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
Offered in-person for the second year in a row, the University’s Summer Health Professions Academy will provide high school students exciting and immersive opportunities to explore a variety of professions within healthcare. Organizers hope it will encourage more young people to pursue a career in a field with a need for new talent and myriad career opportunities.
July 12, 2022
During the summer of 2020, Samantha Morales ’18 MHA helped launch a program to introduce high school students to possible careers in the healthcare field. Launched virtually during the height of the pandemic, the program was an overwhelming success. She’s looking forward to hosting the program again this summer – in person for the second year in a row.
One of the University’s many immersive summer youth programs, the Summer Health Professions Academy will offer students entering grades 10 through 12 in the upcoming academic year an opportunity to explore a variety of fields within healthcare, such as nutrition and dietetics, dental hygiene, and paramedicine. They will take part in a variety of hands-on activities including a “make friends, spread germs” disease-spread simulation that will help them understand and appreciate the importance of the work of public health professionals.
“This will give students a public health experience as they learn about germs safely while following COVID guidelines,” explains Prof. Morales, internship coordinator for the University’s School of Health Sciences and interim director of the Master of Healthcare Administration program. “They will learn what disease spread looks like and contextualize it with what we’ve seen with COVID.”
Students will also dive deeper into the meaning behind certain buzzwords in healthcare such as “self-care” as they practice goat yoga at Nadeau Farm in Hamden, Conn., and “person-centered care” through a visit to Griffin Hospital. There, they will take part in a person-centered care scavenger hunt during which they will learn about how the hospital endeavors to offer patient-centered care through amenities such as a community garden and a medical library with information provided free of charge, as well as the hospital’s redesign that was intended to make the space feel therapeutic and non-clinical.
As part of the weeklong program offered from July 18 to 22, students will also learn from University of New Haven School of Health Sciences faculty and earn three college credits. They will design and implement their own fitness programs; learn how to take blood specimens and urine samples and assess the bacteria in them; and learn how to clean teeth. They will also learn how to administer an anesthetic using fruit, and they’ll explore the different phases of speech, learning how speech is acquired and how food plays a critical role in speech development. They will also take part in a hands-on nutrition and cooking demonstration.
“This will focus on healthy eating and how to prepare low-cost and healthy meals,” explains Prof. Morales. “This is especially important during this time of inflation, since it is critical to know how to go shopping and pick foods that are healthy.”
This year’s program will, for the first time, enable students to earn their mental health first aid certification. This will teach them how to navigate situations in which loved ones and peers might be struggling, including how to identify red flags and raise awareness of the importance of mental health while developing the skills needed to offer help and support to someone in crisis.
Students will also earn their CPR certification, something that sets the academy apart from most other youth summer medical programs in Connecticut.
Prof. Morales says the academy is particularly critical because the healthcare field has experienced a shortage of staff since the onset of the pandemic. There is a need for staff across all areas of healthcare, and she hopes the program will encourage more young people to explore careers in the field.
“It is important to recruit students to replenish the healthcare industry because we’re losing so many people,” she said. “That’s the number one reason why the program is so important, particularly for the local community. Local providers such as Yale New Haven Health are hiring traveling nurses as well as physician’s assistants, doctors, and technicians, and we want to make sure we’re doing our part to recruit for the healthcare industry because it’s important.”
So far, the program has sparked an interest in the healthcare field for many participants. More than half of previous participants are now University of New Haven undergraduate students pursuing a health-related degree with an average GPA of 3.26.
After filling last year’s program, program organizers were excited to continue to expand the program and create opportunities for high school students to gain hands-on experience in healthcare. They received a Summer Enrichment grant of nearly $27,000 from the Connecticut State Department of Education that will cover the program participation cost for students in need as well as transportation to and from the University.
“Since the outset of the pandemic, the healthcare workforce has really struggled to keep pace with demand," said Karl Minges, Ph.D., MPH, co-director of the grant and interim dean of the School of Health Sciences. "This summer experience will be one part of the solution by educating future health professions students about the opportunity, stability, and impact a career in healthcare can have on the world.”
Prof. Morales looks forward to working with students who might not otherwise be able to take part in the program.
“We’re reaching out and trying to generate interest in careers in healthcare, which is so important,” said Prof Morales. “We hope that with this grant, we can reach and include lower income students. I’m excited to see how the program will impact them and what the larger impact of the program will be. We’ve seen it has a lot of potential.”
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.