Naugatuck Valley Community College is committed to being a leader in enhancing education in the region and strengthening the bond between secondary and higher education. The College recently hosted two events crucial to realizing those objectives.

Greater Waterbury Educational Leadership Meeting
Leaders in education from across NVCC’s 22-town service area met in Technology Hall on Monday, April 27 to receive an update on the College’s role as a bridge to higher education.

“We put this [group] together five years ago when I was on the Board of Education because it really was obvious to me that we needed to expand the lines of communication between Naugatuck Valley and the school district,” said Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary. “It’s worked out really, really well… There are a lot of good things happening here.”

“Put your trust in us, because your students will do well here,” said NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. “We’re organized to help. We’re the only community college in Connecticut where for three years in a row, and this will be the fourth year, that we will award more than 1,000 associate degrees and certificates combined.” President De Filippis noted that NVCC graduates also have a better success rate at the State Universities compared to four-year students at those institutions.

The meeting included updates on Public Act 12-40, which directs public community colleges and state universities to reconfigure how developmental education is delivered and for high schools to align their curricula to ensure that students are ready for college-level work; Transfer Articulation Policy (TAP); the expansion of NVCC’s Danbury Campus; renovations to Founders Hall; and the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center’s partnership with Abbott Technical High School.

The meeting concluded with campus tours. Information booths on more than 30 of NVCC’s divisions and departments were also available for attendees to view.

Male Youth Summit
Naugatuck Valley Community College opened its doors to 150 high schoolers from Waterbury on Friday, April 24 for the inaugural Male Youth Summit. The event, titled, Boys to Men: Building Leaders of Tomorrow, was sponsored by the College’s Male Encouragement Network (MEN) and the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP), which is administered by NVCC’s Bridge to College office.

NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis welcomed the students and their chaperones to campus and Provost James Troup and GEAR UP Director David Celotto offered words of encouragement. The keynote address was delivered by NVCC English Professor William Foster III.

Foster urged the young men to look out for one another—and for everyone, including people whom they don’t even know. “In this day and time when somebody would rather film something bad happening to you than help you, please don’t be a part of that,” he said. “Step up! You don’t need examples like Martin Luther King or Ghandi; you have examples right in your neighborhood.”  Foster urged the young men to confide in their parents and guardians and recognize the sacrifices made by previous generations so that younger generations can have a better life.

Summit participants then broke into smaller groups to discuss issues ranging from leadership and healthy relationships to father/son dynamics and creating a roadmap for future success.