Public Safety is tracking a significant snowfall that will be arriving in our area late Sunday morning (Jan. 25). It will snow heavily throughout the day and evening eventually tapering off Monday (Jan. 26) with 10-14 inches expected statewide. A sleet and freezing rain mix is also possible along the shore. Temperatures will be in the teens and twenties.
Due to this significant winter storm and the extensive campus clean-up operations that will need to take place, all in-person day and evening classes scheduled for Monday, January 26, 2026 have been cancelled. All scheduled in-person classes will transition to being held online or remotely. Additional information on the virtual format for each class will be provided by your instructor.
Faculty have been asked to prepare for Online or Remote sessions in the event of in-person meeting cancellations. These options will be determined by the Faculty member and all questions should be directed to the Faculty teaching each course section. Faculty also have been asked to be very understanding and accommodating of the individual situations of their students who may have difficulty managing these alternative online or remote class meetings on short notice.
Please note that only essential employees, as previously determined by their respective department leaders, should report to campus. All other employees should fulfill the requirements of their role remotely.
Campus operations for residential students, unless otherwise noted, will operate as scheduled, though hours may be modified or changed based on the conditions. Separate messages will be sent from the Peterson Library, the Beckerman Recreation Center, and Dining Services regarding any changes to their normal hours of operation. The Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation will remain open for residential students to use for study space and to participate in online classes.
Off-campus students that live in the City of West Haven should abide by the city’s parking ban during inclement weather to avoid having their vehicle tagged and towed. Please check the City of West Haven’s website for further information on their snow parking ban.
The Charger Blog
The University’s 24-Hour Innovation Sprint event enabled more than 100 students to collaborate as they developed solutions to real-world challenges in Connecticut, including school and fire safety, and then pitched their ideas to a panel of judges.
March 4, 2022
What can you accomplish in 24 hours? Fellow faculty member Brian Marks, Ph.D., J.D., senior lecturer and executive director of the University’s entrepreneurship and innovation program, and I posed this question to students as part of the Spring 2022 24-Hour Innovation Sprint event.
Students were introduced to six challenges reported by news outlets in Connecticut since the start of the year, ranging from the increased risk of house fires due to winter heating elements to school safety. This event uses the design thinking methodology, emphasizing customer and/or stakeholder research, engagement, and feedback as a part of solving a problem.
More than 100 students from the BUSA 1000 Introduction to Business and Entrepreneurship and the EASC 1107 Introduction to Engineering courses came together for the event, and we encouraged students to collaborate with new peers to form groups. Teams spent Friday evening exploring the problem, and then spent Saturday brainstorming and refining solutions to create a two-minute video pitch.
Throughout the event, teams received feedback at various stages from faculty, experienced students, and industry mentors. While the event continues to be held virtually, faculty sponsors look forward to eventually hosting this event in-person again, as it has been held in the past.
This semester’s winning team, New Haven Fire Solutions, included Timothy Alday ’23, a marketing major; Amber Lagoja ’24, a psychology major; Derick Meza ’25, an electrical engineering major; Ricardo Morgado ’24, a mechanical engineering major; Boudounoma Ouedraogo ’25, a business management major; and Amiel Perez-Wilson ’22, a criminal justice major.
Their pitch identified why portable heaters are common causes of house fires and property damage during the winter, and the students proposed a smart heater with an app that regulates its own temperature and sends out alerts if it detects overheating with automatic-shutdown modes.
Two participants, including one of the student mentors, reflected on the experience and what they learned.
The 24-Hour Innovation Sprint gives new business and engineering students a chance to collaborate with others, examine issues, and share their bright, new ideas. As a participant at last fall’s event and a recent mentor at this winter’s event, I thoroughly enjoyed contributing to inventive solutions and analyzing ideas in a short and highly-rewarding time period.
I was interested in being a mentor for the event because I remember the mentors at my event last fall being helpful, but, I felt I could do even more. I focused on giving as much productive and positive feedback as possible to the participants.
I hopped between Zoom rooms, asking if there were any questions, answering participants’ inquiries, and further facilitating interesting and experimental conversations. I also jumpstarted additional conversations revolving around the pitches, giving feedback on the first pitch videos, and helping participants prepare visual elements for their next round.
Having an extremely limited number of prompts allowed for a quick and seamless transition from learning about the design thinking process to collaborating and finding solutions to important problems.
The car crash dilemma presented students with a variety of routes to find compelling answers and resolutions. These presentations were the most interesting to watch and learn about. Students found a variety of statistics and facts to present to the judges, and, ultimately, all of the problems and solutions brought thought-provoking conversations to the groups, which was the goal of the sprint in general.
Being a mentor also allowed me to reflect on my interpersonal communication skills, build meaningful connections with others, and discover societal problems that needed to be fixed. As a business management major at the University, I found that these collaborations – as both a participant in and mentor for the 24-Hour Innovation Sprint - pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to consider what sector of the business field I want to enter after college. It also provided me the skills necessary to work well with others in a group setting, and the experience allowed me to apply design thinking into my everyday and academic lives.
I felt excited, but also nervous, while attending this event because it was the first time I ever did something like this with more than 100 other students. I really liked the topics we were given to pick from to work on as a team. The topics were relatable, and something good to talk about.
I really liked the team I was part of, and we all got to know each other, had a lot of great conversations, and worked as a team. Basically, we became friends, and it was an awesome experience overall. We had fun, and working on these topics was very interesting.
I’m proud of my team, and, as we worked together, it felt like we had known each other for years. The skills I gained include how to work as part of a team, since we would listen to each other as we discussed how to problem solve. I also developed my time management skills.
I’m very proud of what my teammates and I accomplished. It made me feel very comfortable to know that I am capable of working as part of a team and that we can accomplish what we needed to do. I feel prepared for the future. I enjoyed this 24-Hour Innovation Sprint event, as it was an awesome experience.
Gabby Picon ’25 and Erjona Ymeri ’24 are business management majors at the University.
University News
New University-wide council will advance strategic partnerships, immersive student opportunities, and innovative research, supporting the University’s strategic plan the development of its pioneering Center for Innovation and Applied Technology.
The Charger Blog
Entrepreneur David Sussman, Pompea College of Business Advisory Board Member and chief visionary officer of The Family Security Plan®, is collaborating with University of New Haven students, faculty, and staff to create a program and app that helps Chargers support each other to achieve academic, personal, and professional goals. It’s called Uccountability.
University News
Vice President for Innovation and Applied Technology Paul Lavoie will serve on the Board of Directors and as America’s Chief Manufacturing Officer for the newly launched American Manufacturing Futures Institute.