychology to small graduate seminars on the psychology of stereotyping and prejudice.

Dr. Rosselli holds a BA in Psychology from Williams College and an MA & PhD in Social & Personality Psychology from UCSB, with specializations in experimental social cognition and quantitative methods and statistics. Her published research includes traditional social psychology topics, such as stereotyping, social influence, and social perception as well as work in clinical epidemiology and randomized clinical trials.

View CV (pdf)

Michael Stefanowicz

Michael Stefanowicz has been appointed at Interim Associate Vice President- Higher Education Transitions for Connecticut State Community College. He has been serving as the Interim Associate Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities. He has been co-managing the Students First Academic and Student Affairs community college consolidation project, which will lead to one community college for the state of Connecticut in 2023. He has also co-chaired the Public Act 1230 Advisory committee since 2016.

Stefanowicz formerly served as Asnuntuck Community College’s Dean of Academics., where he brought over 20 years of community college experience to position. Previously he had served as Division Director for Liberal Arts, and Director of Transitional Programs at Manchester Community College (MCC) where he began his career as a counselor and adjunct faculty member.

Dr. Tanya Millner

Dr. Tanya Millner has worked for over 27 years in nearly all capacities in higher education. Her current role is Associate Vice President of Teaching and Learning at Connecticut State Community College (CSCC). She is working on collective efforts to provide significant, pertinent, and relevant college-wide professional learning opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators that are focused on equity, online pedagogy, data literacy, communication, and collaboration.  An additional initiative the CSCC Office of Teaching and Learning will be attentive to is strategic planning. She also holds the rank of Full Professor of English.

Most recently, Dr. Millner was Interim Chief Executive Officer and Acting Dean of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Manchester Community College (MCC).  In addition to 27 years of teaching, she has worked as Dean of Academic Affairs (Chief Academic Officer/CAO). Prior to taking on the CAO role, Dr. Millner was Academic Division Director of Business, Engineering, and Technology. Additionally, she held the position of Co-Chair of the English department.  In these roles, Dr. Millner helped design, develop, and revise programs and online and on-ground courses. She has worked on course and discipline outcomes assessment and participated in departmental self-studies and program reviews.

Prior to coming to MCC, Dr. Millner held several positions in higher education. She served as Coordinator of Reading, Writing and Study Skills and adjunct Education faculty member at Northeastern University. She also worked as an administrator at satellite campuses of Park University and Capitol College, where she served largely military and government personnel and their dependents. As Coordinator for Capitol College’s Virginia campus at Quantico Marine Corps Base and Coordinator at Park University’s Virginia campus at Fort Myers Army Base, she worked in student recruitment and as an advisor, counseling students on tuition assistance (TA) and veterans’ benefits (VA) and transfer credits from various military schools. As lead administrator at the satellite campuses, she managed all areas in academic, student, and fiscal affairs. In addition, she has worked as an adjunct at Bridgewater State College, Northern Virginia Community College, University of Phoenix, and Strayer University.

Through all of her roles at CSCU, MCC, Northeastern, Park, Northern Virginia, Bridgewater State, Phoenix, Strayer, and Capitol, Dr. Millner has dedicated her attention to the development and support of students, faculty, staff, and administrators, always committed to supporting the depth and breadth of the missions of the institutions at which she has served.

Dr. Millner holds a doctorate in Higher Education Administration from The George Washington University, a Master of Arts in English, Writing, and Linguistics from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Women’s Studies from Georgetown University. Her research includes the working conditions, job satisfaction, and social network of part-time faculty at community colleges and redesigning developmental English.

In addition to being an educator, Dr. Millner has served the community as a volunteer on several boards. She was a member of the board of directors for Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Hartford Consortium on Higher Education, and All In Coalition – Achieve Hartford. She has also been a commissioner for the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on College Readiness. As CEO at MCC, she was a staff representative on Manchester Community College’s Foundation. Currently, she is a board member for the Manchester Historical Society and a member of Delta Sigma Sorority, Inc. Over the past 20 years, she has held several positions on Parent Teacher Organizations and Hartford Public Schools Governance Councils and Committees. Dr. Millner is also the mother of three sons.

Kerry A. Kelley

Kerry A. Kelley joined the CT State Community College in May 2020 with more than two decades of public finance leadership experience. A veteran Connecticut budget and policy advisor, Kerry is highly respected throughout the executive and legislative branches, and across the political spectrum, for her knowledge and leadership in state budget analysis, policymaking, and legislative affairs. Formerly, she was the fiscal and program policy section chief for education and workforce programs at the Office of Policy and Management, overseeing twelve state agencies with General Fund budgets totaling more than $4.1 billion annually. Kerry has a deep understanding of the legislative process having served as a budget and policy analyst with the Connecticut General Assembly’s non-partisan fiscal office. She is a leader in higher education policy and finance, serving on a variety of bodies in Connecticut and nationally including: the UConn Health Center Finance Corporation Board of Directors; the Connecticut Higher Education Planning Commission; the Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) Advisory Committee; Complete College America’s Connecticut Alliance Team; and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Children’s Savings Account Consortium.

Kerry was a 2006 Robert J. Thompson fellow, awarded by the Conference of State Governments and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. Kerry received a BA in Political Science from UConn, and MPA from UConn with a concentration in Public Finance. She and her husband reside in West Hartford.