In The News | Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system will require vaccination for all students this fall

(Hartford Courant, June 24, 2021) — Joining other colleges in the state, including Yale, the University of Hartford and UConn, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system will require all students to be vaccinated for the fall semester.

“The vaccines that are currently authorized in the United States are safe, effective, and critical to resuming normal operations at our campuses this fall,” said Dr. Jane Gates, interim president of CSCU, in a statement released Thursday. “Now is the time for students planning on attending college this fall to get vaccinated. With more infectious, more severe variants becoming more and more prevalent, getting your shot is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and our communities.”

The Board of Regents for Higher Education approved the mandate Thursday morning. The new policy does not require all employees to be vaccinated, but it gives the CSCU president authority to impose one if necessary.

The CSCU decision comes after UHart acted earlier this week, joining UConn, Wesleyan University and Yale University. As the state and the nation push to reach President Joe Biden’s vaccination goal of 70% of all adults by July 4, younger people have been harder to convince. About 70% of Americans age 30 and above have received at least one shot.

“Having a fully vaccinated student body will a give us the best chance to return to a more typical college experience, with in-person services and activities, and fewer restrictions in the residential neighborhoods and in the classroom,” UHart said in a statement this week.

Interim UConn President Andrew Agwunobi has called vaccinations the “single most important step” in ensuring a safe return to campus.

 

— By Rick Green, Hartford Courant Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system will require vaccination for all students this fall”

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In The News | Summer program provides opportunities to empower girls through STEM

(The Day, June 14, 2021) — This summer, teeenage girls will hear directly from southeastern Connecticut women working in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math – and realize that could be them.

Professionals, such as electrical engineers and scientists, will share with girls 16 to 19 their career paths and what their day is like, as part of a free summer enrichment program held by S.T.E.P.S., Inc. an organization focused on empowering young women, said Executive Director Beatrice Jennette.

“We might spark someone else’s interest to say: ‘Wow, I might want to do this,'” Jennette said.

S.T.E.P.S. Inc. received a $150,000 Summer Enrichment Innovation Grant from the state Department of Education to hold the Summer Leadership College/Career Enrichment Program July 12-Aug. 6.

“S.T.E.P.S. will be joined by The New London County Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and Soroptimist International CT Shoreline to serve a diverse group of 150 young women ages 16-19 in southeastern Connecticut,” a news release states. “This grant has allowed them to offer the 4-week summer program at no cost to participants, including transportation and meals.”

The program will include workshops on STEM taught by women from local companies, such as Pfizer, Electric Boat and Dominion, Jennette said. The participants also will engage in workshops on yoga and meditation, exercise, self-care, art, music and dance for their social and emotional health. There also will be field trips and college tours.

The program is the latest offering from S.T.E.P.S., Inc., a Groton-based organization which stands for Striving Towards Empowered Personal Success. The organization began in 2008 when a group of women saw a need in the community because young girls were struggling, said Jennette. The organization works with girls in sixth through twelfth grade in Groton, New London and Norwich to teach them, build their self-esteem, and give them skills as they transition from grade to grade and from school.

“We’re a support system for them and their families, and we give them skills so that they can prosper and have great success once they get out of high school and they move on with their lives,” Jennette said. “We don’t ever want them to give up on their dreams because we all know it is possible. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t take work, but it means it’s possible. We don’t like for challenges to get them down.”

While unexpected events may happen in life, the organization teaches girls to keep jumping over any hurdles they may face and to keep moving forward, she said. The girls also learn to give back to their communities through community service and to help others, she added.

Jennette said that students over the last year have been going through a lot of depression, sadness and isolation, so the organization thought the summer enrichment program would be a good way to bring students out to socialize and to expose them to what is available to them not just in the community, but also outside of the community.

Jennette said the organization wants to expose girls to STEM because they often shy away from the field, so this is a way to have equity in the workplace and give them a seat at the table. It is also a good opportunity financially because there will be many STEM jobs available, she said.

Jennette said she hopes the program helps students see all the different careers available to them and realize that they too could do the work that the women speaking to them are doing. She said the program is also so important to the women teaching the younger generation.

The program will be held at a local college each week. There will be mask wearing, social distancing and temperature taking, she added.

People interested in the summer program can contact Gayle Rowe at (860) 941-7949 or programs.steps@gmail.com. The program will be held 1 to 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with “fun adventures” held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. Participants have the opportunity to sign up for the full four weeks, or sign up for a week at a time.

S.T.E.P.S., which holds a smaller summer program each year, will continue to also hold that program this summer for the first two weeks of August. That program is open for girls in sixth through 12th grade and the program also will focus on STEM activities. 

 

— By Kimberly Drelich, Day Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “Summer program provides opportunities to empower girls through STEM”

 

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In The News | Petroleum contamination study grants available to Norwich property owners

Norwich (The Day, June 6, 2021) — Over the past five years, the city has used a federal environmental assessment grant to study prominent properties, from the derelict YMCA on Main Street and the former American Legion in Laurel Hill to the former Hebrew school on Church Street.

With the end of the grant period looming and $35,879 remaining, Planning Director Deanna Rhodes is seeking commercial property owners interested in selling or redeveloping properties with potential petroleum contamination or old underground tanks that pre-date their ownership. The money must be spent by Sept. 30, the close of the current federal fiscal year.

The remaining money is in the petroleum portion of the original grant and can be used to do a phase 1 study, which includes document research on the history of uses for the property and assessments of whether underground tanks might be present and removing them if they pre-date the current property ownership.

“We’re looking for small-sized non-residential properties,” Rhodes said, “not big mill buildings. We’re willing to speak with anyone who did not put the tanks in the ground.”

For information on the program or to apply for a grant, contact the city planning office at (860) 823-3766.

There would be no cost to the property owner for the studies, tank assessment and removal.

Rhodes said phase 1 historical use studies cost about $3,500 per property and would be helpful to owners planning to sell their properties or submit proposals for reuse. The studies are good for 120 days and could be updated easily if no changes have occurred, she said.

The city received the original grant in 2016, with $185,000 dedicated to properties suspected to have petroleum contamination and $199,000 for properties suspected of having hazardous materials contamination.

The city Redevelopment Agency administered the grant, with environmental consulting firm, Tighe & Bond, conducting the work in partnership with Three Rivers Community College. Students in Professor Diba Khan-Bureau’s environmental engineering and technology program assisted in the studies.

“It’s been nice having them as a partner,” Rhodes said.

The grant money was used on properties throughout the city, including municipal, private and institutional projects. The city allocated $43,751 to assess potential building and grounds contamination on the Norwich portion of the former Norwich Hospital property; $20,000 to assess a building at the former Thermos mill complex for possible expansion of the Integrated Day Charter School; $13,500 for asbestos and concrete tests at the former Hebrew school for redevelopment as a brew pub and $37,500 to assess hazardous materials at the former YMCA on Main Street.

“This is kind of our last-ditch effort to utilize the remaining funds,” Rhodes said. “It’s not a whole lot of money, but we want to reach out to the public and see if there’s someone we can assist with the money.”

 

— By Claire Bessette, Day Staff Writer

The original article can be found here: “Petroleum contamination study grants available to Norwich property owners”

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In The News | TRCC educating future RNs during pandemic

Norwich, CT (The Day, May 28, 2021) —Prior to March 2020 there was already a national nursing shortage, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the situation became worse due to retirements and the decision of some nurses to stay home with their families, among various other reasons.

Nurses bravely and stoically administered care and compassion during the pandemic while working tirelessly for those in their care.

And now there is hope for reducing the RN shortage here due to the creative strategies implemented by the nursing faculty at Three Rivers Community College in Norwich. On May 14 at Three Rivers Community College’s 57th Pinning Ceremony (first in-person pinning ceremony since the pandemic began), 33 students graduated at at Dodd Stadium; in total, the program has graduated 81 students since the pandemic began.

Corinne Eichelberg, a former TRCC nursing student and current nurse at Backus Hospital, explains, “TRCC has a very challenging nursing program. When I was enrolled, it involved two full eight-hour class days and two full eight- to 10-hour clinical shifts in a local medical facility each week.”

She continued, “TRCC had a very high rate of success for passing the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) and was known in the region, by word of mouth, to be a very good program.”

In March 2020, when the world experienced quarantine restrictions, so did the nursing students across Connecticut. Three Rivers Community College nursing faculty and students quickly transitioned to remote learning.

Dr. Edith Ouellet, director of nursing and allied health at Three Rivers, states, “The real challenge included clinical education. While the COVID cases were climbing and clinical facilities needed to conserve PPE, restricting nursing students was necessary.”

Nursing faculty at TRCC surveyed and assessed several virtual programs that offered clinical and critical thinking teaching scenarios. The faculty selected the most robust programs, and the TRC Foundation funded the cost to purchase these programs for all students.

Nursing student Kelsey Wilson states, “From Day 1 we were told to be flexible and prepare for the ever-changing circumstances as we navigated pursuing a nursing degree in a pandemic.”

By fall 2020, the TRCC nursing program staff hoped to return to the clinical settings, which includes Hartford HealthCare’s Backus, Windham, and Natchaug hospitals, Yale New Haven’s L+M and Westerly hospitals, Day Kimball Hospital, and other clinical facilities.

With the inclusion of many safety guidelines, screening processes, COVID testing, and an increase in availability of masks and gloves, the TRCC nursing program was invited back to resume clinical education in person.

Classroom learning remained remote while the nursing simulation laboratory was open and available to the nursing faculty and students.

Ouellet states, “We paid close attention to COVID screening, exposures and positive cases, and quarantined as per the CDC guidelines.”

Wilson added, “I think I can speak for my class when I say, we have all learned to be flexible. Adapting and overcoming has been instilled in us.

“I am confident that the trials we have faced amid the pandemic, in both an academic and clinical setting, will allow us to be strong and resilient nurses in the field.”

By October, the COVID case rate began to climb again as did hospitalizations.

“Nursing students were asked to return to simulation and virtual clinical learning,” Ouellet said. “This day-by-day schedule required an incredible amount of flexibility by the student and the faculty. Policies changed and we adapted.”

The spring 2021 semester has offered hope and many opportunities for the TRCC nursing program to participate in in-person clinical education. They have been able to bring students to the clinical setting and also participate in COVID vaccination efforts with the Uncas Health District and Day Kimball Hospital.

Nursing student Brittany Turner remarked, “These last couple semesters have been hectic for me. I lost my father due to COVID-19 one month before beginning the program and this was extremely hard for me. I have a 7-year-old son who I also had to home school while also trying to focus on nursing school so many days were very overwhelming….”

Online learning, she added, had its pros and cons.

“There is nothing like being hands-on and learning the practical way,” she said. “My first semester did not allow for as many in-person clinical days with actual patients, but the school did what they could to accommodate our learning.”

For Cassandra Reyes, a May TRCC nursing graduate who was in her second semester when the pandemic hit, the health crisis was a terrifying experience at first.

“At first, I even questioned if I was brave enough to be the next front-line worker, an ‘essential superhero,’ trying to save lives amid a modern-day plague,” she said. “I thought ‘superheroes are supposed to be fearless,’ and I said to myself ‘I’m so scared, how could I ever do this?’ In spite of the fear, stress, and ‘new normal’, all of us nursing students kept pushing.”

Reyes continued, “I finally realized that true bravery is not being fearless, it is taking action in the face of fear, deciding to overcome never before seen obstacles to be successful nurses.”

May 2021 marks three semesters of teaching nursing students through a global pandemic.

Nursing student Wilson states, “Edith Ouelett and faculty, in collaboration with the college, have gone above and beyond to keep the program running safely and successfully during the pandemic. On behalf of myself and my class, I want to say thank you for making it all possible for us to earn our nursing education.” 

 

— By Aidan Schuler, member of the Times’ Young Journalists Initiative

The original article can be found here: “TRCC educating future RNs during pandemic”

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In The News | Students from all walks of life graduate from Three Rivers Community College in virtual ceremony

Norwich, CT (The Day, May 29, 2021) — More than 400 graduates from Three Rivers Community College were celebrated on Saturday in a virtual commencement ceremony.

The prerecorded ceremony combined video montages of students learning, online profiles of graduates, speeches and video footage of in-person events held earlier this month where each graduate — from this year and last year — was able to walk across a stage dressed in their cap and gown.

Although the college gave students the opportunity to walk in a traditional commencement-like ceremony on May 7, the soon-to-be graduates couldn’t bring along their family members or friends because of the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t receive their diplomas that day. Students were invited to pick up their diplomas this past week in a drive-thru processional.

The roughly 450 students officially graduated on Saturday during the online ceremony where faculty and staff members read every graduate’s name, and families and friends were welcome to log on and watch. Graduates included several high school students who earned their associate degrees while still in high school, a 74-year-old, a single mother, a father-and-son duo and nine valedictorians — the highest number of honorees the school has ever had.

Though the ceremony — the 56th annual commencement for Three Rivers — wasn’t what most students likely expected of their college graduation, faculty and staff said they were committed to honoring every student who persevered through the pandemic to earn their degree or certificate.

“Graduates of the Class of 2021, I recognize this is not the graduation you dreamed about with family and friends cheering you on as you walked across the stage,” said Mary Ellen Jukoski, president of Three Rivers Community College, who recognized that many members of the class were first-generation college graduates. 

Jukoski said the school was honored to celebrate students who come “from all walks of life, each with your own unique story,” and highlighted the stories of a few students who overcame obstacles to earn their diplomas this month, including a single mother of three who worked full-time while attending school and a student who was pursuing a career in human services after suffering from substance use disorder and being incarcerated.

Jukoski applauded the resilience of every graduate who achieved their academic goals while surviving a global pandemic that drastically changed their learning experience.

“As a class you have shown resilience and strength to complete your courses when the year was disrupted by the pandemic,” she said. “You faced the challenge of remote learning with perseverance and an unwavering resolve so that you could make your graduation today a reality.”

Allen Lyon, vice president of student government, graduated with an associate degree in environmental engineering technology and delivered the student address for the virtual ceremony. He shared the struggles he endured as he and his classmates pivoted to online learning during the pandemic.

“The pandemic has challenged me in ways I could have never imagined, it has challenged all of us,” Lyon said. “I went from seeing my Three Rivers friends and studying with them to being locked in my house and going it alone; I went from seeing my Three Rivers professors face to face to watching them glitch on (video calls).”

Despite its challenges, he said the pandemic forced him to value things he took for granted and give himself more credit for what he was capable of.

“We have our cap and gown and I realize now that if COVID can’t stop us from achieving our goals, nothing can,” the graduate said.

Three Rivers has students from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages, providing many an education they might not be able to get otherwise.

David Medina, 53, graduated with his general studies associate degree, after getting his construction management certificate from Three Rivers in 2012 and then taking classes on and off and part time. He graduated with his son.

Medina said that growing up in a rough neighborhood in New Jersey, he was told he’d never amount to anything, and he accepted that as a part of life. But he saw joining the U.S. Marine Corps as a way out, and his experience in the Marines from 1986 to 1990 showed him he could go to college.

“That’s why I pushed my kids to go, and that’s why I wanted to finish, to show them you could go and you can go,” he said.

Medina, who has mostly been working in carpentry since, said he went to college in his 20s but didn’t finish, as he needed to put his kids and his job first. Unfortunately, he then lost a lot of credits moving from New Jersey to Connecticut; he now lives in Norwich.

“It’s a long journey,” he said, and he credits his wife with pushing him to finish.

Grace Carlos, 21, said she is grateful she went to Three Rivers because it allowed her to figure out what she wanted to do: She entered as an engineering science major but realized she wasn’t passionate about it, and she was easily able to change her major to liberal arts and sciences.

“I probably would not have been able to do that at a four-year school, because that’s a lot of money to just change your major around,” she said with a laugh. Carlos is sticking around to take four more classes to get a CSCU Pathway degree in political science, meaning she’ll have two associate degrees.

She then wants to transfer to a four-year school to get her bachelor’s degree in political science. She said her interest in political science arose from working in the president’s office at Three Rivers, which involved interacting with elected officials.

The Montville student helped with the campaigns of Democratic state legislature candidates Baird Welch-Collins and Matt Geren last year, organized a gathering in Montville in July to encourage civic engagement among young people, and interned in the office of Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz in the fall.

Nine students were named as valedictorian on Saturday for their exemplary academic performance this year, which included completing all of their program requirements while maintaining a 4.0 GPA: Raleigh N. Aboy, Yamila N. Garcia, Valerie Glover, Anastasia Larionova, Katja A. Sieling, Sarah M. Walsh, Amanda E. Williams, Ara Wilnas and Paul Urbanowicz Jr.

Faculty and staff read the names of every graduate on Saturday, starting with 2020 graduates who weren’t able to walk because of the pandemic.

Jukoski and other members of the staff and faculty, including Kem Barfield, interim dean of academic and student affairs and Diba Khan-Bureau ’96, chair of the faculty senate, congratulated students on their commencement and their new roles as proud alumni of the college.

Jukoski told graduates that their graduation marked a step toward changing the world.

“Your graduation is an invitation to use your education to begin to heal the afflictions of society by applying the best of what you have learned in your head and felt in your heart,” Jukoski said. “As a class you have the power to stand for healthier conditions that will create a healthier society.”

She said she hopes graduates will go on to “create more equity, more justice and more joy in the world.” 

 

— By Erica Moser & Taylor Hartz, Day staff writers

The original article can be found here: “Students from all walks of life graduate from Three Rivers Community College in virtual ceremony”

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In The News | Three Rivers Community College Gives Out Diplomas

— By John Shishmanian, Norwich Bulletin 

The original article can be found here: “Three Rivers Community College Gives Out Diplomas”

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