Year Six Report:
Toward a Splendid College Strategic Plan 2016-2026 1. At NVCC, students achieve their goals. 2. NVCC faculty and staff make a difference–at the college, in the community, in their fields of study, and in the lives of students. 3. NVCC programs meet and beat academic and industry standards. 4. NVCC is an engine of change within Waterbury, Danbury, and the broader community. 5. NVCC is an effective, performance-based institution.
COMMUNITY REPORT As I write this introduction of our community report of a community college, I pause to consider what we actually mean by community here at NVCC. Some communities are bound by practice, some by geography, and some by identities. Perhaps not surprisingly, in spite of our common monikers, not all community colleges truly inhabit community. At NVCC, our community comes from our shared values and our shared passions for expressing those values through action as well as through words, and always with our students at the center. Our community builds a shared story through industry partnerships, public school collaborations, resource connections, and faculty/staff relationships, and our shared story gets told in a variety of ways. For example, part of our shared COVID story was told in September 2021 when Drew Marine hosted a First Responders Appreciation Event in, naturally, the Waterbury First Responders Hall in our Center for Health Sciences. Many “unsung heroes” were honored for their service and actions throughout the pandemic. Our fifth annual International Center for the Arts (ICA) highlighted the diversity of our community when more than 700 participants celebrated over the four day event. The theme, “Revolt! Revive! Renew!” inspired a wide range of activities, including a Progressive Poetry Event, a “They Are Not Disposable” art exhibit in which portraits of Black Americans were crafted from household items, a “Clowns Without Borders” documentary and discussion, and a drumming circle and dance lesson by Aguibou Bougabali Sanou, our 2018-19 Fulbright Scholarin-Residence who returned and joined forces with this year’s Fulbright, Stacey Sacks. The celebration highlighted that laughter crosses all language barriers and drumming captures our common heartbeats. Our NVCC community provides an opportunity for us to continually write the story of the college into our own lives. Of course, NVCC doesn’t have a single, simple story; rather, its story, like its community, continually evolves: every year we see the arrival of new students, new faculty and staff, new partners who participate to make and remake the stories. As you read this year’s Community Report, keep in mind that it includes only the highlights of a year that emphasize how our community is strengthened by the backgrounds, cultures, races, genders, and ages of hundreds of people who contribute diverse perspectives, ask different questions, and tell unique stories to ensure we continue to grow as a community. For me, and I think for you as well, by participating in the community and, thus, by continuing to write the story of Naugatuck Valley, we learn together how to do better, be better.
Lisa Dresdner, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer Naugatuck Valley Community College Waterbury and Danbury Campuses