Accomplishments

AI Corridor

Central welcomed the campus community to the official opening of its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Corridor. Located in the Vance Academic Center, the 5,000-square-foot space includes three new classrooms with large-screen displays, an AI research room with an isolated AI server, meeting space, robot dogs, and a display that will be occupied by an autonomous synthetic human.

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Applied Innovation Hub 

Opened in January 2022, the Applied Innovation Hub (AIH) houses technology enhanced active learning classrooms, computer-based classrooms, and teaching & research laboratories equipped with state-of-art equipment and instruments. AIH is one of many results of the goals set forth in President Toro’s 2030 strategic plan. 

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Barnard Hall addition and renovation 

Construction on Barnard Hall added 10,000-square-feet of space and updated the original circa-1950s structure, including new HVAC systems, window replacement, and sprinkler and fire alarm upgrades. Additions include new flexible meeting rooms; new faculty offices; a sky-lit central gathering space; and an outdoor terrace. 

Burritt Library addition 

With an estimated completion date of Fall 2024, this project will add almost 15,000 square feet of space to the Elihu Burritt Library. Beyond an expansion to the circulation area, the project will create more space for offices and classrooms. Renovations to the existing spaces include ADA improvements, air-conditioning in the library stacks, and enhanced fire protection. Construction on this $16 million facility began in the summer of 2023. 

Central Welcome Center 

Undergraduate and graduate admissions moved into the former Charter Oak State College on Manafort Drive just in time for the Spring 2024 semester. Admissions shares the building with Institutional Advancement, creating a welcoming space for alumni, prospective students, and friends of the university. 

Center for Community Engagement & Social Research

Community engagement is one of the cornerstones of a Central education and features prominently in President Toro’s 2030 strategic plan. Building off that and the university’s designation as a Carnegie Foundation Community Engaged Institution, President Toro established the Center for Community Engagement & Social Research in 2022. The center serves as the home base for Central’s community engagement and applied research initiatives and facilitates partnerships with local businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies throughout New Britain and the greater Hartford area. The center also engages the campus community in projects and outreach that are mutually beneficial, contribute to the greater good, and build a sense of civic responsibility. 

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Center for Social and Emotional Learning 

Working with the School of Education and Professional Services, President Toro gave her full support to the launch of the Center for Excellence in Social and Emotional Learning at Central. Through education, advocacy, and research, the center aims to empower students, faculty, and staff educators to create and encourage emotionally healthy and compassionate communities. To encourage SEL research and practices, the center awards annual grants available to faculty and staff to support SEL development. 

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College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences 

In her 2021 proposal to the BOR, President Toro listed several goals for a new college of health. Among them, a centralization of existing healthcare-related academic programs and a forum in which to incorporate new programs in high-demand fields. The proposed college also will enable students to gain valuable professional experience through its associated student-run community clinic in Copernicus Hall. The BOR approved the new college in December 2023.  

Community Health Education Clinic 

The Central Connecticut State University Community Health Education Clinic opened in October 2023 and started welcoming patients in January 2024. The clinic is evidence of President Toro’s commitment to two university pillars: Community engagement and workforce development. The clinic aims to address healthcare disparities in the surrounding community while providing students with hands-on healthcare experience. 

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COVID-19 campus shutdown and reopening 

In March of 2020, Central’s administration and staff worked resolutely under the leadership of President Toro to keep the COVID-19 pandemic at bay and its educational mission viable.

They created and implemented new health and safety protocols and substantially upgraded online remote learning technologies in an enormous and complex collaborative effort referred to as the university’s “Blueprint for Success.” 

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Cybersecurity Hall

The Central community hosted a ribbon cutting for the Cybersecurity Hall, home to two new 845 square-foot classrooms equipped with 98-inch wall displays, whiteboards, and computers for teaching the new Cybersecurity program.

In addition to the new classrooms and features are two renovated conference rooms for meetings with academic and industry partners to review cutting-edge technologies and procedures with student and faculty groups related to Cybersecurity.

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Drop-in Child Care Center 

On-campus child care was a longtime goal for Central’s faculty and staff. Support for it had been building since early 2000, and in 2008, the Committee for the Concerns of Women formally recommended that the university provide on-campus child-care to student-parents. Since her arrival at Central in 2017, President Toro supported their recommendations and similar policies. In September of 2022, she was there to cut the ribbon to the Central Drop-in Child Care Center and mark its official opening in Carroll Hall. 

Esports Center 

When she commissioned the Central Esports Center in 2019, President Toro placed Central at the forefront of a national trend at universities. In less than three months, Central became the first university in Connecticut to construct a dedicated academic and recreational esports room. The center opened officially Sept. 6 in a former fitness center room on the north side of Memorial Hall. It is furnished with Respawn gaming chairs, Dell Alienware Computers, Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation consoles, and more. Read more about how to esports center came online here. 

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First-Gen Forward institution 

More than 40 percent of Central's enrolled undergraduates are first-generation students. Under President Toro’s direction, Central is among a growing group of nationally recognized universities that specialize in support for first-generation students. The Center for First-generation Student Success named Central a First-Gen Forward institution in 2022. The designation recognizes institutions of higher education that have demonstrated a commitment to improving experiences and advancing outcomes of first-generation college students. 

Hispanic-serving institution  

President Toro’s 2030 strategic plan calls for Central to become “student-ready” institution to meet the needs of incoming 21st-century students. Among many initiatives to meet that goal is to establish Central as a Hispanic-serving institution. The U.S. Department of Education’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division provides grant funding to institutions of higher education to assist with strengthening institutional programs, facilities, and services to expand the educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans and other underrepresented populations.  

C.J. Huang Recreation Center 

In 2014, the estate of Huang Chang-Jen, a philanthropist who dedicated his life to promoting education, bequeathed $6.5 million to Central. His gift included funding for scholarships and support for a new recreation facility. President Toro supported the project from its groundbreaking in 2017 to its grand opening on Jan. 21, 2020. In May of 2023, Dr. Huang’s wife, Ha-Lin Huang, and her daughters joined President Toro and members of the Executive Committee for a tour and a private unveiling of a memorial plaque dedicated to Dr. Huang and his philanthropy. 

The John Lewis Institute for Social Justice

Following the death of Rep. John Lewis in the summer of 2020, President Zulma Toro charged a committee with developing a program to honor his legacy. During a time of pandemic uncertainty and nationwide protests against police brutality and other social injustices, Central students wanted a venue in which they could become more informed and involved in social justice issues. Central launched the John Lewis Institute for Social Justice on Feb. 25, 2021, with a mission to empower a new generation to build a better and more just world through coursework, seminars, and practical experience for students. Soon thereafter, Central established an academic minor in Social Justice.

NECHE accreditation

Central Connecticut State University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which requires institutions to re-apply every 10 years. In 2018, shortly into her tenure at Central, President Toro led the university’s re-application process. NECHE approved Central’s application and commended the university for a “comprehensive and candid” self-study and a “clear governance process.”  

Next Gen Educators

Since her arrival at Central, President Toro has developed important partnerships and relationships with school districts, community organizations, businesses, and beyond to provide new experiential learning opportunities to Central students. Just before his appointment, U.S. Education Secretary Dr. Miguel Cardona ’97 partnered with President Toro to launch NextGen Educators at Central. The pipeline program facilitates the hire of Education majors by school districts to work in K-12 classrooms and ease pressures on current teachers and gain classroom experience.

New university logo and branding

Central Connecticut State University unveiled a new logo and marketing tools on Aug. 24, 2023. President Toro threw her full support behind the university’s new look, noting that the last logo updated nearly 20 years ago.

“This addition to our marketing platform has been a long time coming,” Toro said. “Central is leading the way in higher education, and this updated branding brings us into the 21st century.

President Toro’s office will continue to use the official university seal as its legacy logo. The new marketing logo includes an icon rendering of the university clock tower at Davidson Hall, in a nod to the former logo.

NSA National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense

Several new academic programs have launched under President Toro’s leadership in partnership with faculty members. Among them is the Cyber Defense program, one of three tracks available to Cybersecurity majors at Central. The program has taken off in a big way, and in late 2023, Central Connecticut State University was named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency.

Nursing Simulation Suites & Laboratory

In 2018, the Department of Nursing had outgrown its academic space in Barnard Hall and its technology needed an upgrade. President Toro approved and funded an ambitious plan to move the department to Copernicus Hall and establish a state-of-the-art teaching lab in the building. The new space is nearly three times larger than the department’s old home and features unified office space, an expanded learning laboratory, and six simulation rooms, each dedicated to a specific type of patient care. Before its grand opening, Toro noted, “These changes will open the nursing program up to more students. This will enable us to offer more, free wellness clinics and make an even bigger impact on the community.”

Willard-DiLoreto Hall renovation

When the university community convened to celebrate the official ribbon-cutting of the newly renovated Willard-DiLoreto complex on Feb. 20, 2019, hundreds of well-wishers attended the festivities. But for President Toro, the completion of the $63 million total gut renovation of the two buildings marked a particularly special moment.

“To see this beautiful building completed is particularly meaningful to me,” she said. “I arrived on campus on the same day the university broke ground on this project. I have able to watch its progress from start to finish, and I am thrilled with the result.” 

Willard-DiLoreto parking garage

President Toro set an early goal to address parking shortages on campus, and in 2022, the new Willard-DiLoreto garage on Manafort Drive added 600 more parking spaces to campus. The garage features parking-guidance technology that offers drivers updates on where parking spaces are available and an enclosed pedestrian bridge that links the garage to the interior of Willard-DiLoreto Hall.