University of Connecticut students are attending the Connecticut General Assembly’s public hearing on Tuesday to support better funding for higher education in Connecticut.
The hearing is to decide whether Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont’s budget recommendations for the state’s budget will be approved. The public hearing for higher education on Tuesday is taking place at the Capitol building at 5:00 p.m.
The appropriations committee also has multiple meetings earlier in the day for state agency budget presentations from the Office of Higher Education, UConn and UConn Health, and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities. The agency presentations and the public hearings will both be available via YouTube Live.
Students will leave at 3:45 p.m. from outside the Student Union on Hillside Road. Transportation will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Buses for students will return at approximately 8 p.m.
The public hearing will include testimony from students, professors and other members of the public. There were 31 testimonies submitted in opposition to the current suggestions from Lamont.
The Board of Regents have approved a budget mitigation plan that cuts resources while at the same time raising tuition by 5%. This means students are paying for less, and this will not improve enrollment or help students succeed. All CSU campuses have already felt cuts over the past few years, from unfilled positions to fewer support services to larger class sizes. Mitigation plans promise to accelerate those cuts making it harder for all on campus.
Central CT State University Associate Professor, Michael Bartone
The testimonies opposing Lamont’s suggestions are largely from students and professors from Connecticut state universities. They focus on the importance of accessible higher education and personal experiences with how budget cuts affect students’ lives.
Michael Bartone, an associate professor of elementary education at Central Connecticut State University, said in his written testimony that the current economic landscape mixed with budget cuts were already harming the environment at Connecticut universities.
“The Board of Regents have approved a budget mitigation plan that cuts resources while at the same time raising tuition by 5%. This means students are paying more for less, and this will not improve enrollment or help students succeed,” Bartone wrote. “All CSU campuses have already felt cuts over the past few years, from unfilled positions to fewer support services to larger class sizes. Mitigation plans promise to accelerate those cuts making it harder for all on campus.”
Many testimonies emphasized how decreasing funding for higher education would have a negative effect on the economy of the state as a whole. Aimee Pozorski, an English professor at Central Connecticut State University, wrote in her testimony that she has “seen first-hand” how higher education cuts affect the most vulnerable students more than anyone, such as housing-insecure or first-generation students.
“Affordable public education is one significant factor that can help strengthen the workforce in Connecticut, drawing talent from all backgrounds and zip codes,” Pozorski wrote. “Even though there is a lot to be cynical about in our current political climate, I still believe that a state education is a strong force in creating an upwardly mobile working community.”
The School of Dental Medicine is the only dental school in the state, a pipeline for high education employment in the state of Connecticut and remains educating on the most advanced dental technology. It is an affordable option for people like me, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store.
First-year UConn Health dental student, Madison Witt
Five testimonies were submitted in support of the governor’s recommendations. All five of these testimonies mentioned particular support for the funds that were going to the Roberta Willis scholarship program and the resolving of a timing issue with the scholarship funds. Four of the five testimonies focused their support mainly on this issue. Rhona Free, president of the University of Saint Joseph, said that the program was a positive force for encouraging students to stay and excel in college.
“We appreciate the legislature’s continued support of the Roberta Willis Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships for Connecticut students to attend in-state public or private, non-profit colleges,” Free wrote in her testimony. “At the University of Saint Joseph, 138 Connecticut resident students received a Roberta Willis grant in the 2022-2023 academic year and for many the funds were critical to their ability to begin or complete their degree programs.”
Eight students from UConn Health submitted testimonies explaining why they chose this program and how state funding benefits students. Madison Witt, a first-year dental student at UConn Health, said that the program allowed her to give back to the community and to Connecticut.
“The School of Dental Medicine is the only dental school in the state, a pipeline for high education employment in the state of Connecticut and remains educating on the most advanced dental technology. It is an affordable option for people like me, and I cannot wait to see what’s in store,” Witt wrote in her testimony.
Mars Plater, a history professor at UConn Stamford, said in their testimony that the current budget plan threatens the experiences that students have at college.
“UConn is a special place and it breaks my heart to imagine the many, devastating losses that this budget would force upon the university. I don’t understand why one of the wealthiest states in the nation would betray its young people this way,” Plater wrote.
Testimony For Hearing Date 02/20/2024 in the Appropriations Committee (ct.gov)