The resume of Zulma Toro, the president of Central Connecticut State University, located in New Britain, Ct., describes her as a “transformational leader” with a “passion for diversity” who is “committed to being a facilitator for faculty, student and staff success.” Hence, she’s an active college president who sees herself as a change-maker.

Toro herself explains that throughout her career, she was appointed to positions that “required quite a bit of work to get the organization moving in the right direction.”

For example, as dean of engineering at Wichita State University, she had to deal with the fact that it wasn’t producing enough engineers to meet the workforce needs of Kansas. She then collaborated with two other engineering deans at other colleges and the president of the state senate to devise a program that funded the transformation of these engineering schools to meet the state’s needs. Toro was named president of Central Connecticut State in January 2017 and is the first Latina to serve in that capacity. Previously, she had served as provost at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

What motivated her to pursue the president’s role at Central Connecticut State University was “the potential of transforming the lives of students that the college specializes in. Many of the students are people with no means, and this was what my father, a lawyer, was most passionate about,” Toro said, who grew up in Puerto Rico.

CCSU: transforming the lives of diverse students

Toro believes that higher education, especially public institutions, must become more agile and responsive to students’ needs as well as those of business, industry and communities. Hence, she focused on changing the college’s culture “and making it a more welcoming place. We have a unique population at CCSU, including the diversity of our students in many dimensions--ethnic, age and family circumstances. We educate not only college-age but adult learners who want a degree to make progress in their careers.”

In fall 2021, Central Connecticut’s student body consisted of 7,748 undergraduates and 1,905 graduate students, or an enrollment of 9,653 students.  Of its students, 4,423 were white, 1,316 were Hispanic, 992 African-American, 371 Asian, 285 bi-racial. Its most popular undergraduate majors are: Computer/Information Sciences, Business/Marketing, Education, Psychology and Social Sciences.

Many of its students are working-class and immigrants, highlighted by the fact that 93% of them receive financial aid. It also has residence halls that accommodate 2,400 students, though currently 1,700 live on campus.

About one-third of its students are Hispanic, who Toro noted have several special concerns, including “financial needs but also mentoring needs, and mental challenges because a significant number of students come from difficult family circumstances. Many move around between Connecticut and their home countries such as Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.”

To help them with their financial needs, the college altered its financial model to be of extra assistance, and also created a special privately funded scholarship for Hispanic students. Its First Year Connected program targets first-generation students, mainly Hispanic and Black, and pairs them with a coach who helps them in many areas, but not academic advising.

Designing systems that support student success

Based on her background, Toro likes to “engineer” solutions to problems. Indeed, her Ph.D. is in engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, her master’s in engineering from the University of Michigan and her bachelor’s in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico.

Toro explained that her degree in industrial engineering has helped her as a college president because “everything is a system. Our institution is a system.  If I understand how the system works and how different components are interconnected and how behaviors affect the results, that helps,” she stated.

CCSU’s website describes it as a regional, comprehensive public university dedicated to learning in the liberal arts and sciences and education. It comprises four schools--Business; Education & Professional Studies; Engineering, Science & Technology; and Graduate Studies plus the Carol A. Ammon College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

To address increasing job openings in the medical field, CCSU developed a new College for Health & Rehabilitation Services. It was established, Toro said, “because health care is an area that needs a more diverse workforce.” In addition, it will be introducing a certificate program in Rehabilitation Services in spring 2023 and a doctor of Physical Therapy degree in fall 2024.

The college will have a community clinic run by students to serve students and the community. Since the poverty rate in New Britain is higher than the state average, many citizens have no primary care doctor and “we can alleviate one of the main healthcare problems in the area,” she said. The program will lead to jobs for students in nursing, physical therapy, anesthesia, and developing medical devices.

The college also launched its Accelerate Central program about a year ago, which reduces barriers to degree completion and enables students to complete a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in five years in different disciplines. Students save money and enter the workforce faster.

Last fall, it introduced a Bachelor of General Studies degree to lure back students who didn’t earn their degrees. Many students transfer to the college with credits from other colleges and then have to finish their degree, which can take a long time. “The BGS program allows us to treat students in a more efficient way and award a four-year degree in less time than usual. It’s been very successful,” Toro said.

Because New Britain is located near Hartford, the college works closely with aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, which supports 15 students per year in the engineering program and provides them with experiential learning. CCSU is also developing a collaborative agreement with Stanley Black & Decker, the industrial tool firm -based in New Britain.

Many colleges have low academic graduation rates for students who take six years and more to graduate. To address that, the college has been adjusting its academic advising model, providing a faculty advisor for each student, and eliminating financial barriers that hold students back. It’s also been increasing internships and experiential learning.

Latino students, because of financial hardships, often take longer to graduate. But Toro noted that though they don’t often earn a degree in four years, they earn their degree at higher rates than other students, showing their persistence.

When students earn a degree from Central Connecticut State College, it symbolizes that “they’ve developed the basic skills to be part of a successful profession and become a responsible citizen in our country and our state, which strengthens our democracy,” Toro noted. In fact, five years after graduation, 96% of its alumni reside in Connecticut.

In the future, Toro expects CCSC “will become a model in higher education of how we educate the new majority of this country, and this new majority is not only from an ethnic standpoint but from an age and life experience viewpoint.”