2023
Dear CT State Colleagues and Friends,
We have reached the end of the semester and calendar year, with many of you leaving for a well-deserved break. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you do and your commitment to the success of our students, community, and state-wide institution.
This semester has been challenging in many areas due to our existence as a new college, budgetary constraints, and domestic and global crises. Throughout this semester, members of our college community have shared their successes and pain points with me. I am constantly reminded to listen to our stakeholders so that the college is responsibly addressing our college community's needs while supporting their diverse ideas and views.
As we head into the new year, we must continue to work towards stabilizing CT State through collaboration, shared governance, and care for the needs of our students, employees, and campuses.
January and February will serve as opportunities for us to hold legislative events with members of the general assembly across our campuses to demonstrate our value and impact on our students, workforce sectors and communities. The office of the president and those of our campus CEOs/presidents will work with the CSCU system office to schedule those legislative breakfast meetings.
On January 14, 2024, CT State will submit its fourth progress report to NECHE (New England Commission of Higher Education) that updates the commission on the college’s progress with accomplishing tasks and goals slated to be completed between June 2023 and January 2024 that include enrollment and financial goals, progress with establishing college-wide assessment, and matters noted in our letter of April 12, 2023. As always, the College will make all communication and documentation between NECHE and CT State available.
In early February, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) National Legislative Summit, the premier community college advocacy event in Washington, D.C., will bring together more than 1,000 community college leaders. The event highlights the importance of our nation’s community colleges for Congress and the Administration. National Legislative Summit participants will hear from members of U.S. Congress, administration officials, leading political analysts, and other high-profile speakers about the current climate in D.C., upcoming election prospects, and legislative issues impacting community colleges. My office plans on bringing a team of leaders and representatives from our faculty and students to attend the summit and join the advocacy for community colleges.
In January, my office will update the college on the timeline and plans to initiate the permanent searches for current interim executive leadership roles, campus CEOs, and the Vice President of Enrollment Management.
During the Spring 2024 semester, I will embark on open forums and events with students across our campus to hear and learn about their experiences, challenges, needs, and goals. I have yet to answer the question of Connecticut’s best pizza joint, so I hope our students can lead me to the most diplomatic response.
In January, Provost Brown will join me to broadcast the State of the College, highlighting our successes and milestones for the 2023 calendar year, current strategic opportunities, student equity gaps, and what lies ahead for the remainder of the academic year. More details about this event will be made available in the new year.
CT State is an incredible community of students, faculty, staff, alums and friends. Our students are intelligent, passionate, and fueled by worthy ambitions. Our faculty, staff, and alums are dedicated allies of CT State and its mission to strive for academic excellence and student success in all that we do. In addition, CT State greatly mirrors the beautiful and unique cultures across Connecticut and beyond.
I look forward to continuing our shared work in 2024, when we will again unite to make CT State, our communities, Connecticut, our country, and the world a better place for everyone. I also send my season’s greetings in this holiday video that includes a semester wrap-up.
Please take time over the holidays to rest, recharge, and reflect. Thank you for all that you do.
Happy Holidays, and In Partnership,
President John Maduko
CT State Colleagues and Friends,
Earlier today, the Board of Regents for Higher Education held a special meeting to hear from the CSCU system office officials and the presidents from the six-member institutions, including Connecticut State Community College, to provide budget mitigation plans for the FY24 and FY25 fiscal years.
As you know, CT State is facing a historic fiscal deficit and structural imbalance beyond enrollment decline. Our experience mirrors what is happening nationally with a highly volatile higher education landscape. Penn State University flagship, Rutgers University, West Virginia University, and other large and prominent 2-year and 4-year institutions and systems face a perfect storm of financial challenges.
As President, our Board of Regents and Chancellor tasked me with addressing our biennial deficit. We initially assessed the least painful option with a heavy reliance on our reserves. Still, CT State does not have enough reserves to address our biennial deficit and preserve rainy-day funds. Reserves are not meant to maintain recurring expenditures like operations, services, programs, and staffing.
A deficit model and mindset are not sustainable and jeopardize being true to our mission and values. Through the spirit of transparency and shared governance, we had to rethink how to establish fiscal sustainability and solvency.
Our incredible team of vice presidents and 12 campus CEOs/Presidents were in attendance today, who represent and lead our outstanding faculty and staff, and were asked to do the impossible. All campus locations, including our Central Office in New Britain, were directed by my office to mitigate large deficit targets. At the same time, we embarked on launching the newest college in New England. This has been an extremely painful process.
Our mitigation report summarized eliminating $83.6 million of our $124.9 million biennial deficit, fully extinguishing our FY24 deficit of $33.6 million, and reducing our FY25 deficit from $91.3 million to $41.3 million.
Our plan for FY24 results in:
• No layoffs of bargained employees,
• No closures of academic programs and
• No closures of our 18 campus and satellite locations.
In no way is this a perfect plan. Nor are we happy to take these drastic measures because every action involves and impacts the very people we serve, our students and employees.
I acknowledge that you have heard that we have reduced staffing, we have, those being managerial/confidential executive administrators and temporary employees, which we did not take lightly. Our employees are the engine of our mission and commitment to our students, so it pains us to see the impact on our college community.
I know that balancing and maintaining the state budget is a complicated and arduous process, so we continue to appreciate Governor Lamont’s administration, the Connecticut General Assembly, our Board of Regents, and the taxpayers of Connecticut for their support of us. We will continue to advocate for our full funding. We are proud to serve the great state of Connecticut, and investing in its lone community college is an investment in our communities, industries, and economy.
In the spirit of transparency, the QR Code below will provide access to the CT State FY24-25 Budget Mitigation Plan presentation and a comprehensive report with appendices that detail each budget mitigation strategy, action, and initiative.
I want to thank our faculty and staff, including our bargaining units and statewide and local governance bodies, who advocate for our students and employees.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community Colleg
On Saturday, October 7, news outlets began to report that the Hamas terrorist group had stormed into Israeli towns and communities, killing hundreds and kidnapping others in a horrific attack. A conflict ensued between Israel and Hamas, where over 1,200 people have died in Israel, including at least 22 Americans, and over 1,100 people have died in Gaza and the West Bank. We condemn the terrorist attack on Israel at the hands of Hamas, mourn for the Israeli victims, mourn for Palestinian victims trapped in the middle of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors in the region.
You may ask where was our immediate response to these tragedies. We want to be an institution beyond statements and evolve where we provide support and resources to our college members, students, and employees.
To be clear, we at CT State Community College are deeply troubled by the unfolding violence in Israel and Gaza. Terrorism, including the murder and kidnapping of civilians, is never justified as a solution to disagreement and conflict. In that light, we strongly condemn the violent attacks by Hamas militants on the people of Israel. As an institution of higher education, we will concentrate on supporting those members of our college community who are directly or indirectly impacted by these tragic events.
If you or someone you know needs support, we encourage you to take advantage of the free campus resources available.
We recognize that members of our community may view these conflicts differently and struggle to process the complexity of the current and historic tensions in the Middle East. We also understand that feelings expressed may vary from despair and fear to anger and frustration, especially when war and violence risk the lives and safety of loved ones.
The college will partner with our campus-based employee resource groups, DEI councils, and external community-based organizations to provide additional support outlets for our employees and students. CT State’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider is the Lexington Group. You can reach them by phone at 1-800-676-HELP or via their website. The unique employee password is cscuE.
CT State is a part of a global community. As agents of care, we must extend compassion to each other. Please join me in extending our support and thoughts to the impacted communities during this challenging time.
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
I am excited to announce that on September 28, CT State received its countersigned Program Participation Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education that authorizes the college to participate in the Title IV financial aid programs. Our CT State federal school code on the FAFSA is officially 007635 for all campuses. While this is welcome and exciting news in the young history of CT State, the U.S. Department of Education has recommended that we push back our scheduled financial aid disbursement date from October 2 to October 10 as a result of additional actions that must be completed to prepare for disbursement.
This delay will inherently impact our students who are anticipating refund checks and loan proceeds to provide assistance for food, housing, and transportation. The Financial Aid Office has already taken the necessary steps to provide for aid disbursement on October 10 and minimize any further holdup. Additionally, we have reached out to the remaining 1,000 enrolled students who still have a legacy OPEID listed on their FAFSA and will address matters concerning existing CPoS alerts. It is imperative that we continue these efforts until every student on the list has updated their FAFSA and the appropriate steps have been taken to resolve CPoS alerts. As a next step, a meeting will be scheduled for all front-facing student support service departments and staff to provide guidance on how to support students during this process.
On October 10, CT State will provide the following disbursements:
- $33.5 million in federal funding to more than 14,000 Pell students
- $10.7 million in federal funding to more than 2,900 student loan borrowers
- Campus-based funding of $1.4 million in federal work-study
- $1.4 million in the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
- $11.8 million in PACT funds to 11,517 students
A financial aid dashboard is available for those who may want additional details.
You may be aware there is concern of a looming federal government shutdown that may begin on October 1. While the U.S. Department of Education was unable to provide a direct response on how this may impact our institution, the department’s public-facing contingency plan is available for review, where skeleton staff would be available for a set period of time to ensure federal aid disbursements can be obligated as needed. We will continue to monitor the status of a potential federal government shutdown as well as provide a comprehensive summary on our college communications page for the benefit of students, faculty, and staff.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Dear CT State Community,
CSCU Chancellor Cheng has tasked the institutional presidents to develop deficit mitigation planning and strategies to reach a balanced budget. In June, the biennial budget for CT State that was approved per the recent legislative session did not provide us with the resources to maintain the current level of services that we are accustomed to. The biennial budget is disappointing for each institution in the CSCU system but is exponentially severe for CT State. The System received additional funding for FY24 to help transition to this new reality of a constrained budget. CT State faces significant shortfalls of $33.6 million in AY24, $91.3 million in AY25, and $118 million in AY26.
Our budget mitigation plans and those of our sister institutions, including the Connecticut State Universities and Charter Oak State College, will be presented to the Board of Regents in early November.
Chancellor Cheng and the Board of Regents’ expectations are that we identify solutions that will solve our budget issues over the next three fiscal years. We need solutions that maximize our revenue in addition to solutions that streamline our operations while also remaining true to our core mission. Deficit mitigation will consist of strategies for boosting enrollment and retention, generating direct and ancillary revenue, and reducing recurring expenses.
I have tasked each campus CEO/President with developing a balanced campus budget plan by Sept. 15. Those budget plans will be considered and finalized as part of our overall goal of closing our fiscal gap of $33.6 million in the 23-24 academic year (AY24).
Each Vice President over statewide functional areas of CT State, including Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management, has also been tasked with trimming their divisional bottom line. This will impact operations on our campuses, personnel, and managerial-confidential personnel based out of the college’s central office in New Britain.
The majority of our total budget is dedicated to personnel salary and fringe. New hiring will only proceed for needs prioritizing instruction, student-facing services, public safety, equity work, and facilities/IT infrastructure.
We must always be able to provide services like tutoring, libraries, holistic services like our food pantries, writing labs, disability services, and wellness counseling. They are the cornerstones of academic and student support services. Creativity, flexibility, and the ability to adapt to continue to provide these services within budget will be essential.
Other measures that are under consideration per our budget mitigation strategies are as follows:
- Modifying facility hours of operation
- Cost-cutting measures to reduce utility usage
- Modifying food and travel expenditures (will require the CEO or Vice President's approval)
- Reduction of overtime
- Voluntary Schedule Reduction Program (anyone interested should contact HR Shared Services)
I urge you to connect and partner with your campus CEOs or divisional Vice Presidents with your ideas for increasing enrollment, improving student persistence and retention, increasing student credit hours, generating revenue, and streamlining operations. We will work with and through our shared governance bodies locally on campuses and at the state college level to meet our budget and deficit goal in the most thoughtful, transparent, and responsible manner.
My office will continue to update the college community regarding our budget deficit and plans. CSCU Chancellor Cheng will also issue updates to all member institutions. This will be a difficult and painful process, requiring each of us to challenge current practices and behaviors while remaining steadfast in our support of our students and each other.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
CT State Colleagues and Friends,
In less than 24 hours, we embark on our first moments as Connecticut State Community College, the state’s lone comprehensive and open-enrollment community college that serves all residents of Connecticut with the mission to provide inclusive, equitable, and affordable access to higher education that support students’ goals for post-graduate success and family-sustaining careers. I am beyond disappointed by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to prohibit the use of race in college admissions. This decision undermines the countless years of civil rights and social progress that elevated the importance of diversity and will setback advances in the fight against inequalities inside and outside of post-secondary education.
The benefits of affirmative action policies have been rooted in the pursuit to diversify our institutions of higher education to reflect the identities, backgrounds, cultures, ideas, and lived experiences of historically and systemically underserved, minoritized, and disenfranchised communities. Our institutions and campuses also benefit from the ability to produce diverse graduates that provide a variety of perspectives and opportunities to the workforce.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging were integral to our 12 legacy community colleges and will remain at the core of our values. We will continue to commit our efforts to close the equity and opportunity gaps among our students and employees while ensuring that our new college mirrors Connecticut's vibrant and beautiful diversity. We remain dedicated to fostering learning environments, experiences, and opportunities for all residents of Connecticut to enable them to thrive across our communities.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Greetings, Colleagues and Friends,
The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), at its June 16 meeting held in York Harbor, Maine, voted to grant initial accreditation to Connecticut State Community College effective July 1, 2023.
For over seven years, thousands of stakeholders and tens of thousands of hours have made this momentous plan a reality.
We are very pleased with the commission’s decision to approve our candidacy, which officially allows for the consolidation of our 12 legacy community colleges and the launch of Connecticut State Community College as a singly accredited multi-campus institution.
While there is still much work to be done through a continuous improvement process, this announcement marks a pivotal milestone in our college’s early history in establishing our mission of transforming lives and communities here in the great state of Connecticut through higher education.
We are thankful and humbled for the commission’s acknowledgment that CT State clearly complies with all nine of NECHE’s Standards of Accreditation, signifying a quality institution.
We now await the official letter from NECHE at the beginning of next month that will outline a series of steps to ensure we maintain our progress and prepare for a site visit on our campuses in the Spring of 2025, followed by a focus evaluation in the Fall of 2027.
Our next steps will be to continue finalizing the technical and regulatory aspects of the merger, prepare to welcome CT State’s inaugural class this fall semester, address the concerns around the logistics of the merger, and work in partnership with our faculty and staff to stabilize the initial aspects of our new college.
Many thanks to the faculty, staff, and administrators from across our campuses and in New Britain who tirelessly worked to help CT State satisfy and comply with NECHE’s standards, our colleagues in the CSCU shared services departments of finance, IT, general counsel, human resources, and facilities for their support and involvement throughout the process, our Board of Regents and President Cheng’s office, and last, but not least Drs. Michael Rooke and Mary Ellen Jukoski for their leadership in managing the progress report process.
Please click the link below to view NECHE’s public statement on CT State’s approval for initial accreditation.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Happy Friday:
Last week I shared several leadership updates. As we finish off another week, I could not wait to share a few more!
I am pleased to announce that I have selected Dr. Manuel Gomez as the interim CEO of Housatonic Community College. Dr. Gomez is currently the Associate Vice President of Academic Operations for CT State. He will continue to perform key duties as part of Academic Affairs while assuming the interim role at HCC. Prior to his service in Connecticut, Dr. Gomez held high-level positions including vice president and associate provost roles at community colleges in Arizona and South Dakota.
Dr. Gomez will begin transitioning as soon as possible. HCC’s former CEO Dr. Dwayne Smithhas already begun his new role as the interim President of Southern Connecticut State University.
Permanent CEO searches for both Housatonic and Gateway will commence in the Fall 2023 semester.
In addition, I am thrilled to share that Dr. Joshua Searcy will be joining the CT State team as the new Dean of Social & Behavioral Science as of June 16. Dr. Searcy comes to us from Baltimore City Community College and has an extensive background in education, particularly health and kinesiology education, as well as experience working with justice-involved populations and prison education programs. He will work directly under incoming CT State Provost Dr. Levy Brown, whose first day is June 19.
With Gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Colleagues and Friends,
Today marks the end of my first year as president of Connecticut State Community College. Thank you for your contributions and support to making this year remarkable and hopeful as we race towards a new beginning as one statewide community college. I have appreciated engaging with our vibrant students and dedicated (and resilient, opinionated, thoughtful, brutally honest, and wise) faculty, staff, administrators, and lifelong alumni and friends. I have learned from all of you how the history of our 12 legacy community colleges is entwined into the fabric of our communities. We have endured much together while accomplishing many great things this academic year.
The genuine support for my family and me as we relocated to Connecticut and the countless warm welcomes I received during my many visits to our beautiful campuses, the many meetings, open forums, and town halls with campus teams and community partners have humbled me with the relationships I have built and sustained over this first year.
Despite the many challenges brought about through the process of the merger, there were also many indicators of the growing acknowledgment of CT State and our 12 great colleges as sources of outstanding curricular and co-curricular achievements.
Here is a listing of just a few:
Our 12 legacy community colleges and what will be CT State are reaching more students now than during the height of the global pandemic! This spring, we saw a double-digit increase in new students year-over-year, double-digit gains with our Black and Latinx male students, and 8% and 9% overall increases with Black and Latinx students, respectfully, from last year.
After years of remote environments, our campus communities reintroduced our first-class academic ecosystems and holistic student support services to provide tangible, experiential learning opportunities through a mosaic of modalities, faculty providing their lifelong and real-world experiences, and student affairs practitioners committed to developing confidence in our diverse student body. As a result, our students are prepared to become the professional and global leaders of tomorrow.
CT State has cultivated and expanded our partnerships to provide workforce development student learning opportunities. For example, we collaborated with Accenture at Capital Community College to enable our students to explore a career in Information Technology in a year-long paid apprenticeship that provides hands-on training and mentorship in the field. We also secured a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor for our Asnuntuck, Capital, Gateway, Housatonic, Manchester, Naugatuck Valley, Norwalk, and Quinebaug Valley colleges to close equity gaps and provide students with pathways to in-demand information technology jobs.
CT State has taken significant steps this year toward strengthening our long-term viability in student mental health and public safety. We have committed to bringing on mental health and wellness counselors to address the mental health needs of our students. In addition, earlier in the year, we hired and swore-in our inaugural chief of police to address the public safety and emergency preparedness needs among our vast and complex 18 locations across the state.
Our ongoing efforts to reinforce relationships with Connecticut lawmakers resulted in much-needed funding to CT State in critical areas. CT State received $1.2 million in state grants per the CT Health Horizons to increase the number of didactic and clinical faculty to help increase overall seats in our RN programs.
Arts & Humanities faculty and students demonstrated academic excellence throughout the year - from Denis Roussel Award 2022 Work of Merit recipient Jessica Somers, to Capital Community College's Hartford Heritage Project, to Northwestern Professor of Environmental Science and Biology Dr. Tara Jo Holmberg being elected as the president of the National Association of Biology Teachers, to NVCC’s Theater Department’s production of the play Everybody selected as a regional finalist in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, to Norwalk students Derriffee Graham and Carter DeMarcoessays being published in the CT Mirror.
Healthcare, Manufacturing, and STEM successes by our faculty, staff, and students spanned the state - from Professor of Mathematics Diane Hillyer being named the Connecticut Science Center STEM Achievement Award Higher Education Honoree, to Interim Director of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center Sharon Lutkus receiving the Spring Industry Community Advocate Award, to Gateway’s Radiography program receiving its eight-year reaccreditation from the JRCERT accreditor.
Though we accomplished much in the last 12 months, I would be remiss in failing to recognize the level of trauma, exhaustion, and sense of grieving our colleagues across our colleges have endured throughout the pandemic and merger. Therefore, a considerable element of our stabilization will be making the platform and space available for people to heal.
I’m eager to see what our future holds as we transition to CT State and embark on new opportunities, pending new realities with our fiscal health, and the growing need to educate, develop, and train traditional and non-traditional learners.
There are literally thousands of individuals that I owe many thanks since my first day. In no specific order and far from an exhaustive list, these individuals represent the greatness of our students, faculty, staff, and leaders who I’m privileged to serve every day:
Dennisse Arroyo
Adam Scobie
Lisa Calabrese
Daniel Nocera
Carl Guerriere
Tam O’Day Stevens
James Wilkinson
Rob Sheftel
Cynthia Arpin
Anarelis Cruz
Jeanette Rivera Epps
Gordon Plouffe
Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye
Juan Munoz-Polvo
Nicola Ricker
Maribel Lopez
Julia Revellese
Alison Wang
Luis Sánchez-Chiriboga
Adrien Esdaile
Robin Morris
Vita Litvin
As we await to stand up CT State together, I ask that you continue to engage, speak your truth, and counsel me on what is best for our community of educators and leaders to build a community college that advocates, inspires, and mobilizes the residents of Connecticut. Who you are and what you provide are essential to ensuring our students maximize the opportunities they need to thrive.
Thank you so much for your continuing support.
In Partnership,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
The end of the spring semester and the beginning of summer is always a time of excitement and change. Let me get right to updating you on a series of news items across CT State.
I am pleased to announce that I have selected Kim Hogan as the permanent CEO of Middlesex Community College. Ms. Hogan has served as interim CEO since April 2022 and prior to that was its Dean of Administration. Her commitment to the campus and Middlesex community is unmatched. I will share a more detailed congratulatory announcement separately.
Next, today we say “See You Soon” (not good-bye) to Dr. Dwayne Smith on his last day as CEO of Housatonic Community College. Tomorrow, he begins as the interim President of Southern Connecticut State University. We wish him nothing but the best and we know that he will continue to be a strong partner and champion for our scholars.
Dr. William “Terry” Brown shared with his campus community earlier today that he will be stepping down as Gateway’s CEO to accept a position as part of the Strategic Partnership & Enterprise Performance division serving all of CT State Community College. This division is under Executive Vice President Dr. Thomas Coley and includes grant administration and development, institutional effectiveness and strategic partnerships around advancement, business and industry, and P-20 initiatives that support collaboration between college-level academics, K-12 and workforce training.
In the interim, I have tapped Dr. Scott Kalicki to step in at Gateway. Dr. Kalicki previously served as interim CEO at Manchester Community College, and currently serves as the interim Vice President of Campus Operations for CT State. He will provide leadership and stability while the search for a permanent CEO takes place.
Both the Gateway and Housatonic permanent CEO searches will commence in the Fall 2023 semester. I will announce my selection of the interim Housatonic CEO once final internal candidate interviews are completed.
Other important updates:
- We anticipate that we will successfully close out the 2022-2023 academic year this summer in time for the US Department of Education to complete our transition to one college in time for Fall 2023 with minimal disruption to student financial aid.
- Our final report to NECHE will be filed tomorrow, June 1 and will be posted at: https://www.ct.edu/merger/neche. The September 2022 and February 2023 reports and our Substantive Change Report are also viewable here. President Terrence Cheng and I, and CT State executive leadership will meet in person with NECHE leadership in mid-June.
- Budget Town Halls have taken place at 10 campuses so far. These have been extremely beneficial for me to connect directly with faculty and staff on our budget deficit mitigation efforts, and also to continue to gain insight into campus priorities that directly impact my decision-making.
Finally, as I mentioned in my May 1 President’s Post, we have instituted a modified hiring process that will be in place until it is determined where we land with the FY24 budget. In the meantime, the current process to review and approve positions that are ready to fill AND fall within priority areas listed has been expanded to include part-time and temporary personnel requests, including non-credit lecturers, across the college. That was followed by specific guidance documents available here: https://www.ct.edu/hr/forms#hiring . New and modified guidance continues to be developed.
Personnel requests will continue to be reviewed and signed-off on by the campus CEOs/Presidents or CT State Vice President before they reach final approval. Therefore, critical vacancies and hires will be identified and prioritized. Requests to Fill (RTF) positions are considered on a weekly basis.
As a reminder, these are our priority areas:
- Teaching and Learning
- Student Support Services
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Commitments
- Campus and Public Safety
- Physical Plant and Technological Infrastructure
Sincerely,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
With our commencement ceremonies and celebrations of student success complete, we can look back on this week and this year with a sense of pride that the efforts of our faculty, staff, and leaders manifested into life-changing opportunities for our students. Now, we must collectively look forward to the horizon of a soon-to-be statewide community college.
To that end, I am excited to share with you that CT State is beginning to build our own Division of Human Resources.
The first step is to bring in experts to help us to assess our needs. We are contracting with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a non-profit membership organization established in 1951 to support public colleges and universities to strengthen academic quality, promote access and inclusion, and facilitate educational innovation.
Beginning this summer, AASCU will help us to map out CT State’s transformational and operational initiatives by assessing our organizational design and culture, process evaluation, design, and areas for improvement.
In addition, we will soon embark on a national search to identify CT State’s inaugural Vice President of Human Resources, who will report to me and lead this new division, which will include a dedicated Human Resources Generalist on every campus and will determine the most logical infrastructure for HR functions and payroll.
As AASCU does its work, I will appreciate your cooperation and input. There will be many opportunities to provide feedback and ideas. Please take advantage of this process and help us to build a division that, above all else, serves our valued faculty and staff in the best way possible.
This initiative reflects my commitment since joining CT State almost exactly one year ago to do what is best for us as one college and to align with the demands of our campuses. Our Division of Human Resources will exemplify excellence in all operations, actions, and interactions to consistently meet and exceed the needs of our community of educators, professionals, and leaders. This is one of many exciting foundational components that will shape the future of Connecticut State Community College.
Sincerely,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Today I write to provide updates on our state biennial budget and how you can continue to help with advocacy.
Budget Outlook
As was shared in CSCU President Cheng's message to the entire CSCU system, should the state budget as it is currently proposed become law, it would force the issue of layoffs to 650 full-time faculty and staff and eliminate nearly 3,000 part-time positions. This would harm students, harm the state’s workforce, and harm communities.
In the Fall of 2022, CSCU directed institutional leaders and their chief financial officers to develop budget mitigation plans in the event of a substantial shortfall. Through a collaborative process with campus leaders, draft scenarios were created to envision scenarios for revenue-generating and achieving savings in the state-funded and tuition/fee-supported portions of our operating budget. Implementation strategies will determine if the increased revenues and cost-cutting measures would need to be continuous over future academic years to produce tangible results.
Grounded by our shared commitment to protecting our core mission, CT State's highest priorities align with the following areas:
- Teaching and Learning
- Student Support Services
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Commitments
- Campus and Public Safety
- Physical Plant and Technological Infrastructure
CT State initiated a comprehensive budget development process with campus leaders in late February. Through guidance and partnership with our central office and campus leaders, we are deliberating the necessary steps to maintain our current level of services across our legacy campuses and satellite locations.
Where do we go from here?
Although the administration and campus officials may be asked to answer questions about the current state of affairs regarding the proposed biennial budget, the main focus now is on the FY24 budget deliberations that will continue throughout May at the state Capitol. I and President Cheng continue to engage with local and statewide elected officials to garner support to increase the proposed Appropriations budget. I encourage all who are Connecticut residents to advocate to your elected representatives for our system's critical needs. Contact information for state elected officials is attached.
After the state budget has been approved - likely by the end of the legislative session on June 7th - CSCU and all member institutions including CT State will receive our FY24 budget allocation. CT State leaders will work to develop a balanced budget that preserves our core mission and recommend it to the Board of Regents for consideration and adoption in June. In response to the CT General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee budget proposal, CT State and other CSCU institutions have submitted the required updated budget mitigation plans and forecasts to President Cheng’s office so that a complete estimate of CSCU’s fiscal projections and shortfalls can be calculated.
Staffing and Operations
On April 24th, the CT State central office instituted a modified hiring process that will be in place until it is determined where we land with the FY24 budget. In the meantime, the current process to review and approve positions that are ready to fill AND fall within the priority areas listed above will expand to include part-time and temporary personnel requests across the college. Grant-funded positions will be part of the review but will receive special consideration. Personnel requests will continue to be reviewed and signed-off on by the campus CEOs/Presidents or CT State Vice President before they reach final approval. Therefore, critical vacancies and hires will be identified and prioritized. Requests to Fill (RTF) positions are considered on a weekly basis.
More guidance is forthcoming. In the meantime, specific questions can be sent to CTState-RTF@commnet.edu.
CSCU Day of Action at the State Capital
Thursday, April 27 was the Day of Action at the state Capitol, where CEOs, faculty, staff and students from across our campuses, the four state universities and Charter Oak State College turned out to talk directly with legislators about the current budget proposal. Our representatives were receptive to our messages, and our Government Relations staff feels that the day demonstrated the urgency and breadth of impact that the budget shortfall would have.
A proposed second Day of Action on May 4 will not take place.
Thank you to everyone for your advocacy, not just at the Day of Action but every day. Our collective voices will be what makes the difference.
Finally, and importantly, please be on the lookout for continued announcements from CT State and my office, new developments, and additional opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to lend their voice to our needs. Despite this somber news, May represents the end of a fruitful and meaningful journey for our soon-to-be graduates. Commencement events remind us of our world-class faculty and staff's expertise, support, and sacrifices that will propel our students toward their post-graduate success.
I look forward to celebrating graduation ceremonies with you as we recognize our graduates and all members of the CT State Community.
Sincerely,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College
Good Morning,
In just under a year of working together, Dr. Dwayne Smith has stood out as an exemplary leader. As CEO of Housatonic Community College, he believes deeply that higher education has the potential to serve as one of society’s greatest drivers of equity, and he holds the responsibility of educating our students with the utmost seriousness.
Today, I am writing to share with the CT State community that beginning June 1, Dr. Dwayne Smith will assume the role of interim president of Southern Connecticut State University. I could not be happier for my colleague and friend.
As I said in my message last week, we are an organization under development, which is exciting and challenging. It can feel like the wheels of change never stop turning. I will work closely with HCC campus leaders and community stakeholders on a transitional and a permanent leadership plan for Housatonic. Dr. Smith and I are also committed to a successful wrap-up to the spring semester. I plan to spend extra time on the Housatonic campus to be sure I am as tuned-in and accessible as possible during the transition, and to help on-board whomever the next leader of Housatonic will be.
In the meantime, I want to use this space to highlight the ways that Dr. Smith has served Housatonic and CT State so well.
Since 2020, Dr. Smith has served as CEO of Housatonic Community College where he has brought unparalleled energy and passion to the job, immersing himself in the greater Bridgeport community and tirelessly advocating for the campus and its students. I have also been impressed with his work on academic affairs, student support services, external advancement and fundraising.
In the last three years, HCC has been awarded $1 million in federal funding to support the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center, $1.3 million for college students affected by the pandemic, and support from local foundations including KeyBank and Patriot Bank to support student economic and food security. His advocacy also made possible a $1 million private gift to launch of Werth Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. In addition, HCC’s Equity Project was launched with a personal $10,000 commitment from Dr. Smith to aid under-resourced scholars. Following his lead, individuals, foundations, and companies became donors and the fund now exceeds $400,000.
Dwayne is known for engagement with the community and students, often volunteering at local non-profits and serving on nine boards in the region to support philanthropy, workforce development, mental health, economic and educational endeavors. He also started the first ever HCC podcast series called The Journey: Stories of Triumph. As a distinguished higher education leader, he was honored at the 100 Men of Color Awards in June 2021, and was named among the NAACPs 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut.
I will of course be sad to lose him at Housatonic, but I know he will serve the state and the CSCU system well in the role of interim president at Southern. SCSU’s current president, Dr. Joe Bertolino, has accepted a new position as president of Stockton University in New Jersey.
I am heartened to know that Dr. Smith will be close-by in New Haven, helping the relationship between the community colleges and SCSU to thrive and setting an example for the rest of the state.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
We are an organization under development, which is exciting and challenging. As your president, I am constantly gathering input and assessing what is in the best interest of CT State, and, how best to allocate resources to meet the needs of our students first and the organization. I am writing to share some recent changes that illustrate CT State’s efforts to optimize its organizational operating structure.
We are in the midst of a transitional period during which a number of organizational adaptations are being considered so that by the end of the Spring 2023 semester I can share a clear vision with you.
In the meantime, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Enterprise Performance Dr. Thomas Coley has assumed temporarily oversight over Workforce and Economic Development. Interim Vice President for Campus Operations Dr. Scott Kalicki temporarily oversees Dr. Michael Buccilli and the division of Student Success Management, which includes Guided Pathways Advising.
CT State has eliminated the positions of Executive Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development and Executive Vice President of College Services and Student Affairs. Those who previously held these roles include Dr. James Lombella who has moved on to new opportunities, and Dr. Robert Steinmetz who continues to provide support and work for the institution.
Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness led by CT State Chief of Police Chris Chute has moved permanently within the division of Finance and Administration under Vice President Kerry Kelley. In January, Chief Chute was sworn in as our inaugural police chief during a ceremony hosted at Naugatuck Valley Community College that drew law enforcement leadership from across the state and within the CSCU system. Efforts are underway to expand capacity in public safety so that each campus has the resources and staff it needs to keep our students, faculty, staff, and visitors safe.
In February, we announced that we are expanding mental health services to every campus by adding seven full-time, licensed counselors, exemplifying our commitment to expanding and improving student services.
In early March, many faculty, staff and students took the opportunity to meet the five finalists for CT State Provost. These higher education leaders each spent the day in Connecticut as part of their vetting process and each would bring a unique perspective and experience as our chief academic officer. I will be announcing my selection within the next two weeks.
As detailed in my 100 Day Report, my decisions are based on the needs of our students, campuses, and surrounding communities. We will continue the path toward stabilizing, building, and thriving by finding a balance between local autonomy and statewide standardization, while collaborating through a lens of equity and inclusion. My vision continues to be shaped by regular campus visits, welcoming and respecting authentic feedback and recommendations from our campus communities, and ongoing input from all of you.
We must never stop recognizing what a vibrant, diverse, and integral part of our communities we are. As we continue to work through the changes related to becoming one college, it can feel like the wheels of change never stop turning. Nevertheless, we must adapt to meet the demands of the evolving higher education landscape, and demonstrate a commitment to responsible resource allocation.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Dear Students, Colleagues and Friends,
Our national and local news has been flooded with video of the deplorable and inhumane killing of Tyre Nichols, which was released last Friday by the Memphis, Tennessee, police department officials.
Our condolences to the family and community of Tyre Nichols. As we grapple with the images of Mr. Nichols’ death at the hands of local law enforcement, we struggle to understand how these officers can ignore all dignity and respect for life and the law. The five police officers were terminated, and the police department was arrested and charged with murder. We await the criminal justice system to apply justice in this case.
I am disheartened and livid by this horrific killing; but sadly not shocked, instead numb to this reality in our communities. Unfortunately, we are well versed in recent and past fatal incidents to others that have taken place across our country. Systemic and historical racism and discrimination toward communities of color continue to be prevalent.
Already reeling from this tragedy, we continue to witness violence and discrimination towards our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, most recently in California, specifically in Monterey Park, CA, which is only 6 miles from my hometown of San Gabriel. I share the fatigue, anger, and dissolution of processing these deaths and the need to speak about the most unthinkable. Just one of the unsettling facts to come out of the Memphis killing is that one of the now former Memphis officers, Desmond Mills Jr. graduated from Bloomfield (CT) High School in 2008.
CT State Police Chief Chris Chute, who spent his career rising from patrolman to Chief of Police with the city of New Britain, shared these thoughts:
“The tragic death of Tyre Nichols is horrific and unforgivable. Upon learning of Mr. Nichols death and subsequently watching of the body camera video makes me sick to my stomach,” Chute said. Not only were the actions taken by the officers appalling, the failure of anyone to intervene in the matter was inexcusable. These former officers have broken the sacred oath of their office and shocked the conscience of the people across the country.”
“The members of the Connecticut State Community College law enforcement team condemn the actions taken by these officers. We are committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect. Safety and security are the top priorities of the service we provide to our students, staff, and faculty. Our condolences and deepest sympathy go out to the family of Mr. Nichols,” he said.
Where do we go from here? For now, please take care of yourself, your wellness, and those you care about. People are grieving and processing all of this, so we respect the time needed to cope. We are here for you, and CT State Community College and 12 legacy community colleges will always advocate for equity and justice.
We recognize that you may find yourself in a caretaking role, supporting your peers, classmates, and friends while also seeking to care for your own needs. Thank you for the compassion and empathy you extend to others, yet we recognize the mental, emotional, and physical toll this can have on anyone.
If you find yourself needing to talk to someone, please take advantage of services available. Faculty and staff can access mental health services via our Employee Assistance Program as part of your HR benefits. Students have access to on-campus mental health counseling as well as telehealth mental health service through CT State’s TimelyCare MD site or app.
Suppose you wish to get involved as an agent of social change? In that case, there is an array of campus, community, state, and national organizations working towards system reform as CT State will look to continue to pursue social change through our mechanism and external levels of influence.
Management and Confidential Employees: Take this as a reminder from me to register for the mandatory training “Managing a Diverse Workforce: Moving from Compliance towards Equity and Inclusion.” Contact Nick D’Agostino, CSCU Director of EEO for a full schedule. A renewed focus on our training, engagement and policy efforts around racial justice will be forthcoming.
We continue to work on ourselves through training, awareness and accountability. Equity is a series of marathons, but it is a road worth taking.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Happy Wednesday!
One of my favorite parts of being CT State’s President or any of my previous roles at colleges around the country has been interacting with students. It just wouldn’t feel like a new semester or a new year any other way. This first full week of the Spring 2023 semester, I am visiting as many campuses as I can – despite Winter’s sudden descent upon us!
I am also excited to share with you my Welcome Back message to students.
The video message below is being sent this week by text and email directly to students and will be shared on our websites and social media.
Wishing you all a productive, safe and successful Spring ‘23.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
Happy Friday!
One of the pillars of my 100 Day Report and my vision for CT State is bolstering campus support and infrastructure. Moving that vision forward includes introducing the inaugural CT State Chief of Police.
Christopher Chute began today as CT State’s Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety. While a formal swearing-in was required on his first day (depicted below, left, with the oath being delivered by State’s Attorney Christian Watson of New Britain, right), a public swearing-in ceremony will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 11 AM, hosted by Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury. Faculty, staff, students, community leaders and chiefs of police and law enforcement from across the state are invited to attend.
The Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety is expected to provide for the public safety and quality of campus life for students, faculty, staff and visitors to CT State. He is responsible for supervising and administering activities pertaining to the sworn policing, public safety and the security of students, employees and property of CT State Community College and its campuses.
Chief Chute comes to CT State after most recently serving as the chief of police for the City of New Britain, where he began as a patrol officer in 1996. His appointment will help to steward our goals of long-term investment in equitable campus security, routine emergency preparedness training for all employees, and practical communications standards.
Chief Chute can be reached directly at cchute@comment.edu.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
We start the week with an exciting step forward for Connecticut State Community College – the results of the Statewide Governance Elections. Shared governance is a milestone in our development as a single, united institution. It provides a method for communication, collaboration and mutual accountability between administration, faculty, staff and students, and it will unequivocally advance excellence in the operation of the one college.
Thank you to everyone who took time to vote or nominated themselves. Close to 800 votes were cast statewide for Congress and Senate, which is in addition to votes that were cast locally for campus bodies. The results can be found here and also on the CT State Governance webpage, which also holds a thorough explanation of shared governance at CT State.
On a different and tragic note, we offer our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of State Representative Quintin “Q” Williams of Middletown who passed away in an automobile accident last week. Representative Williams was an ardent supporter of Middlesex Community College and had been selected as their commencement speaker in 2021. He was respected and admired and will be greatly missed.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
Connecticut State Community College
As we begin the New Year, we are reminded of the passing of time, the value of service and the impact that our faculty and staff have on our students and the communities where we live.
Over the holiday break, Gateway Community College faculty member and North Haven firefighter Matthias “Matt” Wirtz was killed in the line of duty.
He served as an Educational Assistant for the Fire Science Fundamentals of Firefighting program at Gateway and had been a part of the program since its inception in 2013. Prior to that, he was an instructor for the North Haven Fire Department's training program which became Gateway's Fire Science Program. He helped train new firefighter, EMT and nursing students who have gone on to serve across the state.
As Gateway CEO William Brown stated: “His commitment to Fire Service, our community and the students who are becoming the future of the Fire Service was unwavering.”
Matt began his career as a volunteer firefighter in North Haven before becoming a member of the North Haven municipal department. He became certified as a Fire Service Instructor so that he could teach new firefighters while continuing his career. Matt was among many Connecticut firefighters who responded to Ground Zero on 9/11 and 9/12/2001.
We send Matt’s wife, Barbara, and his entire family our thoughts, prayers and gratitude for being part of Gateway and CT State. We also thank Governor Lamont for the show of respect by ordering flags to be lowered to half-mast until Matt’s internment, which took place on Jan. 3 with full departmental honors. Those wishing to do so may send a contribution in Matt’s name to the North Haven Professional Firefighters Charitable Association, PO Box 191, North Haven, CT 06473.
In partnership and with gratitude,
John Maduko, M.D. (he/him/his)
President
Connecticut State Community College