This section is excerpted from Dr. Carter's inaugural address, at http://w3.sysoff.ctstateu.edu/web/csuweb.nsf/Main/Home+Page?Open (you'll have to navigate to Chancellor's address, as its URL is extremely long):
We will be mindful of the importance of high-quality education at the elementary and secondary levels as well as at the postsecondary level. We are committed to the PK-16 initiative, and I am pleased to report that thanks to the leadership of former President James Roach and the current president of Western Connecticut State University, Dr. James Schmotter, and the faculty and staff at Western, a commitment has been made to work with the Danbury and Bethel Public Schools in our PK-16 initiative. It is my hope that next year we will add another school district. I also am pleased to announce that Dr. James Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale Child Study Center, will collaborate with us on the PK-16 Initiative. We are also working with Dr. George Coleman, Interim Commissioner of the State Department of Education. Ultimately, our goal is to have each of the four universities establish partnerships with school districts across the state. It has become clear to me that only good can come from such enterprises.
With a theme of "Our Collective Challenge – Content and Character," Carter's inaugural remarks focused on his vision for the CSU System for the next decade. Some of his goals include a system-wide articulation agreement which enables a student from any Connecticut community college to move to any of the four CSU universities without loosing any credits, establishing a Center for International Education for the CSU System, and launching a PK-16 Initiative through which each of the four CSU universities establish partnerships with school districts across the state.
"It is my vision that thethat the Connecticut State University System will be recognized as an exemplar among its kind, meeting in full the educational needs of the citizens of Connecticut and the nation within a global society," Carter remarked in his address. "To guarantee attainment of this vision requires collaboration among the four constituent universities to create and sustain student-centered learning environments that promote their distinct missions."
"I believe that we should be proud that 92% of students attending our state universities are from Connecticut," he continued. "We should be proud that a significant number of CSUS graduates remain in Connecticut after their graduations. They work, they pay taxes, and they engage in volunteerism contributing to the cultural enrichment of the state. They energize intellectual discourse in a number of businesses and nonprofit agencies. They contribute to the state's economic competitiveness . . . Let me state unequivocally that we in the Connecticut State University System have much of which we can proud. It is important to remember that the lives we touch today have the potential to be tomorrow's leaders who posses the values we all cherish."
Re: Information Literacy and Workplace Performance
in November there was a conference at WCSU on education reform, with top state educators in attendance. There was an article in the News Times on the conference, which cited an interesting report. Entitled "Tough Choices or Tough Times," it was produced by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. View it here.