The University of Connecticut will host two town hall meetings discussing the proposed tuition and fees for the 2026-27 academic year, according to an email sent to all undergraduate Storrs students on Nov. 11.
The first town hall is today, Nov. 19, virtually at 5 p.m. on Webex. The second meeting is tomorrow, Nov. 20, at 11:30 a.m., in person at the Konover Auditorium at the Dodd Center for Human Rights on the Storrs campus and livestreamed.
The meetings will be recorded and available online for later viewing.
University spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said that the meetings allow students to hear from university leaders and give their own input into the budget process.
“The Town Halls provide a valuable chance for students to share their priorities and desires for the various fee-funded services, and for UConn leaders to explain the rationale for any proposed changes,” she said in an email statement.
Students are asked to submit questions before the meetings to budget@uconn.edu. They can also send their thoughts to that email after the meetings.
The meeting will go through the fee bills of Storrs and regional undergraduates and graduate students as well as the fees for professional programs. Reitz said the initial proposals are made with input from university programs and organizations.
“The proposals are shaped in part by recommendations from the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee. It held a series of discussions in recent days to review the requests of various programs and organizations funded by the fees,” Reitz said.
According to a slideshow from the 2024 budget town halls, the general university fee “supports student-related programs and institutional services of those programs.” It supports athletics (including student tickets), the career development center, the Jorgensen Performing Arts Center, the Marching Band, One Card, student activities and the cultural centers. It applies to Storrs undergraduates and graduates, as well as regional undergraduates.
The Student Health and Wellness fee also applies to Storrs undergraduates and graduates as regional undergraduates. SHaW provides immediate care, alcohol and other substance support, mental health services, a pharmacy, sexual health care, lab testing, sports medicine and more.
The infrastructure maintenance fee “Directly supports maintenance costs for classrooms, buildings, and infrastructure and payments towards select debt-financed infrastructure improvements,” according to the 2024 slideshow. It applies to regional and Storrs undergraduates and Storrs graduates.
The transit fee provides the HuskyGo buses on the Storrs campus and the free U-Passes for all UConn students. It applies to Storrs and regional undergraduates and Storrs graduates.
The technology fee “Provides all students with: Classroom technology for multimodal learning, Software for teaching and Learning, Microsoft 365 [and] Media-related library services” and allows professors to teach “hybrid audiences,” according to the 2024 slideshow. It applies to regional and Storrs undergraduates and Storrs graduates.
The student activity fees directly fund student-run organizations and are not included in UConn’s operating budget, the slideshow said.
At the Storrs campus, the fee goes to the Tier III organizations: The Daily Campus, UConn Student Television, WHUS Radio, Nutmeg Publishing, Undergraduate Student Government and SUBOG.
At the regional campuses, the fee supports programs offered by the campus’ student government. For graduate students, the fee funds the graduate student senate programs.
The budget town halls will also discuss housing and dining fee increases.
The board of trustees will discuss, review and vote on proposed fee changes at their Dec. 3 meeting, which is open to the public, Reitz said.