By Kat Boushee

In a speech made to faculty and staff on Wednesday, August 24, CCSU President Jack Miller spoke frankly to his audience about what he thinks CCSU is doing right and what he believes could be improved.

Miller, whose mother recently passed away, reflected on his own upbringing and how it has shaped him, and how he is using his lessons he learned in the past to develop the CCSU community.

During his speech he presented the distinguished service award to Dr. Helen Abadiano, a professor in the Language and Reading Arts department. Miller commented that often her colleagues refer to her as a “petite dynamo,” and discussed her achievements made in 19 years of service to the community.

Dr. Abadiano took the stage to thank her peers for the award and said that she was thankful to everyone else who deserved the award as much as she did. “I have been fortunate through all my years here,” Abadiano said.

President Miller also talked about the report card that he has given CCSU in regard to the Strategic Plan, and copies were passed out to those who attended. The report card gives grades to the University in a variety of categories with areas of evaluation such as “Increase the number of courses that incorporate educational technology,” “Increase effectiveness in Academic Advising,” and “Reduce ratio of credit hours taught by part-time rather than full-time faculty.”

The report card gives grades in seven different categories, with marks ranging from A, like in the category “Improve safety, health and security on campus,” to D as in the category, “Increase the number of students involved in applied or experiential learning.”

Each category shows the goal, the “start,” meaning what the school was at when the plan was implemented, and the current state of the University. The report card can be now be found on CCSU’s website.

After President Miller concluded his speech, he adjourned to the groundbreaking ceremony and ribbon cutting at the Elihu Burritt library.