First and Only
IN C
by Villia Struyk
AS
AN EARLY-CAREER SOCIAL WORKER ,
Catherine CortoMergins, DSW ’25, helped people who had lost someone to homicide. “Looking back, it was one of the most profound experiences, and I found myself wondering if anything had changed in terms of available support,” says Corto-Mergins, now the director of training for The Village. With a staff of 600, The Village provides support services in the Greater Hartford region. Decades later, as a doctoral student at Southern, Corto-Mergins finally had the opportunity to find out. Her research revealed that not much had changed unfortunately — and highlighted the need for homicidespecific, trauma-informed care. “For example, homicide-related trauma often has a specific focus on anger,” she says. On May 5, she was one of about 175 students who presented their findings at Southern’s Graduate Student Research and Creative Activity Conference — one of many universitywide events that showcase student-led research. Two days earlier, undergraduates had taken the stage for their own research conference.
14 | Southern ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Southern offers countless research opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. This year, the university became Connecticut’s first and only Carnegie-designated Research 2 university — highlighting the uniqueness of this commitment. And it doesn’t stop there: Southern has an entire Division of Research and Innovation, with a mission of “facilitating and celebrating innovative research, scholarship, and creative activities.” There are research programs for firstyear students as well as frequent opportunities to present at department events and state, regional, and national conferences. “Research is not just an activity — it is a mindset,” says Julia Irwin, interim provost and professor of psychology. “Students at Southern gain hands-on experiential learning in diverse fields, guided by faculty deeply committed to research and teaching. Direct collaboration with experts on studentdriven projects enhances learning, making it one of the most effective teaching tools and among our greatest assets here at Southern.”
As Kate Vitasek, senior contributor for Forbes, notes in an article published June 13: “Mastering academic research, learning to ask the right questions, analyzing information, and generating actionable insights are becoming increasingly crucial.” Southern’s commitment to facultystudent collaborative research sets it apart and that distinction was formally recognized in 2025 when the institution became Connecticut’s first and only Carnegie-designated Research 2 university. The Carnegie Classification framework is the nation’s leading system for categorizing research activity in higher education. Only 139 institutions nationwide hold the R2 designation, placing Southern in elite company. (Only Yale and the University of Connecticut are ranked higher in the state, as R1 institutions.)