Stay Near, Go Far

Eugene graduated from Eastern in May 2024 with a degree in elementary education and history. While at Eastern, Eugene was a University Honors Scholar and worked as an RA and head student orientation counselor. During his first semester at Eastern, Eugene spearheaded the “Real Talk: Speak Up for the Culture” series, igniting crucial dialogues on social justice issues impacting college students. He is now attending Columbia University for a Master of Social Work degree and is working as a Research Assistant for the Action Lab for Social Justice.

In this episode of "Office Hours," Chancellor Cheng and Eugene discuss why he decided to pursue a degree at Eastern; the faculty and staff who were pivotal in his higher education journey; how Eastern prepared him to pursue his Master of Social Work degree at Columbia University; and what he misses the most about the Eastern community.
 

More Episodes of the Office Hours Podcast

For Mark Bissoni, re-enrolling in Central Connecticut State University allowed him to not only complete his Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, but also demonstrated the importance of finishing what you started to his three children.

After completing his associate degree in general studies at Middlesex Community College, now known as CT State Middlesex, in spring 1999, Bissoni transferred to Central in fall 1999 to pursue his bachelor’s degree.

But after having his first child and working full-time in the Office of the State Comptroller, Bissoni found it hard to balance work and being a new dad all while attending school full-time. He decided to put his studies on pause in fall 2002 with the goal of returning to higher education once his children were older.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bissoni decided to return to Central. The year he re-enrolled, his daughter, Regan, was a sophomore at the university majoring in English.
Mark Bissoni graduated from Central Connecticut State University this year alongside his daughter, Regan. Bissoni works for the Office of the State Comptroller as the Statewide Director for the Active & Pension Payroll Services Division.

“It was the perfect time to go back because most of the classes I took, I was able to take from home,” Bissoni said. “I didn’t have to (earn my degree) for my job, but I felt like I should do it to show my three children that you need to finish what you start. I always wanted to finish.”

He didn’t know it then, but four years later on May 11, Bissoni would go on to earn his degree alongside his daughter and share the commencement stage with her. He graduated summa cum laude.

“Sharing the graduation stage with her was amazing,” Bissoni said. “We were standing in line, and she looked up at me and said ‘Dad, I am so proud of you.’ To be able to share that with her and say, ‘I’m so proud of you, too,’ was a surreal experience.”

Not only did Bissoni share graduation day with Regan, but they also had the opportunity to take classes together – writing and poetry.

“I enjoyed playing the dad role in every classroom,” he said. “Even in the classes that I didn’t have with my own children, you walk in and can feel like the oldest guy in the room, and I never felt like that. I felt like the dad in the room, where students would all bounce ideas off of me and I really enjoyed that.”

Bissoni began working for the Office of the State Comptroller in June 1988, first as a programmer and later went on to climb the ladder in the Active & Pension Payroll Services Division. Now as the Statewide Director for that same division, Bissoni oversees the pay of 175,000 active employees and retirees.

“Higher education really polished and reinforced everything I have learned over the years,” he said.

During his time at Central, Bissoni was exposed to new software and technology that aided him in core areas of his job function. He is currently overseeing efforts to consolidate the Executive Branch’s payroll and move those payroll functions into the Office of the State Comptroller.

“Part of that process has been sending out surveys and learning how to write, formulate, and study those surveys effectively,” he said. “The university really gave me a path to that. That is one area where going to Central really helped me in my career.”

Bissoni said he also gained valuable communication strategies that he has used when hiring new employees.

“The university polished a lot of the skills that I had that needed to be polished,” he said.

While Bissoni said that he will miss all of the professors at Central, the university will always be his home. Bissoni and his daughter Regan join a long line of family members who have graduated from Central – his wife; son, Gavin; brother; sister-in-law; mother-in-law; and both of his brothers-in-law have all graduated from the university.

His youngest daughter, Grace, is currently a sophomore at Central.

And when Grace walks across the graduation stage three years from now, Bissoni, Regan, and his Blue Devils family will all be there cheering her on at the place they call home.

For Rebecca Wilson, Ed.D., CT State Norwalk placed her on a trajectory in higher education that changed her life.

From being a Stamford High School student dreaming of attending college to becoming an award-winning Coordinator for College and Career Readiness/School Counselor Services at Stamford Public Schools, her career has come full circle.

Wilson credits a Human Services course at Norwalk Community College (now CT State Norwalk) for setting her career in motion. Now, as an adjunct professor at the college, she has been teaching that same course since 2010, and making a difference in the lives of students.

In May 2024, Wilson earned her doctorate in the inaugural Counselor Education and Supervision program at Southern Connecticut State University. She began the program in 2021 and defended her dissertation, “Understanding the Barriers to Achieving Career Goals that Persist for Mentored College Graduates from Underserved Backgrounds.” Her life and educational experiences are the impetus for her doctoral studies, according to Wilson.

She said SCSU’s doctoral program is relevant to her work at Stamford Public Schools and the impact she strives to make in the community. “Having the privilege of being in the first cohort and the first to earn a doctorate in my family is an honor and makes me feel proud and fortunate,” said Wilson. She recently started a consulting business to partner with education institutions and community agencies who work with youth and administer mentoring programs. 

Wilson believes that starting at a community college changed her life and allowed her to continue her education. “When I previously worked as a counselor with high school students, I would tell them to go to a community college and they can go anywhere from there,” she said. “It’s close to home and you become part of the school community, all of which can have a real impact on your life. I can speak from experience.”

As a high school senior, Wilson initially wanted to attend an HBCU or four-year university, but realized she did not have the resources or support to attend college. “I always wanted a college education, and that was not up for debate,” said Wilson. She watched her mother attend college while raising her and her five siblings as a single mother and attributes this to her foundation for desiring a college education. 

At the time, her older sister was attending Norwalk Community College and working in the financial aid office. She enrolled and was a work-study student in the college’s financial aid office. She soon became a teenage mom, but even with a young daughter, Wilson remained focused on remaining on track and earning an associate degree in general studies.

Wilson said Norwalk Community College offered her an excellent educational experience. The staff was interested in student success, and she felt happy, supported, and challenged in a small community she considered family. It was a hard place to leave, she said, but with the help of a mentor outside the college, she set up a plan for a social work bachelor’s degree program.

“If it was possible to continue my education there, I would have never left Norwalk Community College,” she said. In fact, Wilson, of the class of 1997, was one of 60 alumni honored at CT Norwalk’s 2022 commencement and also received the 2015 Norwalk Community College Distinguished Alumni Award.

She is grateful for the mentors she had as a young mother in community college at a time when she needed access to information and support. Martha Strohl, who recently passed away, was her mentor through the Women’s Mentoring Network in Stamford and supported her goal of earning a degree.

“Besides my mother, my research is dedicated to mentors who are still in my life 28 years later,” said Wilson. “My mentor helped me achieve my goals, develop, and provided me exposure. She stayed on my journey with me.”

Wilson then transferred into Sacred Heart University as a working, single mother enrolled in five classes. She attended Sacred Heart for two years, received academic scholarships, graduated with no debt and earned a bachelor’s degree in social work cum laude. She was accepted in the advanced standing program and earned a master’s degree in social work from Fordham University and transitioned into a career.

She began her career in a Head Start program and then took a job at Stamford Public Schools where she was a research associate and then a school counselor. Wilson knew she could help high school students. “There wasn’t a lot of support for people who look like me,” she said.

In her current position, Wilson is head of the Stamford Public School district’s school counseling department. She oversees the school system’s college and career readiness programs and provides support and training for counselors, teachers, and administrators.

She has been very successful in her career. In 2022, she was named the Connecticut School Counselor Association’s (CSCA) Administrator of the Year and in 2023, received the Connecticut Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (CACES) award. 

Now, she still finds time to give back to the people who helped her. Wilson volunteers and is retired board president and board member emeritus at Person to Person, an organization that supports families in lower Fairfield County; was a Women’s Mentoring Network board member; and is a member of the Rowan Center Advisory Council.

Her daughter is also following in her footsteps, graduating from college with a nursing degree and attending graduate school in the fall.

“I always knew the sky was the limit when I left Norwalk Community College (now CT State Norwalk) and I am a very proud graduate and strong supporter of community college education,” Wilson said. “It is an excellent option for all students and adults.”

It’s March Madness for Charter Oak State College graduate Jerome Tang, who is taking his Kansas State Wildcats to the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen in his first year as head men’s basketball coach.

Under Tang’s confident leadership, the three-seeded Kansas State Wildcats will play the seven-seeded Michigan State Spartans in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament on March 23 at Madison Square Garden — the program’s first deep tournament run since 2018. Tang will also become the first Kansas State head coach to advance to the Sweet 16 in his first season. On March 19 K-State topped the University of Kentucky 75-69 in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32.

“For a kid from Trinidad to have an opportunity like this, to be part of this March Madness, is really, really special. I’m just extremely thankful and blessed to be here,” said Tang, who graduated from Charter Oak State College in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in general/individualized studies.

Tang is the first full-time Black men’s head basketball coach in Kansas State history. He is the Phillips 66 Big 12 Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. 

He has an interesting background. Tang, 56, was born in Trinidad and Tobago and migrated with his parents Paul and Bano Tang to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He lived there until he was 10 years old, and then moved with his family to Texas. Tang attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, before earning a bachelor’s degree from Charter Oak. He and his wife, Careylyen (Rey) have a son, Seven, a daughter, Aylyn, and adopted sons Lamar and Richard Hurd.

Tang was head coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Cleveland, Texas, between 1993 to 2003, turning the team into a strong contender, before starting his tenure at Baylor University in 2003. He was hired as an assistant coach at Baylor under first-year coach Scott Drew, was promoted to associate head coach, and in 2021 helped lead Baylor to a national championship. On March 21, 2022, he was selected as the 25th head men’s basketball coach at Kansas State, taking over for Bruce Weber.

At Kansas State, he instills his philosophy of hard work onto his players. 

“You've got to trust your work. When you put in the work, you can go out there and play confidently. The only reason I'm here is because I work hard. My parents are immigrants, I am an immigrant. Nobody handed us anything. We just out-worked people,” said Tang. “When you out-work people, they make excuses about why they are losing to you, or they've gotta give you credit. We're going to get credit because we are going to be able to step out on the court and trust the work that we put in.”

“Coach Tang is an innovator and a leader who has made CSCU proud all year,” CSCU President Terrence Cheng said. “I am not surprised to see his team’s on-court success, and I join the CSCU community in wishing the coach nothing but the best in the Sweet Sixteen.”