Elections for the University of Connecticut’s undergraduate student trustee will take place from noon on Tuesday to Thursday between incumbent Sean Dunn and challenger Jadon Segnatelli.
All undergraduate students in Storrs and at regional campuses will be able to vote via UConntact for the undergraduate student trustee.
UConn’s Board of Trustees consists of 21 voting members, including 12 appointees from Connecticut’s governor and an elected graduate and undergraduate student trustee. The board meets about once a month and votes on key UConn issues.
Segnatelli is a second-semester economics major. He hasn’t been to previous board of trustees meetings or been involved with Waterbury’s Undergraduate Student Government, but he says his economics major qualifies him for the job.
“I think what primarily qualifies me for this position is my love for the University of Connecticut,” said Segnatelli. “Second off, I think my major really fits the position really well. Economics is strongly defined by many economists as the study of choice and how one would allocate resources. I think I am qualified for this position because I believe that I will be able to efficiently allocate UConn’s resources to maximize UConn’s potential.”
Sixth-semester biomedical engineering major Dunn is a member of the financial affairs, student life, academic affairs and research, entrepreneurship and innovation committees in his first year of the board.
“Throughout these past eight or nine months, I’ve really learned a lot about the different areas of the university. There’s so much that goes into the operation of UConn,” said Dunn. “When I came into this role, I had a lot of goals and I had a lot of goals that stem from previous involvement in USG and other areas on campus and I really wanted to do the best I could to realize those goals within my term.”
Dunn discussed achievements in his first term as undergraduate student trustee, including a pause in tuition increases for the first time since 2000. He spoke about conversations he’d had to work to centralize care at UConn Student Health and Wellness from three buildings to one.
“The bottom line is that a year is a short amount of time to get at everything I wanted to do. and while there was a lot of positive motion and we’re on a trajectory that’s on the path forward, it’s always best to have more time,” said Dunn.
Segnatelli’s main issue was UConn’s high tuition.
“I feel like the students’ tuition is not — it’s not a very equitable tuition,” said Segnatelli. “A lot of students are leaving with a lot of student debt. It’s at a point where it’s really not worth it. So, I want to lower students’ tuition to ensure that they get an equitable and efficient education.”
Segnatelli spoke about how he planned to cut tuition.
“I will reallocate resources going to athletics and to education to make sure that both sections of the university are able to get a fair budget,” said Segnatelli. “I haven’t met anyone else on the board, but given how bad the tuition is, I’m very confident I’d be able to.”
He did not raise other priorities.
“The University of Connecticut is already a really great school. I feel like the main issue is the tuition,” said Segnatelli. “Our basketball team won the national championship twice in a row, so when you have that, there’s not really too many issues, other than when you trace it back to the students.”
Dunn spoke about communication with students, stating that he had office hours available online and has met with students and spoke with student leaders on both sides of divisive issues, such as a recent USG divestment referendum.
Dunn spoke about housing for students, stating that there were efforts to open on-campus housing at all regional campuses. Currently, Hartford and Avery Point students can apply to live at Storrs, according to a UConn website, while Stamford has on-campus housing and Waterbury does not.
“I’ve expressed concern over over-enrollment. I think that we need to be smart about monitoring numbers and our growth,” said Dunn. “Fortunately, with many off-campus developments on the horizon in coming years, this will be mitigated in two to three years.”
Dunn discussed conversations regarding the student housing.
“I know that there’s been a lot of upset feelings about students not being guaranteed housing, even though, when they came four years ago for orientation, housing was guaranteed,” said Dunn. “I think that everyone in administration who I’ve talked to has understood concerns, and I think I just need to keep pushing for urgency to ensure that those are properly dealt with.”
Information about fee referenda and other positions is available at https://vote.uconn.edu.