January 2, 2025 • 18 mins
We spoke with University of New Haven President Jens Frederiksen about the great options and opportunities the University of New Haven offers students.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is Jens Frederickson, President of the University
of New Haven. Good morning, good morning. You've just arrived
in March at the University of New Haven's right. How
has it been for you?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, it's been fantastic. It's a bit of an unusual
starting point in March, and some portion of that was
by design, but that means you sort of jump right
into as opposed to the summer where you kind of
get a layer of the land. This was sort of
deep immersion right away, and obviously everybody is aware of
the challenges have high ed, so it certainly wasn't a
(00:37):
slow arrival.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
But it's been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I hope they took you for pizza at.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Least they did both both before and after. I feel
like I've been quite exposed to the pizza haven that
is New Haven. So I, in fact, I tested pizza
blind tested pizza the other day on social media, which
was an experience.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Was it Modern?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It was Peppers, it was Sally's, it was Super Parties?
Yeah right, yeah, So and I think I got two
out of three rights.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Wow, I'm so impressed.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well that that says I've eaten.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
No, I've lived here my entire life and I'm Italian,
so that's pretty good. I'm impressed.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Let's talk about your vision for the University of New Haven.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, I was super excited coming in, and I'm more
excited now than I was when I came in, in
part because I think it's high education. I mean, it's
no secret sort of at this strange threshold, inflection point,
whatever we want to call it, where where I think
generally public confidence is quite a bit down on high education,
and you see the emergence of a host of alternatives
(01:45):
and a narrative that maybe that high education is sort
of a thing of the past. And yet I'm sort
of a firm believer in what I would call high
stakes universities and universities that for whom their very existence
is tied to the essence of high education. And what
I mean by that is that students are looking for
a transformative experience. These are students who are hard working,
(02:07):
in the case of the University of New Haven, a
student body for whom costs and affordability is a serious consideration.
Of course, that has something to do with its declining
public confidences these inflationary costs. The business models far more
complex than that. There's something in the public sees, and
then there's sort of what happens internally with scholarshiping that's
actually been commensurate at the gradient with these inflationary costs.
(02:31):
But I think it's a moment in time where parents
and students are rightly asking around the value proposition of
higher education. It's higher education really capable of preparing students
for the world that is transforming so rapidly. I think
everybody talks about AI, automation, machine learning, and I think
it's a moment in time for higher education to kind
(02:51):
of turn the critical We tend to be very good
at sort of turning the critical lens outward, turning it inward,
and really sort of doing a reality check on relevance,
on return on investment, and really making sure that the
whole experience it's not just a's and b's anymore. That
certainly matters, but it's professional exposure, it's networks, it's internships,
(03:14):
it's the connection with what happens after you graduate. Are
you prepared to step into that. There's a whole mental
health and well being component. There is sort of an
identity component of situating yourself in a world that is
where the tectonics are shifting so fast, and so I
think there is an increased or heightened mandate on universities
(03:35):
to deliver an unprecedented experience that spans our host of sectors.
And I think that's a moment in time for universities
to live up to that. And I think particular for
high stakes universities, for whom the urgency of that investment
of students and parents is increased, I think that responsibility
is only elevated and being a part of that and
(03:56):
helping lead a team we own the business of transforming
lives and brighter futures and what could be more inspiring.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And the parents as well, You treat the whole student. Yes, Vispa,
the university welcomed one of the largest classes. What do
you plan to focus on for them?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, I think what we clearly the value proposition that
we sort of drove hard in the spring around pathways
and outcomes and experiences and not just thinking about retention
and graduation. Retention and graduation and the conditions for the
possibility of career success fulfilled lives professionally, personally and so
(04:37):
I think that's that's resonating with students and parents.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Opportunities sort of the boutique like opportunities or the preferred
partnerships that we're establishing to Connecticut as a vibrant economy. Right,
You've got everything from bioside advanced manufacturing, to universities to
financial services and so research and so really connecting students
(05:01):
directly into those pathways and driving at the urgency because
for many families, this is one of the larger investments
outside of home buying, right, and you're really stretching. And
so I think the expectations of institutions has gone up,
should go up, and there is that mandate to deliver.
And I think clearly our proposition got through the pearance
(05:24):
that this is personal to us, that we take this pathway,
this transformative experience with the outcomes piece extremely serious. And
so yes, we had a very large class, a very
strong class. And part of what we also did was
we mandated that all incoming students upload their resumes because
(05:45):
that this transformative experience no longer begins in senior year
when you're getting ready to walk across the stage and
you're like, oops, did I ever do an internship or
what happens when I walk off that stage. It begins
early on. And I think we have done a great
job at the university reverse engineering courses and really creating
a practical experience that you don't have this golf between
(06:09):
the academy, the Ivory Tower, and industry and opportunity. I
think bridging that and sort of creating those draw bridges,
and that begins as early. You should set those expectations right.
If you're making a commitment like that, you need to
come with your resume in hand, and if the opportunities
arise right away, even better you two steps along the way.
I was told it's sort of like building I mean,
(06:31):
clearly not a big gamer, but building an avatar over
the course of the four years, and by the time
you step off that stage, you're ideally already stepping into
a home, brighter future. And I think that clearly resonated
with students and parents and hopefully will continue to do so.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And that was one of the new programs you implemented
where they have to do a resume. Yeah, by your accent,
we didn't talk about you at all. I've told you're
a very humble person. You have about a million degrees.
If you've been a professor, tell us a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I do have an accent.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Then it's not I have the accent, right, you don't
have the accent.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, and it's a bit of a hotch potch.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I was born in Denmark, but I grew up in Luxembourg,
lived a little bit all over. I was a professional
athlete once upon the time, a different era, and then
eventually came to the United States twenty four to twenty
five years ago as a student athlete, and in some
ways I would say clearly sort of failed epically as
a professional athlete. I didn't I didn't work quite hard enough,
(07:31):
and sort of had this existential moment in time where
I sort of decided, Okay, it was time to get
really serious and not squander opportunities. And I'd done a
really good job of squandering opportunities throughout my sort of
formative years maybe, And so by the time I came
to the States, I was man on a mission. I
took an endless amount of hours. I went to Vanderbilt
(07:54):
in Nashville, which was a great school. And yeah, seven
degrees later whatever it was eight or nine years. I
became a professor there and so never thought I'd ended
up in academia and here I am.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I love that you say you squandered your formative years,
because now you can say I've been where you are
to these students, and look at what I've done, we
can do the same with you.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, I haven't quite thought of it that way,
but that is compelling. I mean, I am sort of
one to say that talent is a double edged sword.
It's a great thing to have if things come easy,
but at the end of the day, there is absolutely
no substitute for determination and drive. And clearly I sort
of was fortunate that I hit enough of rock bartom
(08:39):
to realize that this became for me sort of a
defining I love what I do. That's the other thing, right,
when you talk to young people is I've read somewhere
that you spend twenty five years of your life sleeping.
It's just a sort of humbling, right, because if you're
sort of a bit foolish for the first twenty years
or so, right quickly running out of us with that
(09:00):
sort of sounding at all morbid about this, you better
love what you do and you better apply yourself, because
then you can you can have no regrets.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yes, that's great. What would you say to employers looking
to hire someone, why should they hire from the University
of New Haven?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think I think twofold, I think anytime. I think
we have very much a can do student body for
whom the recognition is that the university is a pathway
to something else. So there is a real appetite. And
we were just talking earlier in here around sort of
how the best reach this generation and the mediums by
(09:39):
which to reach them. I think I think this generation,
there is amongst our students an urgency. There may not
always be sort of four winners of exactly this, right,
you have those kids evidently that from the age of
four want to be.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
On a rocket or want to operate. We all know
somebody like that too.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, we the rock star. The other one's a nursing student.
And you know, who knows what's going to happen at
the end of all of it. You just pray that
they're safe and happy. And I used to say to
my kids two things, I want you to have an
education and a faith. Yeah, so I felt like those
two things are really going to benefit them.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But you were saying, Yeah, No, I happen to believe
the same thing. And in part because I mentioned earlier,
I feel like the tectonics of of late modern life,
I'm moving so fast, and education gives you the versatility.
There's one component of it that's obviously technical expertise, but
then there's also the ability to sort of mental elasticity
and now they call it pivoting or I'm not crazy
(10:37):
about that word. Sort of being dynamic and being a
dynamic thinker where the sort of applicability of your technical
skills is translatable, right. And so it's this sort of
holistic picture that I think positions you for a more
competitive professional life but also a more fulfilling personal life.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And so I think our students are they have a
degree of urgency, which is not always self evident these days,
a willingness to sort of be hands on. These aren't
students for whom we had this running joke when I
was coming up through college. It was like, at first
it was unless it was Goldman Sachs, nobody attended, right.
Then there was the hedge ones no one attended, or
(11:17):
then it was big tech.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's not reflected in our student body. I think our
student body is looking for fulfillment and have an appreciation
for the fact that whilst the services or the widgets
may be different, this set of skills required outside of
hyper technical things is actually quite translatable. And so I
think our students are motivated. I think they are also
(11:40):
not not in some ways hindered by right we talk
about the Ivory talent. Sometimes in this sort of insulated
space or isolated space of the academy, you're doing all
these groundbreaking things and then you step into it and
I'm again not crazy about this language the real world,
and then it's like, oh, whoops.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Right, I think I think.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Our students aren't really prepared given the bridging of sort
of the expectations of the workforce and the academy. I
think that bridging students will have worked on real projects.
There will have been real accountability in sort of tangible ways.
That isn't this sort of shock of oh now I'm
(12:22):
leaving behind the sort of protected space of the end.
And I think that can be a shocking realization to
a lot of students, right who worked on something very
very particular within the confines of the academy. And I
certainly did some version of that, and then you come
(12:42):
out and it's like you realize that there are sort
of other expectations.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
This generation wants authenticity. Tell me about the Afghan Women's
scholars program. Very interested in this fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So we've sort of said the University of new Haven
is local feel global reach. We live in a world
of overexposure, no doubt about that, right, And in some
ways part of what attracted me to the University of
New Haven was that it's really sort of a can
do spirit, but a little bit of the underdog that
maybe because i mean, there's another very large university that's
(13:17):
located in new Haven that garners a lot of shine,
and maybe there's been some resistance in the past to
sort of talk about things that we as a university
do exceptionally well.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And yet I mean, when you.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Start breaking it down from cybersecurity to what we've done
our national security, to what we're doing in the engineering
fields advanced manufacturer is it's really quite extraordinary what this
relatively little university at what of a nine and a
half thousand students and the growth pattern and so we've
done a lot globally, sort of large global partnerships. We
(13:49):
have a partnership with a College for Engineering in India
for women exclusively, which is quite an extraordinary story. And
so we've kind of been out there, and that then,
in turn means sometimes things come to us because of
this magnificent global network. And I was approached not I
mean maybe a couple of months on the job. Somebody
(14:11):
reached out and said, are you aware of what's happening
in Afghanistan? I was, and well, there was a gentleman
who is deeply concerned about what's happening particular to the
women in Afghanistan now with the Taliban and so on
and so forth. And I said, well, of course we
sort of all are. What does this mean, Well, this
(14:32):
individual is looking for pathways for young women to pursue
their education and escape this horrific set of circumstances and
then ultimately work in some capacity to hopefully, over time,
change this constellation. I said, well that sounds very very interesting,
and they said, well, would you be willing to get
on a call, And I said, to your thing, and
(14:53):
I did, and very very small world, this gentleman is
from my other words, I know, it's a crazy small world.
And he kind of described what he done, some funded
some startups and helped support some organizations and had really
had sort of first hand exposure to this, this dreadful scenario,
(15:14):
and then sort of said, well, would you be willing
to entertain a host of students coming and have you
done this before? It turns out we as a university
have been this actively involved on a global scale before.
So so it began initially as ten undergraduates and four
graduate students. So over the course of four years and
two years, respectively, and it very rapidly through the generosity
(15:36):
of this individual, grew to thirty undergrads and twelve graduate students,
and the interest I think last I heard, we had
over nine hundred applications on the undergraduate inside. These are
women who bind large fled and I located sort of
all over in various different I'm trying to sort of
be as confidential about this as I can be, right
(15:58):
located all over that have fled the set of circumstances,
and so we are extremely hopeful.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I think we'll have.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Four the graduate students or three of the graduate students
coming in this spring, and then next fall we'll have
the first cohort and we will then maintain them throughout
the four years, and hopefully we're working on pathways for
them thereafter.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I love that. I was a missionary in Somalia and Kenya,
so I love that. That's amazing. What are some of
the leading programs at the school that you think people
would be interested in? Besides, everybody thinks of criminal justice.
I know it's a big one, and.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
It's what we've done in that space where again, in
a world of sort of intense binaris of sort of
harsh crackdown versus sort of all hands off, try not
to pick sort of terms, we've actually managed to navigate
an incredibly thought full line around public safety as a
(16:52):
condition for the possibility of all sorts of things. And
we've really been sort of groundbreaking in that space. And
sometimes again I think it's fall and prey these sort
of binary categories, so criminal justice and forensics. That goes
without saying, but that's homeland security. I mean, we're one
of the largest feeders to all the federal agencies you
name them or that's one incredible piece of the university.
(17:13):
But what hasn't sort of been as widely publicized as
we have a double ACSB accredited business school, which put
two sort of in the top three four percent globally,
of which the sports management program is top ten globally.
It's hardly sort of not attractive, right, and they're doing
some really innovative things in the business school around STEM degrees.
(17:34):
When we talked earlier about sort of the translatability of skills.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I'm speaking with the yen's Frederickson, president of the University
of New Haven. If you'd like to find out more
about classes, go to new Haven dot edu. Pretty soon
people will be going on break and then you'll start
the new semester, so people should go to that website
right now.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Would love that. We'd love to welcome them either in
the spring and the far.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Welcome to Connecticut. Thank you for all of the amazing
work that you're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you such a pleasure.
Good morning. Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is Jens Frederickson, President of the University
of New Haven. Good morning, good morning. You've just arrived
in March at the University of New Haven's right. How
has it been for you?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, it's been fantastic. It's a bit of an unusual
starting point in March, and some portion of that was
by design, but that means you sort of jump right
into as opposed to the summer where you kind of
get a layer of the land. This was sort of
deep immersion right away, and obviously everybody is aware of
the challenges have high ed, so it certainly wasn't a
(00:37):
slow arrival.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
But it's been fantastic.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I hope they took you for pizza at.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Least they did both both before and after. I feel
like I've been quite exposed to the pizza haven that
is New Haven. So I, in fact, I tested pizza
blind tested pizza the other day on social media, which
was an experience.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Was it Modern?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
It was Peppers, it was Sally's, it was Super Parties?
Yeah right, yeah, So and I think I got two
out of three rights.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Wow, I'm so impressed.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Well that that says I've eaten.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
No, I've lived here my entire life and I'm Italian,
so that's pretty good. I'm impressed.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Let's talk about your vision for the University of New Haven.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, I was super excited coming in, and I'm more
excited now than I was when I came in, in
part because I think it's high education. I mean, it's
no secret sort of at this strange threshold, inflection point,
whatever we want to call it, where where I think
generally public confidence is quite a bit down on high education,
and you see the emergence of a host of alternatives
(01:45):
and a narrative that maybe that high education is sort
of a thing of the past. And yet I'm sort
of a firm believer in what I would call high
stakes universities and universities that for whom their very existence
is tied to the essence of high education. And what
I mean by that is that students are looking for
a transformative experience. These are students who are hard working,
(02:07):
in the case of the University of New Haven, a
student body for whom costs and affordability is a serious consideration.
Of course, that has something to do with its declining
public confidences these inflationary costs. The business models far more
complex than that. There's something in the public sees, and
then there's sort of what happens internally with scholarshiping that's
actually been commensurate at the gradient with these inflationary costs.
(02:31):
But I think it's a moment in time where parents
and students are rightly asking around the value proposition of
higher education. It's higher education really capable of preparing students
for the world that is transforming so rapidly. I think
everybody talks about AI, automation, machine learning, and I think
it's a moment in time for higher education to kind
(02:51):
of turn the critical We tend to be very good
at sort of turning the critical lens outward, turning it inward,
and really sort of doing a reality check on relevance,
on return on investment, and really making sure that the
whole experience it's not just a's and b's anymore. That
certainly matters, but it's professional exposure, it's networks, it's internships,
(03:14):
it's the connection with what happens after you graduate. Are
you prepared to step into that. There's a whole mental
health and well being component. There is sort of an
identity component of situating yourself in a world that is
where the tectonics are shifting so fast, and so I
think there is an increased or heightened mandate on universities
(03:35):
to deliver an unprecedented experience that spans our host of sectors.
And I think that's a moment in time for universities
to live up to that. And I think particular for
high stakes universities, for whom the urgency of that investment
of students and parents is increased, I think that responsibility
is only elevated and being a part of that and
(03:56):
helping lead a team we own the business of transforming
lives and brighter futures and what could be more inspiring.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And the parents as well, You treat the whole student. Yes, Vispa,
the university welcomed one of the largest classes. What do
you plan to focus on for them?
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Well, I think what we clearly the value proposition that
we sort of drove hard in the spring around pathways
and outcomes and experiences and not just thinking about retention
and graduation. Retention and graduation and the conditions for the
possibility of career success fulfilled lives professionally, personally and so
(04:37):
I think that's that's resonating with students and parents.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
I think the.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Opportunities sort of the boutique like opportunities or the preferred
partnerships that we're establishing to Connecticut as a vibrant economy. Right,
You've got everything from bioside advanced manufacturing, to universities to
financial services and so research and so really connecting students
(05:01):
directly into those pathways and driving at the urgency because
for many families, this is one of the larger investments
outside of home buying, right, and you're really stretching. And
so I think the expectations of institutions has gone up,
should go up, and there is that mandate to deliver.
And I think clearly our proposition got through the pearance
(05:24):
that this is personal to us, that we take this pathway,
this transformative experience with the outcomes piece extremely serious. And
so yes, we had a very large class, a very
strong class. And part of what we also did was
we mandated that all incoming students upload their resumes because
(05:45):
that this transformative experience no longer begins in senior year
when you're getting ready to walk across the stage and
you're like, oops, did I ever do an internship or
what happens when I walk off that stage. It begins
early on. And I think we have done a great
job at the university reverse engineering courses and really creating
a practical experience that you don't have this golf between
(06:09):
the academy, the Ivory Tower, and industry and opportunity. I
think bridging that and sort of creating those draw bridges,
and that begins as early. You should set those expectations right.
If you're making a commitment like that, you need to
come with your resume in hand, and if the opportunities
arise right away, even better you two steps along the way.
I was told it's sort of like building I mean,
(06:31):
clearly not a big gamer, but building an avatar over
the course of the four years, and by the time
you step off that stage, you're ideally already stepping into
a home, brighter future. And I think that clearly resonated
with students and parents and hopefully will continue to do so.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
And that was one of the new programs you implemented
where they have to do a resume. Yeah, by your accent,
we didn't talk about you at all. I've told you're
a very humble person. You have about a million degrees.
If you've been a professor, tell us a little bit
about yourself.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I do have an accent.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Then it's not I have the accent, right, you don't
have the accent.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, and it's a bit of a hotch potch.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
I was born in Denmark, but I grew up in Luxembourg,
lived a little bit all over. I was a professional
athlete once upon the time, a different era, and then
eventually came to the United States twenty four to twenty
five years ago as a student athlete, and in some
ways I would say clearly sort of failed epically as
a professional athlete. I didn't I didn't work quite hard enough,
(07:31):
and sort of had this existential moment in time where
I sort of decided, Okay, it was time to get
really serious and not squander opportunities. And I'd done a
really good job of squandering opportunities throughout my sort of
formative years maybe, And so by the time I came
to the States, I was man on a mission. I
took an endless amount of hours. I went to Vanderbilt
(07:54):
in Nashville, which was a great school. And yeah, seven
degrees later whatever it was eight or nine years. I
became a professor there and so never thought I'd ended
up in academia and here I am.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
I love that you say you squandered your formative years,
because now you can say I've been where you are
to these students, and look at what I've done, we
can do the same with you.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, yeah, I haven't quite thought of it that way,
but that is compelling. I mean, I am sort of
one to say that talent is a double edged sword.
It's a great thing to have if things come easy,
but at the end of the day, there is absolutely
no substitute for determination and drive. And clearly I sort
of was fortunate that I hit enough of rock bartom
(08:39):
to realize that this became for me sort of a
defining I love what I do. That's the other thing, right,
when you talk to young people is I've read somewhere
that you spend twenty five years of your life sleeping.
It's just a sort of humbling, right, because if you're
sort of a bit foolish for the first twenty years
or so, right quickly running out of us with that
(09:00):
sort of sounding at all morbid about this, you better
love what you do and you better apply yourself, because
then you can you can have no regrets.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yes, that's great. What would you say to employers looking
to hire someone, why should they hire from the University
of New Haven?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I think I think twofold, I think anytime. I think
we have very much a can do student body for
whom the recognition is that the university is a pathway
to something else. So there is a real appetite. And
we were just talking earlier in here around sort of
how the best reach this generation and the mediums by
(09:39):
which to reach them. I think I think this generation,
there is amongst our students an urgency. There may not
always be sort of four winners of exactly this, right,
you have those kids evidently that from the age of
four want to be.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
On a rocket or want to operate. We all know
somebody like that too.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, we the rock star. The other one's a nursing student.
And you know, who knows what's going to happen at
the end of all of it. You just pray that
they're safe and happy. And I used to say to
my kids two things, I want you to have an
education and a faith. Yeah, so I felt like those
two things are really going to benefit them.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But you were saying, Yeah, No, I happen to believe
the same thing. And in part because I mentioned earlier,
I feel like the tectonics of of late modern life,
I'm moving so fast, and education gives you the versatility.
There's one component of it that's obviously technical expertise, but
then there's also the ability to sort of mental elasticity
and now they call it pivoting or I'm not crazy
(10:37):
about that word. Sort of being dynamic and being a
dynamic thinker where the sort of applicability of your technical
skills is translatable, right. And so it's this sort of
holistic picture that I think positions you for a more
competitive professional life but also a more fulfilling personal life.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
And so I think our students are they have a
degree of urgency, which is not always self evident these days,
a willingness to sort of be hands on. These aren't
students for whom we had this running joke when I
was coming up through college. It was like, at first
it was unless it was Goldman Sachs, nobody attended, right.
Then there was the hedge ones no one attended, or
(11:17):
then it was big tech.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Right.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
That's not reflected in our student body. I think our
student body is looking for fulfillment and have an appreciation
for the fact that whilst the services or the widgets
may be different, this set of skills required outside of
hyper technical things is actually quite translatable. And so I
think our students are motivated. I think they are also
(11:40):
not not in some ways hindered by right we talk
about the Ivory talent. Sometimes in this sort of insulated
space or isolated space of the academy, you're doing all
these groundbreaking things and then you step into it and
I'm again not crazy about this language the real world,
and then it's like, oh, whoops.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Right, I think I think.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Our students aren't really prepared given the bridging of sort
of the expectations of the workforce and the academy. I
think that bridging students will have worked on real projects.
There will have been real accountability in sort of tangible ways.
That isn't this sort of shock of oh now I'm
(12:22):
leaving behind the sort of protected space of the end.
And I think that can be a shocking realization to
a lot of students, right who worked on something very
very particular within the confines of the academy. And I
certainly did some version of that, and then you come
(12:42):
out and it's like you realize that there are sort
of other expectations.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
This generation wants authenticity. Tell me about the Afghan Women's
scholars program. Very interested in this fascinating.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
So we've sort of said the University of new Haven
is local feel global reach. We live in a world
of overexposure, no doubt about that, right, And in some
ways part of what attracted me to the University of
New Haven was that it's really sort of a can
do spirit, but a little bit of the underdog that
maybe because i mean, there's another very large university that's
(13:17):
located in new Haven that garners a lot of shine,
and maybe there's been some resistance in the past to
sort of talk about things that we as a university
do exceptionally well.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
And yet I mean, when you.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Start breaking it down from cybersecurity to what we've done
our national security, to what we're doing in the engineering
fields advanced manufacturer is it's really quite extraordinary what this
relatively little university at what of a nine and a
half thousand students and the growth pattern and so we've
done a lot globally, sort of large global partnerships. We
(13:49):
have a partnership with a College for Engineering in India
for women exclusively, which is quite an extraordinary story. And
so we've kind of been out there, and that then,
in turn means sometimes things come to us because of
this magnificent global network. And I was approached not I
mean maybe a couple of months on the job. Somebody
(14:11):
reached out and said, are you aware of what's happening
in Afghanistan? I was, and well, there was a gentleman
who is deeply concerned about what's happening particular to the
women in Afghanistan now with the Taliban and so on
and so forth. And I said, well, of course we
sort of all are. What does this mean, Well, this
(14:32):
individual is looking for pathways for young women to pursue
their education and escape this horrific set of circumstances and
then ultimately work in some capacity to hopefully, over time,
change this constellation. I said, well that sounds very very interesting,
and they said, well, would you be willing to get
on a call, And I said, to your thing, and
(14:53):
I did, and very very small world, this gentleman is
from my other words, I know, it's a crazy small world.
And he kind of described what he done, some funded
some startups and helped support some organizations and had really
had sort of first hand exposure to this, this dreadful scenario,
(15:14):
and then sort of said, well, would you be willing
to entertain a host of students coming and have you
done this before? It turns out we as a university
have been this actively involved on a global scale before.
So so it began initially as ten undergraduates and four
graduate students. So over the course of four years and
two years, respectively, and it very rapidly through the generosity
(15:36):
of this individual, grew to thirty undergrads and twelve graduate students,
and the interest I think last I heard, we had
over nine hundred applications on the undergraduate inside. These are
women who bind large fled and I located sort of
all over in various different I'm trying to sort of
be as confidential about this as I can be, right
(15:58):
located all over that have fled the set of circumstances,
and so we are extremely hopeful.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
I think we'll have.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Four the graduate students or three of the graduate students
coming in this spring, and then next fall we'll have
the first cohort and we will then maintain them throughout
the four years, and hopefully we're working on pathways for
them thereafter.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I love that. I was a missionary in Somalia and Kenya,
so I love that. That's amazing. What are some of
the leading programs at the school that you think people
would be interested in? Besides, everybody thinks of criminal justice.
I know it's a big one, and.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
It's what we've done in that space where again, in
a world of sort of intense binaris of sort of
harsh crackdown versus sort of all hands off, try not
to pick sort of terms, we've actually managed to navigate
an incredibly thought full line around public safety as a
(16:52):
condition for the possibility of all sorts of things. And
we've really been sort of groundbreaking in that space. And
sometimes again I think it's fall and prey these sort
of binary categories, so criminal justice and forensics. That goes
without saying, but that's homeland security. I mean, we're one
of the largest feeders to all the federal agencies you
name them or that's one incredible piece of the university.
(17:13):
But what hasn't sort of been as widely publicized as
we have a double ACSB accredited business school, which put
two sort of in the top three four percent globally,
of which the sports management program is top ten globally.
It's hardly sort of not attractive, right, and they're doing
some really innovative things in the business school around STEM degrees.
(17:34):
When we talked earlier about sort of the translatability of skills.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I'm speaking with the yen's Frederickson, president of the University
of New Haven. If you'd like to find out more
about classes, go to new Haven dot edu. Pretty soon
people will be going on break and then you'll start
the new semester, so people should go to that website
right now.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Would love that. We'd love to welcome them either in
the spring and the far.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Welcome to Connecticut. Thank you for all of the amazing
work that you're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
Thank you such a pleasure.
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