Dr John Maduko, President of Connecticut State Community College

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I heard communities. Thank you somuch for listening. I'm Renee Denio seated
next to me today in our talkstudio and in the DML for this particular
interview as the president of the ConnecticutState Community College, doctor John Meduco.
Thank you for being here today.I love being here. How are you
doing? Hello, I'm doing great. It's so nice to I know you're
busy, though, because back toschool is on, yes, and you've
got eighteen locations, Yes, wedo. How do you keep it all

(00:23):
together? Sir? Prayer and maybetequila on the weekend. Oh my goodness.
All right, well that's that soundslike a good formula for me.
But here's the deal. You're you'rethe president of our our community college,
and it's it's incredible that we're headedback to school, and it almost feels
like a brand new time because nowthe pandemic appears to be behind us.

(00:45):
So it's almost as if business andor school as usual. What are some
of the changers or what are theexciting things that students and parents can expect
as we head towards the school year. So, for one, we're one
college is to have twelve colleges,so we recently merged our twelve I SEE
community colleges into one, so we'renow one college, eighteen locations across the
state. We are the largest communitycollege in New England, we're the largest

(01:08):
community college in the Tri state area, and we're actually the largest college in
Connecticut. So we really are acrossthe states or every municipality, and we're
just really proud on and to servethe residents and students of this great state.
And this is a fairly not brandnew, but fairly new position for
you. So what was it liketaking this over and and now you're you're
leading the Helm under this new name, under this one mission. What has

(01:32):
that been like for you? It'sbeen It's been humbling, you know,
I've been I've been on the jobfor about fifteen months now, I started
in June twenty twenty two, andjust knowing how big of a deal,
you know, this, this mergeris pretty historic in terms of just it's
size and magnitude. We serve overseventy thousand students, sixty four great faculty,
staff and professionals. So it's humbling, and every day we have a

(01:53):
renewed mission to serve our students andto really get them to success, which
is graduate success, them secure ina career that leads to family and sustaining
wage. So again, just justhonor and humble to be in this position.
And I serve the best faculty staffin the state at hands down,
And that's quite a lot of studentsconsidering Connecticut is just a little over three

(02:14):
million in population, So to havethat amount of students attending your school schools,
if you will, the eighteen locations, you're educating a lot of people
that will hopefully stay and grow herein our state. Yes, yes,
you know we serve you know,our proud members of our military, reserve,
police officers, firefighters, student parents, traditionally, age students, adult

(02:38):
learners like you name it. Wetruly reflect reflect the diversity and beauty of
Connecticut. So I'm just hearing abouttheir stories, which motivates us in terms
of just why they're in college.Have it be to support their family,
aspire to something they dream about,or give back to the communities. Again,
every day we are blown away byjust the the resiliency of our students

(03:00):
and we're so happy that they're back. Now. Talk about the twelve becoming
one and the locations that you doserve. Yes. So the merger was
a seven year process, contentious andpolitical and everything else in between. But
this past your life. First,we received our official approval and creditation from

(03:20):
our accreditor, so we're officially atcommunity college. So this is our inaugural
semester. So we're entering our firstfalse semester as one large, massive college.
And you know, there's a lotof energy, there's a lot of
just battle fatigue. But you know, we are relentless in terms of our
support of our students and again wecan't wait to get them to the finished

(03:42):
line for them to be graduates andprofessionals from nurses, the business professionals to
manufacturers, you name it. Wepretty much have something for everyone as it
pertains to our three hundred plus programsacross degrees and certificates and across the state
too. Right, where can wego to get more information about your schools
and locations? And when people apply, can they choose where they'd like to

(04:06):
go? Yeah? So ww dotCT state dot edu fullward slash apply.
It breaks down the process. Ittakes about two hours to fill out our
application. It's there's still time toapply for financial aid and all and again,
there's a there are drop down menus, a kind of breakdown the programs
and degrees that we offer. Sowe pretty much have a litany of programs

(04:30):
across all of our campuses, withnursing and business and academic transfer to universities
being one of our larger areas ofinterest. And your professor is your faculty,
they're as committed as ever. Idon't I just want to ask you
this question, and it's going tobe I don't know if I've prepared you
for this, but I know alot of our schools are feeling it.
You know, they're hoping they havethe teachers, and we know that we've

(04:51):
heard about the teachers shortage. Howare you doing at our community college level
here? Do you have everybody inplace? Do you want to make a
now higher you know, declaration here? Now we have awesome faculty, they're
committed. They keep me on mytoes in terms of their expectations of me.
But we're good, right, wehave fully staffed programs, that's incredible

(05:13):
courses and again we're ready, right, We're ready to serve dis great state.
We're ready to meet our workforce challengesand shortages. And again we want
to partner with every municipality and businessand industry and anyone else in this great
state. You know, years agoyou were you know, obviously under a
different name and now focused on thatone title of the Connecticut State Community College,

(05:33):
but you all were sort of leadersand pioneering the manufacturing buzz and phase.
And I know that still is importantto you now because you know we're
looking at and maybe under ten yearsthese companies, these manufacturers, these organizations,
these businesses down that. Are youcommitted to that again? Now?
Yeah? Absolutely? You know,we we partner with Paula Voi, who's
the Chief Manufacturing Officer of Connecticut,and Kellig Valiers, the Chief Workforce Officer.

(05:58):
We recognize there's a huge shortage ofmanufacturers, but CT State we are
the biggest producer and manufacturing professionals inthe state, hands down, and we're
up for the challenge. We're inconstant contact with industry and ensured that our
programming is matching the skills that areneeded. But again, manufacturing is a
great career field, high wages,jobs across the state, very clean,

(06:23):
very high tech, and you knowmanufacturing is actually here in Connecticut is a
big deal for us and we wantto do our part to support it right
and it's fascinating to me that ithas so evolved over the years where people
used to think about manufacturing, youknow as a very you know, very
blue collar. You're getting dirty oryou're getting this, and you know what
it is, Manufacturing is not goingaway. Manufacturing is evolving and it's something

(06:46):
that is affording people their livelihoods,their homes, their children. They're putting
food on the table and at highwages and a lot of this now with
manufacturings evolved to it level. Yes, I mean, manufacturing touches every be
fascinated our communities, it touches healthcare, it touches engineering, it touches construction.
It's it's everywhere. And again,you know our students and our manufacturing

(07:09):
professionals across the state. You're talkingabout third fourth generation manufacturers who are very
proud when it comes to their trade. Whatever the case it is. But
you know, when you have ajob and you're providing for your family,
it's it's incredible. And you're affordingthese opportunities to people right here in Connecticut
to grow the economy right here inour state. Because your students actually affect

(07:30):
our stimulus here in our state.Yeah, yeah, we do, you
know, and our students and alumni, Oh, they remind me of that.
They remind me of their worth.And our students are are worthy the
very moment we come in contact withthem. And again they're leading the way
in our communities, you know.You know, young people, young college
students, they're really the future,you know, and being able to connect
the dots as it relates to career, but also just sustainability in terms of

(07:55):
someone's livelihood that can happen through acommunity college. And again I put my
money on CT State Community College beingsecond to no One in the country.
And let's kind of go into someof the opportunities that you do afford our
youth here in Nurse State, likenursing, which we know as a profession
that we have great facilities here inour states and they are hiring and they

(08:16):
are looking for qualified nurses. They'reactually we're looking for doctors. Now,
we're looking for psychologists and psychia.We're looking for medical professionals and whatever.
That umbrella is right, and peoplecan find their degrees through you, especially
with nursing. Yeah, absolutely,you know, outside of retail and construction,
there's no other sector has more jobsin healthcare, with obviously nursing leading

(08:37):
the way, and we're proud ofthe six nursing programs we offer across the
state. We're looking to expand formin terms of their board exams put them
up against any universe in the state. They're right up there. And our
hospital systems everyday call us with wewant more of your nurses. We want
you to grow your programs. Youknow, healthcare, we sell the pandemic
and how much healthcare professionals meant tous of our livelihood. And again as

(09:01):
Connectus State Community College, we wantto grow that healthcare and nursing pipeline to
meet the needs of a growing state. And also teaching and teachers in academia.
You will lead the way in thattoo and have for many years,
and I know you'll continue. Yeah, absolutely, you know. So seventy
percent of our students are unrolled intwo year degree programs and seeking the transfer

(09:22):
universities, and many of them wantto be future teachers. So we partner
with our Connectut State universities and yukonsand others to get these individuals into the
teaching pathways because we know we're facinga teacher shortage right now and that's going
to only continue to grow. Right. So, as we wrap our conversation
with doctor John Maduco, who isthe president of Connecticut State Community College,

(09:43):
we're headed through September. We're headedto the first real consolidated year and the
effort, the one name and theeighteen locations. What would you like our
parents and future students to know aboutyour college? So from one we are
to people's college. Right. Weare the only communit college in the day
of Connecticut, and we're proud toserve all the municipalities too. We're the
most affordable college in this stay ofConnecticut, hands down three. We have

(10:07):
eighteen locations, so we're really bigon where. You apply for fast FA,
then you apply for a pact,you can attend. You know,
if you're eligible, you can attendcost free. And the last, but
not least, we have world renownedfaculty and staff that they inherently believe in
the success and the strength of ourstudents. So again we're here to serve.

(10:28):
We're proud to make it to thispoint. We're only going to do
more and become better and refine whatwe're doing. And again we enroll year
round, right, We enroll yearround, So we have a couple of
start dates this fall, a coupleof start dates in the spring, and
in the semester. It's never toolate to reach out the CT state and
allow us to partner with you foryour academic and career endeavors. And your

(10:50):
age shouldn't matter either, never never, never, never never, And look
at you leading all of these colleges. It all starts at the top,
they say, so thank you forwhat you're doing and your incredible team and
leading this college. This is prettyexciting stuff. So I'm glad you took
some time to spend it with ushere and I our community absolutely thank you
so much for having me