From the President
Dear CSCU Community,
As you all enjoy the summer, I would like to express my appreciation to everyone in the CSCU community for a successful 2021-22 academic year and 17 wonderful commencement ceremonies.
As you can see from this month’s roundup, this upcoming academic year is bringing new beginnings with the appointment of a new Board of Regents Chair, as well as a new CSCU Provost and president of CT State.
There are also stories of great student and faculty accomplishments ranging from winning a national baseball championship and NASA Quadcopter Challenge to our 2021-22 Faculty Award Recipients. The accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students serve as a testament to the success of CSCU colleges and universities in providing a high-quality education to our students.
Please take a moment to read this month’s roundup, and if you have stories of your own you would like to see featured in future editions, please reach out to cscu-newsletter@ct.edu.
Sincerely,
Terrence Cheng
President, CSCU
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Governor Ned Lamont has appointed JoAnn Ryan to serve as chair of the Board of Regents (BOR), and Juanita T. James and James McCarthy to serve as board members. Ryan will succeed Matt Fleury as BOR chair, whose tenure ended on June 30, 2022.
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The No. 1-ranked Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors Division III baseball team won the program's fifth national championship with a sweep of Salisbury University at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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Dr. Hitesh Rai Kathuria was named provost and senior vice president of Academic and Student Affairs for the CSCU system. He began his tenure on June 3, 2022. Dr. Kathuria was previously assistant vice president in the Office of the Executive Vice President for University Academic Affairs at Indiana University.
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The Board of Regents appointed Dr. John Maduko president of Connecticut State Community College (CT State). Maduko, a medical doctor, was previously vice president of academic and student affairs for Minnesota State Community and Technical College.
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The Board of Regents for Higher Education named 17 CSCU faculty members as recipients of the annual 2021–22 Board of Regents Faculty Awards for excellence in teaching and research.
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James Barber, who gave 58 years of dedicated service to Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), used his career to advance inclusivity and access at SCSU. He was also presented with the President’s Medal at the 2022 undergraduate commencement ceremony.
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The BOR passed a resolution that will provide additional supports to refugees and asylum seekers seeking education at the 17 CSCU institutions.
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Barbers throughout Hartford have partnered with Capital Community College (CCC) to become ambassadors of the college through a unique community program devised by CCC CEO Duncan Harris. Lester Fitzgerald (left), owner of It’s A Gee Thang barber shop, is pictured with Harris (seated).
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Dr. Emily Todd (right) and Dr. Niti Pandey (left) were named deans at Eastern Connecticut State University. Todd is the new Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and Pandey is the new Dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies.
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Dr. John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas joined CT State as vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, where he will be responsible for providing transformative leadership, vision and direction for critical diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
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Steven Minkler, who has served as the college’s chief executive officer since 2017, accepted the position of associate vice president of academic affairs at Central Connecticut State University in April. Kimberly Hogan, former dean of administration at Middlesex Community College, began a new role as interim campus CEO on April 7, 2022.
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Jeffrey Teitler, Central Connecticut State University communication professor and Envision Films, with Hartford Healthcare and Medscape, collaborated on the documentary film COVIDLAND: A Film About Survival and Hope in the ICU, and won an Emmy® Award from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Boston/New England Region. The film documented the frontline efforts during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hartford Hospital’s ICU.
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Charter Oak State College will launch a new online degree program for future social workers. The B.S. Social Work (BSW) will begin in August 2022.
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Tatiana Melendez-Rhodes, associate professor and program coordinator of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Central Connecticut State University, is one of 36 educators in the country to be selected for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Emerging Leaders Program.
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Naugatuck Valley Community College’s (NVCC) STEM Club Team won the NASA CT Space Grant Consortium’s 2022 Community Quadcopter Challenge. The event was hosted by Central Connecticut State University at its Applied Innovation Hub, and featured teams from Norwalk, Naugatuck Valley, Northwestern Connecticut, Quinebaug Valley, and Tunxis Community Colleges. The Norwalk Community College team won for “Best Video Presentation.”
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Three Rivers Community College earned the 2022-23 Military Friendly® School Gold designation, meeting the thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement, and loan repayment for student veterans.
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Out of Bounds, a new play written and performed by Southern Connecticut State University students, was one of only four showcased at the Region 1 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF,) and received six KCACTF awards.
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Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) media students won top university awards and honorable mentions in the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/New England’s Collegiate Student Production Awards. Gabrielle Johnson (pictured) won for “Portraiture and Abstraction of the Human Form.”
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Western Connecticut State University will offer a new Master of Science in Homeland Security degree online program consisting of 36 credit hours and a capstone project beginning in fall of 2022.
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The Werth Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Housatonic Community College (HCC) competed its first semester after its launch this past year. Peter Werth invested $1 million to launch the Werth Center so students can start and grow their own businesses for financial security. Werth (second from left) is pictured with Dwayne Smith, HCC CEO (fifth from left), and students, faculty and staff.
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Eastern Connecticut State University will host the first New England Cannabis Research and Education Conference (NECREC) on October 21-22. Connecticut’s first academic conference on cannabis studies follows the launch of Eastern’s minor in Cannabis Cultivation and Chemistry, the first such program in the state following the legalization of recreational cannabis in July 2021.
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