It might seem like a long way from performing in shows like “42nd Street'' to mentoring students at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

The way Angela Ruggiero sees it, working as the associate director at the Center for Pre-Professional Programs fills her with a passion and sense of accomplishment similar to what she experienced during her professional career in musical theater.

“I bring my past experiences to our students,” said Ruggiero, a member of AFSCME Local 2836, the State University Organization of Administrative Faculty (SUOAF), which represents non-teaching faculty at Connecticut’s four state universities and the Board of Regents.

“We advise students holistically, not just academically," she said.

After graduating from high school, the East Haven native chose to pursue a career in the performing arts. She attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and toured professionally on stage and other venues, such as cruise ships.

Eight years later, Ruggiero decided to forge a new direction. She moved back to Connecticut to attend and work at SCSU. By 2015, had earned two degrees: a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in recreation and leisure studies.

Ruggiero has worked full-time at SCSU since 2010. At the Center for Pre-Professional Programs, she and her colleagues provide academic advisement and career pathway education to students seeking admission to the many disciplines that fall under Southern’s College of Health and Human Services. Those currently include nursing, health science, and exercise and sport science.

Following her own non-linear path, SCSU has provided Ruggiero with a deeper appreciation of the challenges inherent in attending college and finding gainful employment.

“Our students are hard-working,” she said. "That’s why I feel so at home here. I had to figure out how to support myself, too."

Ruggiero said that most SCSU students are working part- or full-time to provide for themselves and sometimes their families.

“Many of our students don’t have the time and the space to study in traditional ways,” she said. “They have a lot to navigate already. We want to teach them the skills they need to handle all of this and recognize when to ask us for help.”

AFSCME Local 2836 (SUOAF) member Angela Ruggiero at her office at Southern Connecticut State University, Sept. 13, 2022. Photo by Larry Dorman

Ruggiero empathizes with another challenge that students face — repaying college loans. She also is paying down a considerable student loan burden.

That’s why Ruggiero is grateful for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program — a federal debt relief program that offers loan forgiveness, or credit toward forgiveness, for public sector workers — and President Joe Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness and Relief Program, which includes forgiveness of up to $20,000 for working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers.

AFSCME and other unions lobbied successfully for recent changes to the PSLF program that aims to dramatically increase the number of public service workers eligible for loan forgiveness, as well as the president’s student debt relief plan.

“I’m grateful for these developments. They’ve given me so much hope for my life,” Ruggiero said. “I hope people take advantage of this. It’s incredible that our union is working to help others have the opportunity to be eligible [for loan forgiveness].”

Ruggiero, the SUOAF/SCSU Chapter Secretary and Social Committee member, understands the value of belonging to a union. It helps that her father has been a member of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 371, and currently works on staff at the union.

“Union membership has served our family well,” she said. “I don’t think that I’d be sitting here without the union.”

Beyond good wages and benefits, union membership has given Ruggiero a sense of job security that enables her to be a strong advocate for students at Southern.

There are many success stories for Ruggiero to share. She recalls helping a student who transferred to SCSU to pursue a degree in the college’s nursing program, which looks at the applicant's entire academic history and makes no exceptions in the admission process.

The student’s mother died during her first semester and she had no contact with her father. Her grades suffered through the grieving process. Rather than give up, she repeated the course she failed, but not enough to qualify for application into the nursing program. She then became pregnant, and still had no support at home.

However, the student was able to manage straight A’s, which increased her cumulative GPA and made her a competitive applicant. She eventually was admitted to the nursing program.

“These are the types of stories that remind me of the magnitude of our work and of the impact of our relational experiences,” Ruggiero said.   

Ruggiero’s dedication to her students, her profession and her fellow union members embodies the essence of Council 4’s Public Service Proud campaign, which highlights how our members make a difference on the job and in their communities.

“Investing in public higher education is a gift that keeps on giving,” she said. “I’ve found a lot of joy and fulfillment at this job.”

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