During Eastern Connecticut State University’s recent walk and talk tour with area legislators, Eastern President Dr. Karim Ismaili welcomed the Greater Windham County legislative delegation for a tour highlighting key campus and community investments.
The visit featured the university’s new state-of-the-art nursing simulation lab at Windham Hospital, the Eastern Connecticut State University/Hartford HealthCare Center for Education, Simulation, and Innovation. The 6,500 square-foot facility is the largest of its kind and only hospital-based nurse-training center in Eastern Connecticut.
Legislators also toured Eastern’s Low Rise Residence Halls to highlight the growing need for modern student housing. Eastern is also exploring a collaboration with the Town of Windham to expand housing capacity by transforming the Kramer Building into a new residence hall.
Julia Meadows (left) and Grace Parkosewich (right), Western Connecticut State University (WestConn) seniors, combined their research and oratory skills to succeed at the Eastern Regional Tournament of the American Moot Court Association. They will travel to the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law in Memphis, Tennessee to compete in the preliminary rounds of the AMCA National Championship Tournament.
Student entrepreneurs from Connecticut State Community College (CT State) Housatonic earned top honors and major cash awards during the 2025 Werth Center Elevator Pitch Competition, showcasing innovative business ideas and entrepreneurial leadership. The students advanced through a highly competitive selection process that narrowed more than 50 submissions from across Connecticut to 19 finalists. All finalists received $50 for advancing and full funding for LLC business registration.
Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) was ranked among the top three research universities in Connecticut by Research.com in its 2026 Best Colleges report, placing it just behind Yale and the University of Connecticut among institutions statewide. The ranking also identifies SCSU as a top two Best Value College and Most Affordable College in the state.
Central Connecticut State University was awarded renewal for the prestigious 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, a national designation that underscores Central’s sustained commitment to meaningful partnerships that serve the public good. Central is one of 277 institutions nationwide to receive this elective classification issued by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in partnership with the American Council on Education.
The Facilities Department at Western Connecticut State University has participated in Eversource CT’s Strategic Energy Management (SEM) program since January 2024 with partners at Cascade Energy to identify opportunities that result in energy savings. In addition to capturing significant savings, WestConn was recognized by Eversource and Cascade as the SEM Champion in a competition that pitted six Connecticut State Colleges and Universities against one another in a race for who could amass the largest savings in the shortest amount of time.
Connecticut State Community College (CT State) Asnuntuck announced that this year’s McLaughlin Fellow in Leadership is Michael Morales of Hartford. Morales is president of CT State Asnuntuck’s Student Government Association, enrolled in the campus’s advanced manufacturing technology program, and is a member of both the National Technical Honor Society and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
The Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Center for Nanotechnology now has a new name and expanded mission. Following approval by the Board of Regents, the center, which is located at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), will now be known as the CSCU Center for Quantum and Nanotechnology (QNT). This change reflects the state’s increasing investment in quantum technologies and highlights the center as a leader in advancing research and education in quantum technologies and nanoscale science.
Eastern Connecticut State University’s Department of Health Sciences and Nursing was awarded a $75,000 grant from the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA) to benefit the University’s nursing program. The grant will be used to purchase new simulation equipment for Eastern’s three on-campus simulation labs, which prepare nursing students for real-world clinical scenarios.
