Students and faculty at the University of Connecticut gathered outside of Homer Babbidge Library on Tuesday, Jan. 23 to protest recently announced budget cuts by the university, according to reporting by The Daily Campus. On the eve of a town hall meeting regarding the budget, professors and students argued that these cuts would be devastating and directly contradict the university’s ability to “meet its mission as a flagship university.”
Due to expiring COVID-19 relief funds, the university is expected to begin fiscal year 2025 in a $70 million deficit. These cuts are necessary to “achieve financial sustainability,” the university said. The cuts would lead to a 15% reduction in operating support budgets for all academic units over a five-year period, starting with 3% next fall.
UConn Provost Anne D’Alleva pointed out that these budgetary problems are not unique; in fact, other universities such as Pennsylvania State University are facing similar budget cuts.
While that is true, what she is neglecting to mention is that universities were warned as early as September 2022 that the emergency COVID-19 funding would expire. Yet, as covered by The Daily Campus Editorial Board, the university still continually approved ambitious construction projects. Similarly, despite being well aware of the expiring nature of the COVID-19 funds, Penn State also approved one robust construction plan after another. Just last summer, Penn State had 24 different construction projects and plans.
In June 2022, UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz acknowledged that “the end of most federal COVID relief funds creates the incorrect appearance of a large dip in financial aid between FY22 and FY23.” Just at the start of the academic year, the university announced a record-breaking year of fundraising for the fourth year in a row, yet their aggressive spending has now put them in a $70 million-sized hole.
According to the UConn branch of the American Association of University Professors, these cuts would have “long-term, devastating effects on research, teaching and learning.”
Faculty members are preparing for severe reductions of graduate programs, bigger classes, less courses offered to students, scaled-back programs, cuts to teaching and fewer research assistantships, increased work for faculty, reduced tutoring and support and more virtual instruction, according to the union.
These cuts will not just impact students and faculty. To begin the year, The Daily Campus Editorial Board covered UConn’s newly adopted 10-year strategic plan. These cuts are antithetical to the stated goals of the plan. One of these goals is to reach $500 million in research funding. In the financial year 2023, the university received $321.5 million in research awards. However, these budget cuts will deteriorate professors’ ability to compete for large grants.
There is research pointing to how budget cuts to academic programs lead to decreases in overall graduation rates. Another indicator of success for UConn’s 10-year plan is a graduation rate of 90%. Offering fewer programs, bigger classes and reduced support for students is more likely to increase the amount of students unable to graduate rather than continue to increase the graduation rate.
It is difficult to present yourself as a university committed to serious research after slashing the budgets and capabilities of your own departments to do effective research. If enacted, these cuts will “dramatically degrade UConn’s central mission of teaching and research excellence, and its standing as a world-class institution of higher education,” an open letter signed by over 300 faculty members argued.
There is something truly sinister to these cuts when you listen to how UConn’s administration talks about the supposed importance they place on education. In official auto-sent emails to the undergraduate population, President Radenka Maric finishes her email in the same way. It goes as follows:
“UConn is a great university. But it’s more than that. A top-ranked research institution, with campuses and staff across Connecticut, built to inspire the global community that is UConn Nation. UConn’s talented students exceed expectations. Our expert researchers, faculty, and alumni drive Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (CIE) for a better tomorrow. We fuel the State’s economy and are committed to inclusion in benefiting the greater good. This is UConn. Students First, UConn Always. Huskies Forever.”
These proposed cuts are not only a slap in the face to those faculty and staff who produce the research that Maric brags about, but they also make it clear that UConn students are put last.