Kathy Palmieri

Helping Students Reach Their Potential

Whenever Kathy Palmieri looks across UConn’s Torrington campus, her enthusiasm for her job gets even brighter. “We’re tucked up here in the northwest corner in Litchfield County, a beautiful rural area with several acres of land,” she said. “I live in Prospect so it’s quite a commute, but it’s beautiful up here and I never mind it, even for one day.”

Palmieri just celebrated her tenth anniversary at UConn, where she began working as a counselor. Today she is Assistant Director of the Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) and Non-Degree programs, a position she insists is only part of a team rounded out by counselor Gary Wilson and program assistant Janet Beal.

“We do just about everything,” she said, offering a list that includes  admissions, program planning, student support, coordinating activities, recruiting, and collaborating not only with faculty, but also with community entities like the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.

Palmieri explains that the Torrington campus location presents both challenges and opportunities. “The face of Torrington is changing. We’re an old industrial town and we had a lot of dairy farms, but all that is changing now.” With the region evolving, she points out how important the campus is to students eager for higher education. “When you draw from towns such Cornwall, Harwinton, and Salisbury, we’re probably the closest four year institution. They appreciate that and although we’re the smallest campus, as far as the ratio between the BGS students to the traditional population, we probably have the biggest Bachelor of General Studies degree program.”

Palmieri also sees Torrington as a convenient geographical nexus, with complementary programs at other UConn campuses within reach. “We can draw from the resources at the Waterbury and Hartford campuses,” she said. “For example, if a student’s doing a Bachelor of General Studies degree through the Torrington campus and I see a great course in Waterbury or Hartford that would fit into their Society and Justice theme, the first thing I’m looking at is where they live and do they mind traveling. Even for students who live right here in Torrington, 45 minutes is not that much of a haul.”

A Connecticut native, Palmieri grows dahlias and orchids, dabbles in photography and bird watching, and loves to cook. “Anyone who knows me could tell you I’m an avid golfer and a tennis player as well,” she said. At work, her deepest personal satisfaction comes from helping students through to completion of their plans.

“I can see the possibilities for them,” she said fervently. “I’m sitting across from very bright, intelligent people who are accomplished professionally, but never finished degrees that they started a long time ago. Many come to pursue their degree for personal satisfaction - it was the one thing that’s eluded them. Of course, others come in for different reasons: they want a career change, a stepping stone, or they have to finish their bachelor’s degree to go to grad school.”

Palmieri credits the flexibility of the BGS program with allowing returning students to view their career choices creatively. “A student can come in here and utilize all their past credits that they took maybe ten or fifteen years ago. We can look at what they did and try to fit that in, if they want to change career direction. It’s certainly very convenient because we can give a University of Connecticut degree in this geographic location to students who just wouldn’t have the chance if they had to travel up to Storrs.”

She adds that the Non Degree Program offers its own nontraditional route to academic excellence. “We’ve had many success stories,” she said, recalling one “exceptionally bright” home-schooled student, who was admitted to Torrington-UConn as a non-degree student when she was only fifteen years old, later earned a BGS degree, and eventually progressed onto a doctoral degree path in genetics at the Storrs campus. 

Regardless of whether Palmieri is mapping out a career path with a younger student or discussing options with an older student heading in a fresh direction, she stresses the importance of effectively evaluating each individual’s experiences in the search for rewarding opportunities. “I’m always looking to find out what’s the best course to fit into their program,” she said, aware of the pressures of balancing academics and life outside the classroom. “Our students are typically adults. They’re working, and have homes and family lives, so they have to make many sacrifices. I usually get to know them because I counsel them over a period of years. I get to know their families sometimes as well.”

Making that connection is especially important to her. “It’s really a great feeling. It’s nice to get to know your students on a personal level as well as an academic level. We have such a small, intimate campus here where students really feel at home.”