Letter to the Community

November 9, 2005
TO: The University Community
FROM: Philip E. Austin

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Over the past several months I have had many opportunities to discuss our construction program, both through messages to the community and discussions with the University Senate and the Senate Executive Committee, deans and others.  While the broadcast messages were, I hope, useful in presenting a perspective not fully reported in the media, the smaller discussions and hundreds of e-mails, letters and phone calls were even more helpful to me as I heard individuals’ concerns and responded to their questions. 

Many faculty and staff members, students, alumni, and others expressed support for the University and appreciation of our progress over the past ten years.  They also expressed concerns, which I share.  UCONN 2000 has been a success in transforming this institution.  It helped bring us outstanding students and faculty, made possible a dramatic expansion in research, encouraged a massive growth in philanthropic support and, in short, made us truly a national university.  But we made some mistakes.  The overall program has included 53 named projects, 353 deferred maintenance projects, and 11 revenue bond or private fund projects authorized under UCONN 2000 authority.  Of these, three important projects had major code deficiencies.  That is three too many.

We began to strengthen our administrative structure three years ago with the creation of the position of Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and the restructuring of construction and oversight operations.  We are addressing the specific issues in various buildings through an aggressive program of remediation.  In some projects this has been or will be undertaken at the original contractor’s expense.  In another project, where we were unsuccessful in getting the contractor to remedy the deficiencies, we are aggressively pursuing cost recovery.  Notably, every student residence hall opened this fall in time for the start of the term, certified as safe for occupancy by the State Department of Public Safety and by our own enhanced Office of Fire Marshal and Building Inspector.

On September 1 the Governor’s Commission on UConn Review and Accountability issued a detailed report that included extensive recommendations to strengthen the program.  Though sharply critical of aspects of the program’s implementation, the report said at the outset, “There is no doubt that the UCONN 2000 and 21^st Century UConn building programs have played a vital role in the extraordinary transformation of the University.”  The Commission’s recommendations are consistent in concept and generally in detail with the University’s own remedial program.  While calling for additional oversight, the Commission supports the principle that the University should retain authority to direct the construction program and, within parameters set by State authorization, set its own priorities for implementation.

The Board of Trustees is working with the Governor and her staff to bring the Commission’s proposals to fruition.  We continue to implement the University’s pre-existing seven-point remedial plan and to implement the construction program itself.  In fact, on October 21^st we held a formal opening ceremony for one of our most exciting recent projects, the Pharmacy/Biology Building on the Storrs campus.

Given the media’s close attention to construction issues, it has sometimes been possible to forget that the University of Connecticut is first, foremost and always an educational institution, and that teaching, research and service are our fundamental activities.  With that in mind, I want to provide a brief update on the major events and activities that have been of special significance since my last community letter.

Enrollment

 A recent study by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education documents a substantial reversal of the “brain drain” that, back in the mid-1990s, put Connecticut second from the top in terms of percentage of college-bound high school graduates who pursue their education in other states.  Before 2000, the majority of these young men and women left the state to go to college; many never returned.  In purely economic terms, this meant that our taxpayers lost the benefit of their investment in these students’ K-12 education and our businesses, public agencies, and other employers had difficulty filling positions.  By September 2004, DHE reported, nearly 60% remained.  And the number of out-of-state students seeking to come to Connecticut colleges and universities has been increasing steadily.

 UConn is a major factor in this upswing.  As a guidance counselor from Avon said in a newspaper article, “In just the last couple years we’ve seen more of our students applying to and attending in-state schools.  With us, UConn has become very hot.” 

The numbers for this fall’s entering class are now in and it’s clear that our appeal to bright, talented students continues to grow.  The best way to illustrate this is to provide the tables that Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Dolan Evanovich presented to the Board of Trustees on September 20:

Applications and Enrollment  

Applications Over Time

Academic Achievement Indicators:  Storrs Freshman Class

Minority Freshman Enrollment 

With the exception of regional campus freshmen we are experiencing growth in all areas.  I am particularly proud of the increase in minority freshman enrollment, which results from a combination of our academic reputation and active recruitment; the increase in mean SAT scores; and the growth in the number of truly exceptional students—high school valedictorians and salutatorians—who choose to come to UConn.  The presence of a large, diverse, and highly talented class is a clear indicator of our appeal and helps make UConn more lively and intellectually exciting each year. 

Another notable statistic relating to undergraduates is worth reporting:  Last year, for the first time, we crossed the 90% threshold for retention of freshmen who enrolled the previous fall.  This is a tribute to the quality of our freshmen, the strength of our First Year Experience program, and the overall appeal of academic and student life at the University.

The graduate admissions process is less centralized than the undergraduate process and there is significant variation among programs.  Nevertheless, the following compilation of aggregate data for Fall 2004 demonstrates the overall demand for admission to these programs and the level of support provided to graduate students in general: 

According to a report compiled by the Virginia State Council for Higher Education, UConn’s graduate admission rate is equal to that of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Applications this fall were about 9% higher than last year.  One point deserves special mention:  While many graduate schools across the country have seen dramatic decreases in graduate students because of post-9/11 changes in visa policies and practices, at UConn the number has remained relatively constant; in Fall 2004, 1,227 international graduate students were enrolled, compared to 1,289 in Fall 2003.  The maintenance of a high international enrollment (representing about 22% of the total graduate student population) enhances the diversity of the campus.  Our ability to maintain our enrollment position reflects a combination of our international reputation for academic strength and the assiduous work of our Graduate School and International Programs staff in helping students overcome administrative obstacles.

Law, Medical and Dental School data are not included in the above table but the numbers are equally impressive.  The Law School received 2,490 applications for this Fall’s class, accepted 489 (19.6%), and welcomed 200 as new students this August.  Twenty-two percent are members of minority groups.  The School of Medicine received 2,700 applications for 80 positions, and the School of Dental Medicine received 1,122 applications for 40 slots.  Twenty-three percent of students in the entering Medical School class are from traditionally underrepresented minorities, as are 26% of entering students in the School of Dental Medicine.  Women represent 71% of first-year medical students and 37% of first-year dental students.

 Strengthening the Research Infrastructure

As a research university, UConn is responsible for the generation as well as the transmission of knowledge.  This is primarily a function of the professoriate.  But the institution itself has a key role to play in supporting and encouraging faculty, helping secure support, safeguarding academic freedom, and assuring compliance with state and federal regulations.  In the past several months we took some important steps, and two are particularly worthy of note:

• Assuring appropriate safeguards regarding research animals has long been a high priority at the University.  In the late 1990s it was clear that we had a long distance to travel to meet what could be considered a standard of excellence in this area.  Beginning in 1999 we initiated a major, and costly, improvement program that brought scattered research facilities at Storrs together into a manageable number of locations, provided ample staffing, and led to the point where we can realistically seek the highly prized and difficult-to-achieve accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) for the Storrs campus.  The Health Center has held AAALAC accreditation since 1977.  The Office of Animal Research Services and the Office of Research Compliance formally opened a new animal care facility in the new Pharmacy-Biology Building in July.

• The University is laying the groundwork for what promises to be a highly significant program in stem cell research.  In the last legislative session, the General Assembly approved an act providing $10 million annually for the next ten years for research grants to eligible institutions.  With a foundation of expertise developed through the Center for Regenerative Biology, based in Storrs, and the Health Center’s Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, UConn is well positioned to make effective utilization of State support.  University planning and working groups including faculty and staff from Storrs and Farmington have developed a proposal for a “University of Connecticut Stem Cell Institute” which will serve as the primary vehicle for our work in this area.  This is an area of great promise.  We are, however, mindful of the ethical issues attached to this research, and will proceed with sensitivity to bioethical concerns.

 Other Health Care Initiatives

The University’s activities in health care represent an important component of our broad mission of teaching, research and service.  While the location of the Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine and John Dempsey Hospital 35 miles from Storrs has sometimes impeded the development of a University-wide approach to health care issues, we have worked hard and, I believe, effectively to link resources in the implementation of important goals.

 A prime example is exploratory work now ongoing in the area of public health.  More than 230 talented faculty in a wide range of disciplines in Storrs, the regional campuses, and Farmington focus their research and teaching in areas with a strong public health focus.  Issues such as environmental pollution and protection from bioterrorism have obvious public health relationships, and debates over health care finance concern policymakers in Hartford as well as Washington, D.C.   To enhance UConn’s contribution, last year we established the Center for Public Health and Health Policy under the direction of Professors Ann Ferris of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Storrs and Eileen Storey, Chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Health Center.  I asked the Center to integrate resources across campuses, identify additional resources, and establish doctoral training programs in public health in collaboration with established academic departments. 

Another new initiative, focused more directly at the Health Center, has a more immediate impact.  The Collaborative Center for Clinical Care Improvement was established last December to develop practices to enhance patient safety and the quality of life.  To that end, issues related to medication management, pain management, hospital-borne infection reduction, fall prevention and culture change will be addressed by Health Center faculty under the leadership of Dr. James O. Menzoian, who was recently appointed as medical director of the Center.  Dr. Menzoian, a nationally respected vascular surgeon and former president of the New England Vascular Society, will be a welcome addition to the Health Center’s surgical team. 

We received special affirmation of our hospital’s quality this spring.  John Dempsey Hospital was designated a “Top 100 Performance Improvement Leader” by Solucient, a health care information and data analysis software company that compared rates of improvement over five years for more than 6,000 U.S. acute care and specialty hospitals.  Performance Improvement Leader hospitals had fewer patient deaths, complications, and adverse safety events than expected; discharged patients three-fourths of a day earlier in 2003 than in 1999; and increased operating profit margin more than six percentage points while peer hospitals saw nearly flat profit margins. The hospital also received high scores for its cardiac care in the Hospital Performance Comparisons released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health in August.

 UConn in the Public’s Service

Like all major public universities, UConn incorporates state and national service as a major element of our mission.  One of our challenges is to present the full roster of activities in a manner that is clear and easily accessible to the wide range of publics we serve:  state and local government, the business community, labor and community groups, and individuals.  The Health Center web site includes a section (www.connecticuthealth.org) that outlines activities that can be searched by location or subject, and the 289 programs represent an impressive list.  Vice Provost Veronica Makowsky, working closely with Dean of the College of Continuing Studies Krista Rodin, Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Nancy Bull, and a broadly representative group of faculty and staff designated the “Outreach Forum,” is developing a similar and equally accessible roster of Storrs-based programs.

I want to mention two especially timely and unique—but representative—activities that took place in recent months and fall under the broad heading of community service:

•  At the request of the State administration, UConn provided technical support for the effort to prevent the New London military base closings.  Our Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, which also provided important analytical service on this issue in 1991, undertook an economic evaluation of the impact of the base closing, and our Center for Survey Research and Analysis polled area business leaders to determine their assessment of the likely effects.  The data generated by these activities helped the State present a sufficiently strong case to lead the Base Realignment and Closure Committee to reject the Pentagon’s recommendation to close the facility.

•  Along with the rest of the nation, the UConn community was deeply troubled by news reports of this fall’s hurricane devastation.  We are enrolling as visiting  students 30 people with Connecticut ties from Tulane University and another 11 from other New Orleans area institutions.   I want to commend our enrollment management and student services staff for a process that compressed registration, advisement and orientation into two days, and I also want to thank our academic advisers and our faculty for opening seats in already tight classes to accommodate these visitors.  The Dean of Students reached out to about 20 students at UConn who come from the affected areas and helped them make contact with their families and, if needed, obtain emergency loans for educational or travel needs.  We implemented collection and volunteer programs, including one evening in which students could “donate” one of their University residence hall meals to hurricane victims and a collection at the September 10 football game at Rentschler Field; in addition, over a period of ten days, Health Center employees contributed ten truckloads of food, water and emergency supplies.  In an initiative coordinated by two UConn Health Center experts, Dr. Kathie H. Moffitt of the Department of Psychiatry and Kathryn Dean, project administrator for the Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Trauma Response, Recovery and Preparedness, State behavioral health personnel provided counseling and support to displaced Katrina victims now residing in Connecticut.

Private Support

Philanthropic support continues to provide the University’s “margin of excellence” in faculty recruitment, support for excellent students, and enhancement of academic, cultural and athletic programs.  Campaign UConn, which ended its six-year lifespan in the summer of 2004, raised $471.1 million in cash and in-kind gifts—57% above its ambitious $300 million goal.  The University of Connecticut Foundation is now in the planning phase for a new fundraising campaign that we hope will be even more successful.  The Foundation will be guided heavily by the priorities outlined by faculty, students, and administrators, and their input is being strongly solicited.

Even with Campaign UConn’s conclusion, the momentum continued through the year just past.  As of June 30, 2005, the Foundation reported total cash gifts of $56 million for the 2005 fiscal year, the second highest total on record.  (Only in FY 2004, the final year of the campaign, were more gifts received).  Our endowment, which stood at $42 million at the start of 1995, is now valued at about $272 million, ranking us in the upper third of colleges and universities in the United States who report data in this area.  This reflects both the increase in external support and the prudent investment of assets:  our Foundation staff report proudly that the total investment return was 10%, compared to a Standard & Poor’s return of 6.3%.  The bond portfolio was up 8% as compared to the Lehman Aggregate (a standard benchmark) of 6.8%.

Especially gratifying is the growth of our funding base.  In FY ’05 the Foundation received support from 33,868 donors, of whom about 27,000 are alumni.  Every gift is appreciated and its proceeds put to use in important ways.  Some, however, deserve special mention.  The largest gift last year came from Ray Neag, Class of 1956, and his wife, Carole, whose $10 million in support of the Health Center’s signature cancer program supplements a $21 million Neag commitment to the School of Education (now appropriately designated the Neag School of Education, in recognition of the largest single gift ever received by a public university in New England or a school of education anywhere in the nation) and generous support for specific programs in vascular biology and, earlier, specific aspects of education.  

 Another notable gift came from Gary and Judi Gladstein, who made a $1 million commitment this year to fully fund the Judi and Gary Gladstein Chair in Human Rights held by Dr. Richard Ashby Wilson.  Since establishing the Marsha Lilien Gladstein Human Rights Fund in 2001, Mr. Gladstein has been the University’s most generous supporter of human rights programs, helping in many ways to solidify our position as one of the world’s notable centers of outreach and research in this area.

 More recently, the University and the Foundation announced two major gifts from the family of David and Rhoda Chase, their daughter Cheryl and son Arnold.  The David and Rhoda Chase Family Foundations donated $1 million to provide endowment support for the Health Center’s signature program in musculoskeletal medicine.  The gift will support state-of-the-art research laboratories to advance new cures, techniques and treatments for bone and joint diseases.  The Chase Family also provided $750,000 to support scholarships, faculty and programmatic enhancement at the Law School. 

 Intercollegiate Athletics

This year I was asked to serve as Chairman, NCAA Division I Board of Directors. I am sure that, in part, the invitation came as a result of UConn’s national reputation for an athletic program that represents an asset to our state and that has helped generate progress at the University on multiple fronts.  I have found the NCAA responsibility as satisfying as it is challenging.  The organization recently finalized a set of academic performance measures, designed to promote academic progress by student-athletes at colleges and universities across the nation.  All of us concerned about the integrity of intercollegiate athletics applaud the motivation behind the “Academic Performance Rate” (APR) calculation.  If properly designed and intelligently administered, this kind of monitoring can help colleges and student-athletes alike. 

I am happy to report that UConn generally does very well according to the reported APR’s.   For all our teams, UConn received 958 points out of a possible total of 1,000 based upon data submitted from the 2003-04 academic year.   UConn exceeds the national academic performance average for Division I and Division I-A schools, and for public institutions at all levels.  All of our 24 teams meet or exceed the NCAA standard (in some cases with a permitted NCAA statistical correction) and three teams attained perfect scores.  Moreover, more than 99% of our student-athletes meet academic eligibility standards and are making normal progress towards their college degree.  We will continue to assure that our student-athletes meet the University’s high academic standards and that they emerge with an excellent education.  And we will do the same for the 28,000 other students who are not engaged in intercollegiate athletics.

The Campaign Against Sweatshops

 The issue of sweatshop labor rightly continues to concern many students, faculty and other members of the University community.  I am proud that UConn has played a prominent role among the nation’s higher education institutions in addressing this issue; we were an early member of the Worker Rights Consortium and, like many other schools, we require producers of goods that bear our logo to sign onto a Code of Conduct that calls for protection of workers’ rights.  Clearly, however, more needs to be done, particularly in the area of verification of compliance with the Code.  Last semester I asked a faculty/student/staff Task Force, chaired by Professor Mohammed Hussein of the Department of Accounting, to explore this issue and present recommendations.  They presented a thoughtful, comprehensive report in June (available at http://president.uconn.edu/taskforce/index.html), and after careful consideration I accepted their recommendations. 

 A key proposal was that UConn work with other schools in a collaborative effort to assure that factories are monitored and certified as code-compliant.  The Task Force recommended that our licensing agent, the Collegiate Licensing Company, be the instrument for this effort.  Others, including students active in the issue, propose that the Worker Rights Consortium take on this responsibility.  It matters less to me who does the job than that it be done effectively, and we are working with both CLC and the WRC to explore options.  One proposal advanced by a national student group with an active UConn chapter, United Students Against Sweatshops, calls for creation of a “Designated Supplier Program” through which universities and colleges will focus licensing over time on contractors who meet key worker protection criteria in all their work.  While the proposal may need modification in certain aspects, I see merit in it and we are working with other universities through the WRC to bring it to the next stage of consideration.

Other recommendations related to expansion of teaching and research in this area.  Curriculum development is, of course, a faculty prerogative, but I certainly will support additional courses that are developed and evaluated in accordance with standard faculty review processes and meet the University’s standards for academic rigor.  I have asked Provost Nicholls to explore ways in which we can encourage faculty research in such areas as the impact of international trade policy on workers’ lives, linkages between fair labor standards and production levels, promotion of the rights of workers to organize in third world countries, and the concept of the “living wage.”

 The University will continue to host speakers on this topic, as we have done in the past, and will encourage student groups to do so as well.  This year in particular, in connection with the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center’s 10^th Anniversary, a series of events focuses on human rights issues stemming from economic globalization.  We expect that sweatshop and other labor concerns will be prominently discussed.

Finally, the Task Force advised me to appoint an ongoing body to encourage and coordinate University activities, ranging from curriculum to purchasing to encouragement of constructive student activism.  I plan to announce the faculty-student-staff members shortly.  Associate Dean of Students Julie Bell-Elkins will be the day-to-day University official responsible for overseeing and linking programs and proposals that relate to the sweatshop issue, and fostering linkages with other schools and external groups.

New Faces and New Positions

Since my last general report to the community, the University has welcomed  several new people to leadership positions. 

 Six new members serve on the Board of Trustees.  Rebecca Lobo and Peter Drotch joined the Board last Fall. Rebecca is, of course, well known across the state as one of the stars of our 1995 women’s basketball team and respected both within and outside the University as an outstanding student and, in more recent years, a community leader and a wonderful example of public citizenship.  She was named by Governor Rell to the Board of Trustees last November.  Peter is also a UConn alumnus, with a bachelor’s degree from the School of Business (Class of 1964).  A distinguished career in business ultimately led him to the leadership of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Investment Management Services Group; along the way, he played a significant role in the life of the University, serving as a member and chair of the University of Connecticut Foundation Board of Directors and a member of the School of Business Board of Advisors.  This January he will take the helm of the Board’s Committee on Financial Affairs.

The Board of Trustees was expanded by the General Assembly this Spring to include two additional ex officio members:  the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, who joins his Cabinet colleagues from the Departments of Agriculture and Education as a statutory member of our governing board, and whose presence reflects the relationship between UConn and Connecticut’s economic climate; and the Chair of the Health Center Board of Directors, whose presence on both the Health Center Board and the full University’s Board of Trustees strengthens the linkage between the programs in Farmington and the University as a whole.  In the former position, DECD Commissioner James Abromaitis, who has served for ten years as a gubernatorially-appointed Board member, moves to the ex officio seat, and has been replaced in his former seat by Wayne Shepperd, a longtime journalist who retired as publisher of The News-Times in Danbury in July and now serves as Director of Economic Development for the City of Danbury.  The Health Center Board of Directors Chair, a position held for several years with great distinction by former Board of Trustees member Claire Leonardi, is now Dr. Gerard Burrow, former Professor of Medicine and Dean of the Yale School of Medicine, and currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration.  In addition, to fill the term previously held by Trustee William Berkley, Governor Rell appointed Michael Bozzuto of Cheshire who, as Chairman, President and CEO of Bozzuto’s, Inc., and a member of the IGA Inc. Board of Directors is a leader in the Connecticut business community.  I look forward to working with these new members, plus our new Student Trustee Salmun Kazerounian.

 Provost Peter Nicholls, who has been at the University for only eight months, is developing a clear agenda to bring our academic program to the next level and to implement a realistic but ambitious academic plan.  A critical step entails movement of some academic programs to promote quality enhancement; Dr. Nicholls has been in discussion with affected parties and the details will be outlined by him.  Dr. Nicholls has designated Dr. Veronica Makowsky, Professor of English and Women’s Studies since 1993 and, from 2000 to 2004, Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as the new Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Regional Campus Administration.  Dr. Suman Singha, who has been at UConn since 1990 and previously served as Professor and Head of the Department of Plant Science has been designated Vice Provost for Academic Administration. 

Vice Provost Janet Greger, who led the Office of Research and Graduate Education and was Dean of the Graduate School, assumed the position of Vice Provost for Strategic Planning.  In this capacity she is completing a capital plan that integrates the academic plan with construction goals, and also continues to be a liaison with federal agencies, particularly with regard to federally funded construction projects.  While a  search proceeds to fill Dr. Greger’s former position, Professor Gregory Anderson, previously head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, will serve as Interim Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School.

Kenneth Michael (Mike) Walker began his service as our new Chief Audit and Compliance Officer in January.  Immediately prior to coming to UConn Dr. Walker served at Wake Forest University as Chief Compliance Officer.  He holds a doctorate in higher education curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina.  He reports jointly to me and to the University Board of Trustees and Health Center Board of Directors Joint Audit and Compliance Committee, and his scope of responsibility includes the Health Center as well as the Storrs-based programs. 

Worth Noting

 Before I close, I want to mention few additional items that are worthy of the community’s attention.  Though varied in terms of subject, they demonstrate the range and scope of the University’s activities.

• The Mansfield Downtown Partnership, which I have frequently discussed in these reports, is moving ahead on track.  In January, the Partnership submitted a draft of its development plan to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, beginning the State and local review processes which are expected to culminate in final approvals early next year.  An attractive, energetic village district that offers much needed retail and housing amenities to members of the University and Mansfield communities, the development will enhance the quality of life for our students, faculty and staff.

• This past spring the University offered $100 million of “General Obligation Bonds” to fund construction projects and received high marks from the rating agencies—a rating of Aa3 from Moody’s Investor Services, AA from Standard and Poor’s, and AA- from Fitch.  Moody’s report reflected the financial community’s general assessment:  “Moody’s expects that the University of Connecticut, as the flagship state university, is likely to remain a leading educational institution with strong student demand.  The university has shown good growth in enrollment…[and] continues to experience good interest.”  While the report references “operating pressures as [UConn] balances the need for growth while coping with a tight state funding environment,” it makes clear that the University’s general financial base is strong.

•  A recent report by the National Science Foundation on 2003 doctoral recipients provided a particularly noteworthy piece of information relevant to the financial support data regarding graduate students, cited above.  Our PhDs were relatively similar to their counterparts nationally (46% female compared to 45% nationally; 64% US citizens compared to 68% nationally; 19% minorities, identical to the national proportion).  In one area, however, they were significantly different.  Of U.S. citizen degree recipients, 54.9% had no debt at the time of graduation.  The national figure is 41.9%.  This indicates that the combination of affordable tuition and graduate support through assistantships and fellowships enables students to complete their education without generating massive repayment obligations upon graduation.  This is an important recruiting tool and, if communicated effectively, should help us attract exceptional candidates to our doctoral programs.

• The late summer’s extremely dry weather seems like a distant memory in light of October’s nearly perpetual rain.  But the impact of the dry spell on the University’s water withdrawals from groundwater sources adjacent to the Fenton River caused serious concern as the Fenton ran dry in the well field area.  We generally take 30% of our water from the Fenton area; the remainder comes from the area around the Willimantic River.  Members of the UConn community responded to our request to conserve water very positively, and student response was particularly helpful.  In addition, the University sharply reduced some non-essential watering activities on campus.  On September 23 the University and the State Department of Public Health executed a Consent Order that calls on us to immediately expand the role of an outside manager in the management of our water system, and to select competitively a contractor to manage the water supply in the long term. Water management has never been part of our core mission, and we are eager to turn this responsibility over to those with expertise in this area.  In addition, a priority project using UCONN 2000 funds will be to improve the Willimantic well field and transmission lines; this will enhance our flexibility to limit our withdrawals from the Fenton during dry periods.

Overall, the University of Connecticut continues to move in the right direction.  As a public institution we are rightly accountable not just to our own students and faculty, but to parents, alumni, and the people of the State and their elected representatives.  It is essential that we maintain their confidence in our commitment to ambitious goals and our competence in achieving those goals.  The past months presented difficult tests, which I believe we have met.  With a strong structure in place, we are well positioned to use the months ahead to resolve the problems that emerged in 2004-05, and to meet new challenges. 

This January we will begin a year-long commemoration of our 125^th anniversary as a center of higher learning.  I hope that in the months ahead we can take time to reflect on our evolution since 1881 from a small agricultural school tucked away in the northeast corner of the state to one of America’s great public universities.  Generations of faculty, students, and staff contributed to that progress, and I am sure that at times they took risks and experienced disappointments.  But over time, what emerged was a university that provides a first-rate education, serves as a center for world-class research, and vastly enhances Connecticut’s quality of life.

This is a powerful legacy.  It imposes on us a special responsibility to commit our energies and talents to building on a strong foundation.  That should, and will, be our goal in the coming anniversary year.

c:  Board of Trustees