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Women's Education f' Women's Empowerment
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Elsa Núñez Charging Ahead at
Eastern Connecticut by Jeff Simmons duction to and tenure at Eastern Since that first day in mid-2006, Núñez has not appeared to slow down one bit. . pletely the of day what she desperately wanted.it wasState D Elsa r University. Núñez recals It opposite wasn't her first what sheat expected; Eastern in Connecticut fact, com-
"It was a very interesting day," Núñez recently recaled, subsequently charging into a vivid description of her whirlwind introduction to the Wilantic campus as if it had just occurred yesterday. Núñez hoped to huner down in her offce, going over paperwork and whked away. meticuously plag for the days ahea. Inste, she was hasy
"This was a very well run place," she said, recalg that "nothng was broken. I came to that conclusion during the interview process. This was a place that I could make better, but it did not have any crisis. People were very competent, so I knew the chalenges that were before me."
Núñez sought to focus on academics, rather than facilties, a choice that spoke volumes about her background: she had served as vice chancel-
"I was greeted by the executive vice president, Dr. Michael Pernal, who
lor for academic and student afairs in the University of Maie System from
had been acting president for a year, and he said to me that he 'tas going
2003 to 2006, provost and vice president for academic afairs at Lesley University, university dean for academic afairs and vice chancellor for stu-
to tae me around al day," Núñez said.
"So he took me to an offce to get my identication badge, and so I did that. And then afer I did that he wanted me to get my parkig, so I did
dent afairs at the City University of New York (CUN), and associate dean
that. And then he came back and showed me around the President's Offce.
Fortnately, Núñez said, she inerited a campus that structuraly was on good footig, partcularly because her predecessor had focused on buidig
And then he said we had to go to a breakast. I waled into the breakast,
of Faculty at CUNY's College of Staten Island.
and there were 300 people; it was fu of faculty and sta." That wasn't the hal of it. "He took me to a loca restaurat for lunch with al of the cabinet members, and they forced me to eat a bacon sandwich that they recommended, which was realy nice," she said, "and then,
the capus' inrastructure. Núñez, then, set out to improve its academics.
in the afernoon, he brought a group of students by."
build the academic reputation of Eastern"
"There were certn things I didn't have to pay attention to since they were working very well," she said. "I felt very strongly that I could benefit
from working very closely with the faculty and sta and admistration to
"I didn't know anybody, so I just wanted get the lay of the land, fid out
Eastern is Connecticut's designated public liberal ar college, a pri-
where my books were," she said. "I had everyg in boxes, and I'm very
mary undergraduate institution - offering 35 undergraduate majors and
organzed, so I wanted to sta off by gettng organzed in my offce. But
56 miors - housed on about 180 wooded acres about 30 miutes from
they thew me for a loop so I couldn't do it!"
alone to sta my readig. "I didn't expect any of ths," she said, laughig.
Harord. Currently, more than 5,600 students attend Eastern, and about 4,700 of them are full-time. The average class size is 22 students, and Eastern has a student-teacher ratio of 16-to-l.
"I just wanted to be left alone to sta my readig!" While the characterization of that day is said with a heavy dose of
launched new initiatives and new facilties. And the accolades have been
humor, Núñez's fast-paced recollection speak volumes about her intro-
pouring in: Eastern was ranked the 28th top public regional university in
She paused, seemigly out of breath, and stated: "I wanted to be left
Over the last several years, Eastern has displayed momentum as it
02/27/2012 . HISPANIC OUTLOOK 19
the Nort Region by u.s. News & World Report; ranked as one of the best
who seemed to grab attention were from wealthier fames.
colleges in the Northeast by The Princeton Rev; named a "Great College
"I remember two thgs," she said. "One was that junior year we had to
to Work For" by The Chronicle of Higher Education; and its Honors pro-
give an oral presentaon and the gils got up in front of the nuns and shiv-
gram was listed by Peterson's as one of New England's most active.
ered and shook. I got up and gave a fantatic speech, and the nuns could
Those who have worked at the campus for some tie aren't surprised, and handily credit Núñez with yielding results and providing a more
not believe it. But I was very confdent and prepared. That was the first
enriching experience not just for students but for sta and faculty.
As a senior, she said, she was accepted at Montclair State College whie many of her wealthier schoolmates were rejected. "The nuns wanted to
"Al presidents are movers and shakers, but some people just have a
tie the nuns noticed me, as a junior."
personalty that makes you want to do thigs because you know they are
know how I got into college. They just had no confdence in me. I was a
the right things to do, and not everyone has that," said Dr. Caren Cid,
very good student, but I was in the background. They were not supportve of miorities in those days, and they probably thought I would become a secreta or have kids." Núñez received a Bachelor of Ar degree from Montclai State and went on to ea an MA from Faileigh Dickison University. She began as a high school teacher - and quit the day she was notied that she received tenure. "I told my father I quit my job, and he said, 'How are you going to eat,'"
"" ..S
she recaled. Her reason, she said, was simple. She wasn't a good fit. "I said
if I come back with tenure, I wi never leave, and I'm not happy," she said. So she pursued a doctorate in lingustics from Rutgers University, mov-
ing on to become a faculty member at Raapo College. She knew she had found a second home, and loved instructing college students on Englsh. Her career track eventualy solidied afer an academic vice president
insisted Núñez had the qualties to become a good admistrator, so she took a fellowship at the American Council on Education.
"There were about 30 of us," Núñez said. "About six or seven hated it and said forget about this, I want to go back to the classroom. Then, the rest of us liked it, and we had training in collective bargaining and al kids of thngs. I liked the problem solvig, and I was attracted to al of the case studies. So I began to develop an interest in problem solvig in academic admnistration. And from there, I became the dean of faculty at the College of Staten Island."
Problem solvig is an area that Núñez excels at, her colleages said. She didn't always agree with others' arguments, but listened and offered
what she viewed as better solutions. Her strategic plannig process produced 18 intiatives, or what she caled "remedies."
"Every institution has litations, and people saw ths as an opportnity to be constructive," she said.
dean of the School of Ar and Sciences. "She is able to recognze students who have motivation but may not
Cid, for instace, said that self-examation exposed that Eastern needed to improve retention and graduation rates. More than hal of the students attending Eastern are fist-generation, from low-income fames, and Hispanc and Afcan-American. Cid, with Núñez's blessing, applied for a Nellie Mae Educational
have the best of chances," Cid said, "and maybe that's because in her own lie she was someone who didn't have the best to begi with but was motivated to succeed." Núñez's upbrigig was faced with economic chalenges. Her parents had very litte when they arved in America from Puerto Rico in the late 1940s.
were primarily undergraduate and aiming to improve retention and
Her fater was a farer, the son of a farer, and strugged to fid work.
support servces to improve retention and graduaton rates.
Foundation planng grat seekig regional New England universities that progress to graduation. The goal was to taget Hispanc students and other
underrepresented populations to provide tutoring and other academic
She recaled a home without books. But there were newspapers every-
"We were successfu in obtag the plang grat, and then successfu
where, and her father would read the paper from front to back, always
in gettg a four-yea implementaon grt," said Cid, who has since served
savoring the sport section. "He would ta to me about the Yankees," she
as Project Leer on Project Capus, whch the grt helped to creae. And, Cid added, Eastern subsequently received a U.S. Department of
said. "I leared to read the papers with hi."
The importce of a strong educaon was not lost on hi. From an ealy age, she said, "He told us, you're in a hellole - we lived in the projects - and
the only way you're going to get out of ths hellole is to get an educaon."
The nuns at her Catholic school in Newark, NJ, didn't exhbit a simar confdence in her potential. Núñez was a very good student, but the girls
20
HISPANIC OUTLOOK
. 02/27/2012
Education grant to bolster those retention and graduation effort. "We've been very successful since we have a president that support
everyone workig together," Cid said. "Al of these dierent offces in other universities work separtely and don't ta to each other, but here everybody ta with each other to improve student success."
Núñez also led the drive to develop a new Academic Support Center among the new facilties rollg out on capus, such as a Science Buidig, Future Fine Ar Center, Public Safety Buidig, and Student Center renova-
tion and expansion. The new Academic Support Center serves as a one-stop location for tutorig math and writig support and professional advising,
and centraly located in Eastern's J. Eugene Smith libra. "It's very accessible, very frendly," Cid said. "And that has led to al
other great things that are happening, with our student tutors becomig ambassadors. "
Asked about the Academic Support Center, Núñez began to glow, as if a
proud mother discussing one of her chidren. Strategic plang identied weaknesses in academic support, she reflected. "It wasn't what it should be," she said. Now, five years later, the result is evident the moment one enters the librar. "You have a smal café, where you can get sandwiches and coffee.
"When I presented the idea to the chief librarian, I thought I was going
to get pushback, but she loved it. She was excited about people being able to brig food into the café. A student can now get a cup of coffee and go in
resulted in increased alumni givig in support of scholarships for our students with ullet fiancial need," he said. "Her enthusiasm is contaous." Of particular note is that Núñez has created the Dual Enrollment Intiative, a progra that works with Harord and Manchester high schools to identi students who had no plans to attend college but have potential. Those students enroll at Eastern whie tag three remedial courses at
area community colleges during that first semester, but also live in Eastern's dorms and receive mentoring and support from Eastern The next semester, they become full-tie Eastern students.
The program has aleady won awards from the College Board and the
New England Board of Higher Education for its innovative approach to increasing educational access for underserved populatons. "She is commtted to increasing educational access and has used her bully pulpit to encourage organzations across the state to be part of the effort to give the opportnity of a college degree to low-income fames, Latios, Afcan-Americans and underserved populations," he said. But Núñez does not see her work stopping on graduation day. She has
additionaly focused on solidifng a path to success for students to go
for tutorig in mathematics, or writing, or any subject." Recently, she gave the new chair of Eastern's Board of Trustees a tour of
from the classroom to the workforce. Eastern now boasts that 95 percent
the library. He was astounded by all of the student trafc inside, and
case before Núñez.
watched students tying away at computers, tutors meeting with their charges, and six academic advisors offering assistace to students debatig
majors nearby. "This made it very easy for students to go there and get the servces they need," Núñez said, "and there's no stigma. Everybody is there. They own sta in there!" see a lot of action. I even see my Dr. Margaret Letterman, a faculty member of Eastern's Psychology
Department, has worked to faciltate intercultural communications and relationships among students, and serves as faculty advisor to the Latin American Student Organzation. For more than a hal-dozen year, the organtion has hosted Thursday
of recent graduates found jobs at graduation, and that wasn't always the
Working to ensure the campus' tagline - "A Liberal Education, Practicaly Applied" - is put into action, Núñez worked to transform the college-to-workforce pipelie.
"Students must graduate with an applied experience," she said, and
that means students must have completed for-credit internships. But she noticed that many students didn't have cars, let alone sufcient funds to
even buy gas. "For them to get to an internship would be dicult." So Núñez set her mid to establishing a resource where the internships came to campus. She approached health care provider Cigna and "asked them to outsource to us instead of India." Initially, Cigna was resistant, pointing out that that sensitive health records required substantial security measures be in place. But Núñez
night diers for students, many of them "margialed," miority and from low-income fames. "I was trg to buid communty" Letterman said, "and
would not accept defeat. Instead, she secured a space on campus, and
with Dr. Núñez's help, was about to go back to the roots of the community"
Cigna developed a security program there.
"The biggest problem with many of the Hispanc students was that if there is a famy problem it is their problem, too. If a dad loses his job, somebody may have to stop going to school to work. If a mom is sick,
computer science majors and is paying them $20 an hour, and they al
someone has to take care of the younger kids for a whie, and they may
drop out," Letterman said. "And Dr. Núñez is dedicated to them makng connections with each other and with faculty and administrators, so it's more likely they wi stay here and fish schooL." Echoing her colleages' sentients, Letterman lauds Núñez for her no-
nonsense approach, her lack of an "entourage" when she crosses the campus, and her abilty to get thigs done. "I'm not sayig that everyhig has been a consensus," Letterman said,
"but when she cae here, she brought a vision of what she wanted, and she brought everyone together to create ths. She said, 'If we are going to be a great public libera ar university of Connecticut, then let's create it,' and she got everybody involved. Everyody had a voice."
Dr. Kenneth DeLisa, vice president for institutional advancement at
"And this September, we opened the Hub, and Cigna hired 12 Eastern work for Cigna. They go to work every day without wastig gas, and they
just love it," she said.
"The work Hub is the most innovative thing we are now doing at Eastern," she said, quick to share credit. "It was one of my sta members' ideas. I work with such smar people that I always say I have one genius, and my one genius is to hire good people." Whe Núñez is the first female and Hispanc president at Eastern, she was not initialy comfortble trumpetig that designation. "When I read the anouncement about my presidency, I asked why that was so importt in ths society," she said. "But I cae to rethnk that." "It is importt for society to see that you don't have to be Black to
teach Black history. You don't have to be Hispanc to lead a Hispanc insti-
tution. In fact, you have to be competent. It has been very good for ths community that I am a woman and I am Hispanc, but right now that is
Eastern, agreed. He said Núñez has led py exaple, and has watched her
invisible to them."
dine with students, visit their dorm rooms and attend athletic events. She's
"So I've come to be comfortble with it," Núñez said. "Students often wi tell me how importt it is to them that I succeed. I always tell them
not just a cheerleader, he said, but a collaborator.
"Her presence and enthusiasm at alumn functions and her strong mes-
sage and commtment for access to higher education for al students has
that my story is just like your story, and it isn't always eas. Someties they
.~
thk I just got here by a miracle."
02/27/2012 . HISPANIC OUTLOOK 21