Dr. Kaplan Only Current University President Appointed to Governor’s Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group

Steven H. Kaplan, the president of the University of New Haven since 2004, has been named to the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group that is providing recommendations to Governor Ned Lamont. The only current university president named to the taskforce, Dr. Kaplan was appointed to the Education Committee that is being co-chaired by former Yale president Richard Levin.

“I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Levin and all of the members of the Education Committee,” said Dr. Kaplan. “This is a critical time for our state, and I am proud to be able to provide my experience and to serve as a voice for the University of New Haven and all private colleges and universities in Connecticut as we continue to navigate this unprecedented situation and chart a path forward.”

Members of the advisory group, along with Governor Lamont’s Chief of Staff Paul Mounds Jr., will be meeting weekly with the leadership of the Connecticut General Assembly to provide advice and counsel.

“I’m as anxious to reopen our economy and get back to business as usual as everyone else, but if we don’t do this in a thoughtful way, all of our efforts to mitigate the spread of this virus to date will have been worthless,” Governor Lamont said in a release announcing the formation of the taskforce.

“The actions we’ve taken so far in Connecticut, while painstaking, have been helping to slow down its spread,” he continued. “The steadily slowing rate of hospitalizations shows that what we’ve done so far is having an impact, but we are not out of the woods yet. This group of medical professionals, local business representatives, professionals who work with our at-risk communities, and education officials will provide Connecticut with a valuable resource in our efforts to get our state moving again, while doing so in the safest and most sensible way possible.”

"This is a critical time for our state, and I am proud to be able to provide my experience and to serve as a voice for the University of New Haven and all private colleges and universities in Connecticut..." President Steven H. Kaplan, Ph.D.

At the University of New Haven, President Kaplan has announced that he has created several working groups that are charged with examining what a late summer, in-person reopening would look like and planning for all eventualities related to the impact of COVID-19 for the fall semester.

As part of a continuing University-wide effort to deliver high quality, student-centered remote education, the University recently hired Cynthia Gallatin, a higher education leader with more than 25 years of experience who served as vice president and chief operating officer for online programs at Quinnipiac University. There, she launched QU Online, a division focused on providing instructional design, technical and administrative support, and admissions and marketing for all online programs.

“Cindy is a visionary leader in building vibrant and engaging remote and online educational experiences,” said Dr. Kaplan. “She is collaborating with faculty to help ensure we are delivering a comprehensive virtual student experience that is worthy of the University of New Haven name.”

Also joining Dr. Kaplan on the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group’s will be K. Oni Chukwu '94 MBA, '15 Hon., a member of the University’s Board of Governors. He is chair of the Business Committee and a member of the Main Advisory Group. A technology pioneer, Chukwu serves as the executive chairman of Aventri, a cloud-based software company headquartered in Norwalk.

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