UConn Hartford and other colleges and universities in central Connecticut are relaunching the Greater Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, affirming their shared commitment to strengthening and celebrating the city as a vibrant college town.<\/p>\n
Member institutions in the Greater Hartford Consortium for Higher Education (GHCHE) this week announced its formal relaunch, renewing a longstanding collaborative partnership among public and private institutions in the area.<\/p>\n
Consortium members have been reorganizing the group in the past few years to focus on leveraging the institutions\u2019 locations in and near Hartford to promote new opportunities for students, workers, and current and prospective employers.<\/p>\n
In addition to UConn Hartford, the Consortium includes CT State Capital and CT State Manchester (CT State Community College), Goodwin University, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Trinity College, University of Hartford, and University of Saint Joseph.<\/p>\n
The relaunch will be highlighted during a public carol singing celebration<\/a> on Dec. 15 at UConn Hartford, bringing together students, faculty, staff, community leaders, partners, and friends of the institutions.<\/p>\n \u201cBy renewing this partnership, we look forward to working closely with city leaders and employers, and to embracing Hartford\u2019s identity as a vibrant community whose talented students are ready to become important contributors to the city\u2019s social and economic future as professionals,\u201d says Mark Overmyer-Vel\u00e1zquez, UConn Hartford Dean and Chief Administrative Officer, who also is chair of the GHCHE board of directors.<\/p>\n Established to expand cross-registration, share academic opportunities and strengthen educational access across member institutions, the Consortium\u2019s renewed effort reflects a broadened vision: deeper collaboration, stronger employer partnerships, and an amplified role for higher education in shaping Hartford\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n “The relaunch of the Greater Hartford Consortium for Higher Education is a major win for our city,\u201d says Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. \u201cThis partnership is about more than just academics; it\u2019s about recognizing that our colleges and universities are the engines of our future workforce and economic vitality.<\/p>\n \u201cBy connecting these talented students directly to our local employers, the Consortium is ensuring that Hartford’s best and brightest start their careers right here and solidifies Hartford’s identity as a premier college town,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Several Consortium institutions recently installed new presidents, and each new leader has expressed a strong commitment to helping Hartford take its next step as a true college town, where students are fully embraced as contributors to the city\u2019s culture, civic life, and economic future.<\/p>\n As part of its relaunch, the Consortium is also emphasizing a shared message where students from consortium institutions represent the workforce that Hartford\u2019s employers need. With thousands of learners preparing for careers across high-demand fields, GHCHE aims to strengthen pathways from education to employment and ensure that Hartford companies are closely connected to the region\u2019s talent pipeline.<\/p>\n \u201cThis renewed Consortium reflects Hartford at its best: a collaborative, ambitious college town, growing talent and strengthening the future of our economy,\u201d says David Griggs, President and CEO of Metro Hartford Alliance. \u201cIt represents a new chapter of partnership that will accelerate opportunity for students, employers, and our region.\u201d<\/p>\n UConn moved its campus<\/a> from West Hartford to its current location in 2017 and has worked since then to support Hartford as thriving capital city by bringing people downtown to learn, live, and support the regional economy.<\/p>\n Several programs are planned or in place to strengthen and deepen ties<\/a> with Hartford, including its \u201cUConn IN Hartford<\/a>\u201d initiative, the addition of student housing<\/a> options, the establishment of a Research Innovation Center<\/a> downtown, opening a caf\u00e9 in its main campus building<\/a>, and other programs.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n The celebratory carol singing event takes place on Monday, Dec. 15, at the UConn Hartford Portico, 10 Prospect St. (the former Hartford Times building), behind City Hall. People will gather starting around 5:15 p.m., with caroling beginning at 5:30 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The consortium will focus on leveraging the institutions\u2019 locations in and near Hartford to promote new opportunities for students, workers, and employers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":222561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2471,2193,2461,2235,92,2227,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-238814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-economic-development","category-hartford-county","category-staff","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-hartford","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:42:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238814"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238942,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238814\/revisions\/238942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/222561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238814"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=238814"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=238814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}