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Dear WestConn Students and Colleagues,
From October 5–7, we welcomed a visiting team from the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) for our focused review following a 2024 Notice of Concern. Their visit represented an important moment in our continuing work to strengthen WestConn’s foundations and to demonstrate the steady progress we’ve made together.
The team’s informal closing comments, shared at the conclusion of their visit, reflected genuine confidence in Western’s direction and visible pride in the progress our community has made. While these impressions are preliminary—the formal outcome will be determined by the NECHE Commission following our leadership interview in March 2026—they affirm that our work is on the right path.
Deep Gratitude and Recognition
The reviewers expressed appreciation for the preparation, alignment, and authenticity of our university participants. They noted the honesty, candor, and thoughtfulness in every discussion and written submission, and the evident pride and professionalism with which our community approached this visit.
They also acknowledged the challenges that can accompany change—but encouraged us to stay the course. Progress, they emphasized, must continue, and WestConn’smomentum should stay clear, visible, and measurable in the months ahead.
To everyone who helped prepare materials, participated in interviews, and contributed to our many recent and historical planning efforts—thank you. Your work reflects real care and discipline, and it shows. I especially want to recognize Provost Stephen Hegedus for his steady leadership and partnership during this period of transition. Our shared commitment to academic excellence, student success, and cross-divisional collaboration continues to strengthen WestConn’s momentum and focus. I have great confidence in his leadership and in the direction of Academic Affairs as we move forward together. I’m also deeply grateful to Interim Chancellor John Maduko and Board Chair Marty Guay for their continued support, confidence, and advocacy for WestConn’s success.
Key Themes from the Reviewers
Looking Ahead
The reviewers’ parting message was clear: keep going. Our progress is real and recognized, but it must continue—through the March 2026 Commission final decision on our Notice, our 2028 midterm review, and beyond—to ensure WestConn’s long-term strength and sustainability.
Over the months ahead, we will stay focused on measurable action: refining our financial model, aligning resources with priorities, and strengthening systems that support student success and institutional effectiveness in our academic programs and support services. Transparency, shared governance, and community engagement will remain central to that work.
Closing Reflections
The visiting team left with a strong sense of WestConn as an institution on the rise—leading with integrity, care, and purpose. Their confidence reflects your hard work and belief in who we are and what we stand for.
Let’s carry that momentum forward. Every improvement we make strengthens not only our accreditation record but the foundation of a stronger, more resilient university—one that serves, partners, and takes pride in being distinctly WestConn.
As we move ahead, let’s keep building with transparency, care, and courage—confident in the future we’re creating together.
Sincerely,
Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D. President Western Connecticut State University
Dear WestConn Community,
As many of you already know, the world is mourning the loss of Dr. Jane Goodall, a scientist, conservationist, and humanitarian whose life’s work transformed our understanding of nature and inspired generations to act with care and courage.
Dr. Goodall holds a cherished place in the history of Western Connecticut State University. She received an honorary doctorate from WCSU, and her legacy lives on through the Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies and through our Roots & Shoots chapter, where students carry forward her call to make the world a better place for people, animals, and the environment.
I am honored that WestConn has long been associated with Dr. Goodall, and that the university benefited from so many of her visits. I understand that as well as being brilliant, she was generous and humble, and loved talking with students about how they could follow in her footsteps—in large and small ways—to preserve nature.
Her visits to campus and her ongoing support of the Center left a profound impact on our community. We recognize the sorrow felt especially by those at WestConn who worked closely with her and her initiatives, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to them during this difficult time. I also want to thank our faculty colleagues who have carried this legacy forward through their scholarship, mentorship, and teaching, and who will continue to ensure her influence remains deeply woven into our university.
Together with the Jane Goodall Center, we are planning an opportunity for our campus and the broader community to come together in her memory and honor her extraordinary legacy. Details will be shared soon.
As sad as we are to learn of her passing, WestConn will remain a place that honors and celebrates her incredible legacy. I invite you to learn more about her connections to WestConn and to follow ongoing updates at staging.www.wcsu.edu/goodall.
In reflection,
Starting Wednesday, October 1st, we’re launching WestConn Wednesdays — a new weekly tradition to show our Wolves pride and strengthen our community by wearing gear weekly, enjoy a discounted lunch the first Wednesday of each month.
This isn’t just a spirit day. It’s a chance for faculty, staff, and students to come together, celebrate what makes us distinctively WestConn, and build the connections that make our campuses feel like home.
Kickoff Celebration — October 1st Only
The WCSU Foundation is generously helping to underwrite this pilot kickoff event.
Discounted lunch will also return on the first Wednesday of each month this semester — November 5 and December 3 — for those wearing their WestConn gear!
Every Wednesday After
WestConn Wednesdays continue all year long — just wear your WestConn blue and orange to show your Wolves pride. Show off your gear on social media and tag #WestConnWednesday to be eligible for one of several prizes each week.
WestConn Wednesdays are about more than gear — they’re about belonging. By coming together weekly, we can weave stronger connections across campus and celebrate our university spirit.
Today, on the anniversary of September 11, we pause to honor the lives lost, the courage shown, and the resilience that carried our nation forward. It is also a reminder of how violence—whether from abroad or within our own borders—can shake communities andtest our shared humanity.
Since becoming president, and especially as someone new to this region and living so close to New York City, I have grown more aware of how real and immediate these threats can feel. Just yesterday, we saw the killing of Charlie Kirk during a campus event—an act of political violence that cuts against the values of dialogue, respect, and democracy that higher education is meant to protect. Analysts and experts warn that this may signal a worsening era of political violence in our nation, with a growing number of threats and violent incidents targeting public figures across ideological lines.
We also know that threats of violence often fall hardest on immigrant and marginalized communities—including right here in our own region. As Connecticut’s largest Hispanic-Serving Institution, we have a responsibility to stand against fear and division, and to ensure every member of our community feels safe, valued, and empowered.
At WestConn, we must recommit ourselves to being a place where differences are engaged through learning, compassion, and care—not hate or violence. Let us choose courage over fear, civility over contempt, and a deeper respect for the dignity of every person. On this solemn day, we honor the enduring lesson of 9/11: that in the face of unimaginable tragedy, our greatest strength is found in unity, resilience, and an unyielding hope for the future.
With resolve,
Dear WestConn Students, Colleagues, and Community Partners,
As we continue shaping WestConn’s path forward, I invite you to join a new series of forums—WestConn Exchange: Weaving Our Way Forward. These sessions are designed to be interactive, bringing together faculty, staff, and students for open dialogue and feedback as we refresh and finalize important strategies and decisions.
We are excited to offer each exchange in both in-person and virtual formats. I encourage you to participate in at least one session for each topic. After each session, we will share insights and updates online for additional feedback and engage with shared governance bodies. Throughout the term, there will be numerous opportunities to provide your input through various formats.
WestConn Exchange Schedule
o Tuesday, September 16 | 1:00–2:15 p.m. | Virtual
o Monday, September 22 | 9:30–10:45 a.m. | Campus Center Ballroom South
o Wednesday, September 17 | 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | Virtual
o Wednesday, September 24 | 1:00–2:15 p.m. | Campus Center Ballroom South
o Monday, November 3 | 2:00–3:15 p.m. | Virtual
o Wednesday, November 5 | 3:00–4:15 p.m.| Campus Center Ballroom South
o Monday, November 10 | 1:00–2:15 p.m. | Virtual
o Tuesday, November 11 | 9:00–10:15 a.m. | Campus Center Ballroom South
Register for Each Exchange at:
Join the WestConn Exchange: Weaving Our Way Forward Forums
Brief Updates on Our Work
Strategy Our strategy work is guided by Western Rising 2030 and seeks to integrate multiple planning efforts into one clear direction. I will propose that we center our efforts around three commitments.
Your feedback will be essential as we identify our direction. Together, we will identify the most critical strategies to advance these commitments, establish clear metrics to measure progress, and create structures that hold us accountable across the institution.
Finance Our financial discussions will focus on mitigation strategies and efforts to close our structural deficit. While we ended FY25 with a $4.5 million surplus and $11.9 million in reserves, these results depended heavily on $24.2 million in one-time system support and temporary measures, meaning the University carried a $23 million structural deficit. Looking forward, our five-year framework projects only modest surpluses in FY26-27 sustained through continued one-time support, before recurring annual deficits of approximately $10.5 million in FY28-FY30 unless new revenues and deeper efficiencies are achieved. Addressing this challenge will require careful attention to personnel costs, vendor renegotiations, shared services, and revenue diversification through housing, dining, grants, philanthropy, and auxiliary ventures. As I have reviewed our finances more closely, I have found the situation to be more complex than I initially anticipated—an unsurprising reality in today’s higher education environment, but one that underscores the importance of transparent communication, difficult choices, and collective action. To move forward, we need everyone—faculty, staff, students, and partners—actively engaged in identifying opportunities for reallocation and investment, generating new revenues, and ensuring that decisions remain aligned with our academic mission and long-term sustainability.
IT&I/Facilities Renewal We are finalizing a three-year renewal plan that outlines more than $54 million in proposed state bond funding to strengthen WestConn’s physical and digital foundations. This plan directly connects facilities and technology investments to our academic mission and student experience. Your engagement is essential as we refine these priorities and design strong advocacy efforts with state leaders and partners. Together, we can build the infrastructure and technology that will power WestConn’s future.
DEI & Campus Climate Plan Our DEI Master Plan 2025-2030 builds on recent momentum—hiring new leadership, strengthening recruitment and retention of diverse faculty and staff, and expanding culturally sustaining supports for students. The plan emphasizes creating a more inclusive campus climate, improving infrastructure for Hispanic and other underrepresented students, and embedding equity as a design principle across academics and student life. A key part of this work is being transparent about our challenges while also recognizing and replicating our successes as leverage points. Together, these insights will guide strategies that are both honest about where we must improve and bold in building on what already works. At the forum, we will provide an update on the plan and seek your input on how best to advance strategies that foster belonging, equity, and accountability across the institution.
These forums are not simply updates—they are an exchange of ideas and perspectives. Your input will directly shape our efforts as we move into this next chapter of renewal and growth. I hope you will join the conversation or provide input in other ways.
Dear Colleagues,
On Monday, we’ll gather for our first all-campus meeting of the year — a time to reconnect, take stock, and set our shared course forward. RSVP here. Before then, I want to share a few reflections from my first six weeks as your president and highlight the progress we’re making together.
From my first day, I’ve been struck by how deeply people here care — about our students, about each other, and about the mission of public higher education. I’ve met hundreds in a short period of time and see the pride you take in your work. I’ve also felt the urgency we share to address our challenges with focus and resolve.
Since May, I have worked with faculty, staff, students, and administrators through a WestConn Renewal Working Group to chart urgent facilities and IT priorities and envision our academic future. The report we are producing provides a roadmap we will carry forward together as we advocate for needed investments from the state and our system partners. Leaders across the system, including Central Connecticut State University President Zulma Toro, helped shape this vision and remain strong supporters, even as day-to-day planning now rests with us at WestConn. As we enter the fall, we will share these plans widely and invite your feedback, so our next steps reflect the wisdom and priorities of the entire campus community. The work ahead is ours to lead, with continued alignment and support from our sister institutions when needed.
This October’s NECHE focused site visit will spotlight our progress in governance, leadership stability, financial planning, enrollment, and assessment. Early feedback affirms how far we’ve come. While the Provost will be sharing the final report very soon, I enter this review with confidence and pride in the work you’ve started over the past year, and the work we will accomplish together in this next chapter. Thanks ahead of time to those who will be involved.
There’s lots to celebrate:
Change is constant across the state and within the CSCU system, which makes it more critical for us to solidify and strengthen our own senior leadership team. One of my first priorities was confirming Dr. Stephen Hegedus as our permanent Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Since my appointment was announced in May, I’ve worked with Stephen nearly every day. His steady leadership, collaborative spirit, and deep commitment to this university make him exactly the partner we need in this moment. You can expect to see the senior team more visible across both campuses — because building a culture of belonging starts with leadership that shows up.
As we start the year, I want to welcome our new employees and students into a community that is ready to lead. My focus is clear:
And my call to action is simple: Welcome all learners. Weave together our strengths. Widen opportunity.
Thank you for building the foundation for all that lies ahead and for making WestConn stronger every day. On Monday, we take the next step in our proud history—rising together, leading with purpose, and shaping the future of our university.
See you there,
Hitting the Ground Running: President Jesse M. Bernal visits iHeartMedia and sits down for an interview with Allison Demers from The River 105.9.
Click the link to listen to the interview: Interview – President Jesse M. Bernal and Allison Demers
Dear WestConn Faculty, Staff, and Students,
I am pleased to share that, effective August 1, 2025, Dr. Stephen Hegedus has been appointed as the permanent Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
This decision follows thoughtful consideration and deep appreciation for the feedback many of you and other leaders across campus offered over the last several weeks.
Since the week of my appointment in early May, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with Dr. Hegedus nearly every day. I’ve come to deeply value his steady leadership, thoughtful counsel, and collaborative spirit during this time of transition. He brings a long and respected record of academic leadership within the CSCU system and is widely recognized across the state for his integrity, vision, and unwavering commitment to public education.
During his time as interim provost, Dr. Hegedus has led with clarity and care—building trust and deepening engagement with our faculty. Looking ahead, I am confident he will continue to center the needs of not only our faculty and students, but also our staff and the broader western Connecticut community. His leadership reflects both a clear-eyed understanding of the challenges we face and a forward-looking vision for how we can rise to meet them—together.
While we remain firmly committed to conducting full, national searches for senior leadership roles, this appointment reflects a unique and timely set of circumstances. Dr. Hegedus was originally selected through a national search to serve in a leadership role at our sister institution, SCSU, where he served for a decade. Following a rigorous internal process, he was appointed interim Provost at WestConn in January 2024. His permanent appointment now ensures vital continuity at a pivotal moment for the university—including our NECHE accreditation work and the upcoming evaluation visit.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Hegedus and thanking him for his continued service to WestConn and to the broader CSCU system. I look forward to the work we will continue to do together in this next chapter.
Dr. Jesse M. Bernal, Ph.D., was appointed as the 10th president of Western Connecticut State University (WestConn), stepping into the role during the university’s more than 120-year legacy of empowering learners and communities through education.
A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Bernal brings a deep belief in the transformative power of public higher education. For more than two decades, he has led efforts in strategy, innovation, and equity across higher education and public charter systems in Michigan and California — building partnerships that align academics with workforce and community needs, investing in student and employee success, and creating more inclusive, student-centered institutions.
In this Q&A, we sit down with President Bernal to discuss how his leadership will guide WestConn into a new era of renewal, impact, and regional engagement.
What about WestConn resonated with you the most when you initially explored being its next president?
What drew me most to WestConn was the sense of possibility. It has deep roots in the community, a legacy of access and service, and a bold spirit ready to lead. When I learned we’re now Connecticut’s largest Hispanic-Serving Institution, I saw a reflection of my own journey — and an opportunity to lift up others through education. WestConn’s commitment to transformation, inclusion, and impact mirrors my own values. That alignment made the opportunity deeply personal.
What is your vision for WestConn during your period of leadership?
My vision is for WestConn to become the region’s most impactful, community-engaged university — a place that welcomes every learner, weaves together systems to ensure they thrive, and widens pathways to opportunity. We’ll do this while strengthening our academic distinction and all that is central to our mission. Our future will be co-created — built on shared leadership, mutual trust, and a culture of care. We won’t just continue to recover; we will renew. I see us not just reclaiming momentum but reimagining what it means to be a regional public institution: innovative, inclusive, and relentless in our focus on student success and community vitality.
How do you plan to support students, faculty, and staff during your tenure?
My role is to listen deeply, act with integrity, and create the conditions where everyone at WestConn can do their best work. This is a time to strengthen relationships, restore trust, and elevate voices — especially of those who have felt unheard. That means honoring academic freedom, supporting faculty-led innovation, and building the conditions where teaching, creative activity, and student learning and engagement thrive. It also means aligning resources with what matters most — student and employee success, high-impact education, wellness, and belonging. I will work shoulder-to-shoulder with faculty, staff, and students, uphold shared governance, and ensure transparency and trust in how we move forward together.
Can you tell us a little about your family and how they’ve supported you on your journey in higher education?
I come from a close-knit Mexican American family in South Texas. My mom and grandparents were migrant farm workers, people of deep faith, hard work, and sacrifice. I’m the first in my family to graduate from college. We didn’t have much, but we believed in the power of education to change lives. Their support has been a constant compass for me. I carry them with me in every decision I make.
As a first-generation college graduate and the son of migrant farm workers, what does a college degree mean to you?
It means everything. A college degree opened the door to every opportunity I’ve had as it has done for so many who have received a WestConn education. But more than a credential, it gives each of us a voice, a purpose, and the ability to give back. That’s why I believe so strongly in our work — because I’ve lived the power of education to transform not just individuals, but families and communities.
How do you think your background as a first-gen student will influence your role as college president?
I’ll always lead with empathy. I know what it’s like to feel unsure if you belong, and I know the resilience it takes to keep going anyway. That lived experience drives my deep commitment to equity and inclusion. It shapes how I listen, how I work to build systems of support, and how I advocate for students — especially those who haven’t yet seen themselves reflected in higher education. I know my path hasn’t followed a traditional mold, and I have deep respect for the scholarly excellence and disciplinary rigor that define our faculty leaders. I see my role as complementary — to clear barriers, align resources, and tell our story. It’s precisely this nontraditional journey — across diverse systems, communities, and institutions — that informs my leadership and sharpens my purpose. I’ve come to understand that while credentials matter, so do the courage to challenge expectations and the conviction to expand who gets to lead.
Throughout your career in higher education, you have championed equity and inclusivity. Why is this mission important to you?
Equity isn’t just a value — it’s a shared responsibility. At its core, it’s about making sure every learner — with all their diverse backgrounds and beliefs — has a fair shot at success. Our institutions must reflect and serve the full diversity of our communities. I believe deeply that excellence and equity go hand-in-hand. Inclusive environments foster the kind of dialogue, innovation, and critical thinking that prepare students for real-world leadership.
My commitment to this work is both personal and professional. It’s about honoring all students’ identities, removing unnecessary barriers, and building systems that enable everyone to thrive — not through ideology, but through compassion, evidence, and a belief in human potential. This doesn’t mean we will always agree. But it does mean we create space for respectful debate, mutual learning, and principled disagreement. That’s the mark of a healthy academic community — and the kind of university I want us to be: bold, welcoming, and united in purpose.
What do you hope for the future and legacy of WestConn?
I hope people say we are brave. That we didn’t just weather challenges but turned them into opportunities. That WestConn is a place of purpose and possibility, where students are challenged, supported, and prepared to live meaningful lives.
I want us to be known not just for what we offer, but for how we show up — for leading with courage, collaboration, and care. For building trust, not just programs. And for standing together — faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners — as one WestConn Wolves community, rising as a pack.
If our graduates leave here ready to lead, serve, and build a more hopeful world — in whatever ways are most meaningful to them — then we’ll know we’ve done our job. That’s the legacy I’m working toward.
As we prepare for a new academic year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share a brief message from campus. While our walkways may still be quiet, I know they will soon be filled with the energy and purpose that make this place so special—you.
I invite you to take a moment to watch this short video, where I reflect on this exciting newchapter for Western Connecticut State University and share my hopes for the year ahead:
Welcome from President Bernal
This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to meet you, listen to your stories, and build our future—together.
Welcome all learners. Weave together our community strengths. Widen paths to opportunity.
