Students at the University of Connecticut received an email in their inboxes on Aug. 25 from the office of UConn President Radenka Maric. It asked students to complete a survey in which they could rank which university operations they felt were most important. The survey was released following the end of the university’s most recent five-year tuition schedule.
The email included information on two drawings as incentives for completing the survey. The first drawing was for a chance to have a picture taken with Jonathan the Husky. The second was for 12 students to win two tickets to a UConn basketball game in the upcoming season. The email also stated that pizza parties would be offered to the residence hall and regional campus with the highest response rates.
Undergraduate Student Government President Andy Zhang said he appreciated the intent behind the survey but understood that it puts students in an awkward position.
“They [University Administration] are making difficult decisions in a difficult time, and they are trying to provide students with the voice or agency to decide what will be funded or won’t be funded,” he said. “I appreciate them giving students the voice. It is also, I think, a little bit difficult to have students make the choice of which departments they want to cut.”
Zhang said that difficulty stemmed from the fact that each department, whether academic or not, appeals to different qualities of student life.
“We are in a difficult time regarding funding, regarding staff, regarding faculty,” he said. “There will be difficult decisions that have to be made, that’s just an expectation we need to have. I think we do need to come together to make sure the damage is being minimized.”
The board of trustees has frozen tuition for the 2025-2026 term while reviewing possible next steps for future years, according to University Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz.
“The survey is meant to provide an opportunity for all students to share their thoughts, priorities, and opinions about tuition and fee adjustments,” Reitz said in an email. “There will be additional opportunities for students to provide feedback, including several town halls in the fall.”
The survey is set to close on Tuesday, Sept. 8.