Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

Every semester, certified teachers in the Department of Literacy, Elementary, and Early Childhood Education graduate program for Literacy Specialists provide free literacy tutoring. During the past 50 years the Center has provided local communities with millions of dollars of free Literacy Tutoring to over 8,000 children from the surrounding communities

The CCSU Literacy Center works with parents, teachers, DCF, and school districts in the Greater Hartford area.

CCSU is part of a contenporary collecting federal grant with the Institute of Musuem and Library Service (IMLS) with the Connecticut Historical Society to document the COVID-19 experience of underrepresented communities, such as the elderly, commnities of color, health care workers. The 18-month project includes a special museum staff of 3: a community organizer works with two CCSU Public History interns. CCSU faculty act as advisors. 

Faculty in the Department of Special Education and Interventions at CCSU partnered with the Down Syndrome Association of Connecticut (DS ACT) to investigate effective reading comprehension instruction for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). We utlized a multiple-baseline single-case design to examine the effects of a virtual, multicomponent reading intervention targeting main idea and morpheme meanings to aid reading comprehension (Project MMARC) for students with ID in Grades 3-6. We employed self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) to teach students how to generate main idea statements, and semantic maps were used to support the acquisition of target morpheme meanings. Findings from the study are encouraging and add to a growing body of research targeting reading comprehension instruction for this population. The collaboration between CCSU and DS ACT is ongoing, and we would like to continue this work moving forward. We are currently drafting two manuscripts to submit for publication so we may disseminate findings with teachers, parents, and researchers. In addition, we recently presented findings at the Pacific Coast Research Conference in San Diego, CA.

Students in three separate classes in the Department of Communication at Central Connecticut State University collaborated to organize a colloquium for community members to learn about the influence of Asian popular culture on American student consumers. The specific focus was on the popular 2021 Netflix series "Squid Game." Students were responsible for marketing and promoting the event, moderating different segments throughout the day, and also presented research. A faculty panel, organized by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAAPI) Studies Minor, was part of the event as well as the co-Chairs of the newly founded Chinese-American Student Association at CCSU.  

The Mobile Monument project seeks to engage people in discussions that lead to public monument design via live and interactive street theater. The project consists of a mobile monument plinth that is delivered to a variety of locations where members of the public can mount the plinth to make speeches about monuments and commemoration. Questionnaires are handed to the public asking for proposals for personal monument descriptions and sketches.

To date, the project has engaged students from the CCSU Art and Design and Theater departments, public high school students from the House of Teens at the YWCA run East Side Community Center in New Britain, and students from the Academia di Belle Arti di Venezia in Venice, Italy. Performances have happened on CCSU Campus, East Side of New Britain CT, and Venice Italy. Fifty professional artists have created artworks and designs for the Mobile Monument project. 

The project has been initiated by CCSU faculty Ted Efremoff, Eben Kling and Aude Jomini

As Director of the CCSU LGBT Center, Professor William Mann has worked with various community partners to acquire their papers and memorabilia for the rapidly growing GLBTQ Archive at Burritt Library. In addition to the community organiztions listed, Professor Mann has also obtained the papers of several local activists and community leaders such as lobbyist Betty Gallo, trans rights pioneer Jerimarie Liesegang, and local historian Richard Nelson.

The 2022 Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium hosted at the New Britain Museum of American Art is attended by students, faculty, members of the general public, as well as researchers and practitioners. The event is hosted Dr. Jeffery Kreeger, Director of Tourism & Hospitality at CCSU, Dr. Charles Button, GESAC Founder & Chair, CCSU Professor, Geography and Dr. Grace Kim, CCSU Assistant Professor.

"Sustainability in tourism and hospitality continues to be an ongoing objective, which is actively being demanded not only by guests and customers but also by business owners. The benefits of sustainable activities not only benefit the environment but in many cases can also present a more profitable option – a win-win scenario.  Therefore, it is imperative that those in tourism and hospitality remain current in their information and awareness about sustainability challenges facing their industries so they can develop strategies and improve operating systems in order to mitigate and adapt these challenges to appease all actors involved, but more importantly manage the limited resources available on our planet. The information being shared at the upcoming ‘15th Annual Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium will help attendees develop strategies for a sustainable future.”

- Quote by Dr. Charles Button and Dr. Jeffery Kreeger

A Matter of Balance (MOB) is an evidence-based program that is designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase physical activity in older adults.  Through 8, 2-hour sessions, MOB coaches explore cognitive behavioral strategies to enhance falls efficacy and improve falls management along with engagement with physical activity to improve physical strength and balance.  In the Spring of 2022, CCSU students in the Psychology and Exercise Science programs conducted their internship and practicum experiences by completing training to become MOB coaches and leading MOB programming at 6 senior centers across central Connecticut.  This collaboration was made possible through closely working with community partners such as CT Healthy Living Collective and the senior centers in central Connecticut.