Letter to the Community

April 28, 2003
TO: The University Community
FROM: Philip E. Austin

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Since my last letter to the University community, I have taken a number of opportunities to provide brief updates on the budget situation and other critical concerns. Now that the Spring semester is drawing to a close, I want to provide a more detailed report on a number of important challenges and opportunities. As always, I invite your response.

Let me begin by reiterating a point that I have made frequently in writing and in meetings with faculty, students, staff, elected officials and others: In a difficult economy and despite an exceptionally demanding budget situation, the University of Connecticut continues to thrive in every important respect. The key trend lines point upward, our national reputation grows stronger, and we are on target in meeting our key institutional objectives. This is not to diminish the negative impact of a tightly constrained operating budget or to ignore the substantial contributions members of our community have made in meeting the resulting challenges. It is, however, to emphasize the fact that the progress of the past several years positions us well to respond to fiscal difficulties without jeopardizing the underlying integrity of our teaching, research and service programs. The 2002-03 academic year has, in fact, registered several extraordinary achievements.

A few measures of success:

• The applicant pool for the Fall 2003 Storrs freshman class is up 28% over last year, with more than 17,000 applications for 3,200 places. This builds on significant growth in each of the past five years, and the increase in size is accompanied by an increase in academic strength. We expect that the average SAT for Storrs freshmen will be 15-20 points higher this fall than last year, continuing another multi-year trend. Diversity continues to grow as well; applications to Storrs from minority students are up 16.5%. The number of "first-choice" applications to the regional campuses is up 20%, from 696 to 838, reflecting success in our effort to spread the word about the strong quality at these five sites.
  
• Research awards, which were just over $96 million University-wide at the start of UCONN 2000, exceeded $180 million this fiscal year-in large measure due to the new facilities made possible at Storrs by UCONN 2000 and at the Health Center by the Academic Research Building that opened in 1999. Our reputation for excellence, the relevance of our research program to the State's and the nation's needs, and the staunch advocacy of members of Connecticut's Congressional delegation combined to attain nearly $20 million in earmarked federal funds for eleven University programs, including, among others, research relating to vaccine development, fuel cell technology, bone and muscle changes in senior citizens, gifted and talented education, marine biology, and Connecticut River Basin pollution.
  
• Our professional schools continue to excel. Two examples: the School of Dental Medicine's students' performance on Part II of the National Dental Board Examinations ranked first in the nation for the second time in three years, and the School of Law's U.S. News and World Report ranking among public law schools moved up three spots, to number 17 in the nation.
  
• In February the University added the Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects' 2003 "Qualification-Based Selection Award" to a long list of honors for architecture, construction, and energy conservation.
  
• Our Athletics program continues to win accolades as well as championships. As the entire State of Connecticut and much of the rest of the world knows, our women again won the NCAA basketball championship, their third in the last four years. This adds one more UConn national championship to the five accumulated by our student-athletes since 1990. Our athletes continue to succeed in the classroom as well as on the playing field-a point illustrated this semester when men's basketball center Emeka Okafor was named a Verizon First-Team Academic All American and 2002-03 Big East Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Budget Update

The operating budget remains a cause of serious concern. The cuts of the past year accelerated a long-term trend line that brought the State's share of the Storrs-based program's operating budget from about 50% in 1991 to barely 40% this year. Over the past several years, careful planning and aggressive pursuit of research and other funding helped us maintain and even enhance the quality of the academic program in the face of that decline. The severe limitations on State support this fiscal year, however, presented a more acute challenge.

Public universities are particularly sensitive to downturns in the national or regional economy. The lion's share of any state's budget is devoted to expenditures that are extremely difficult to control, and very few state activities have independent revenue streams attached to them. Universities charge tuition and generate funding for research and other activities, and the ability to raise these revenues makes higher education a target of opportunity for hard-pressed budget officials. We understand this, and we made clear from the outset that the University is willing to bear our fair share of Connecticut's fiscal burden. But we also argued vigorously that it makes no sense-fiscal or otherwise-to cut UConn's budget so precipitously that it becomes impossible for us to realize the promise of UCONN 2000 or 21^st Century UConn, or to enhance our contribution to the State's long-term economic development and quality of life.

Anticipating a difficult set of years, last summer I reluctantly recommended and the Board of Trustees adopted a $329 tuition and student fee increase to take effect this semester (in addition to the 3.9% increase for the year previously set), followed by tuition and fee increases of 7.91% and 6.85% in the next two years. Sufficient financial aid has been allocated to protect academically-qualified students in financial need; no student will be forced to leave the University for financial reasons. Almost without exception, students and their families accepted the increases as essential to the maintenance of quality. We also imposed a wage freeze on members of the managerial staff and implemented several administrative measures to reduce expenditures.

Through the fall and winter, as the State administration and the General Assembly worked to craft a revised State budget for FY '03 to address the growing revenue shortfall, it became apparent that aggregate reductions would be very serious indeed. In November I communicated to the University the news that we were directed by the State Office of Policy and Management to produce major personnel cost reductions at Storrs and the Health Center and that additional cuts were likely. In the end, the original FY '03 budget was reduced by a total of $11.4 million for the Storrs-based programs ($15.4 million including fringe benefit cuts), and $2.5 million for the Health Center ($3.6 million with fringe benefits).

The Governor presented his budget proposal for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005 in March. The key piece of news for UConn was that the recommendation contemplates funding that will cover only about one-third of the increase in the State share of our current services needs (that is, the increases we would need to cover built-in cost increases required to maintain operations at current levels). The proposal does allocate more dollars to the University-$5.3 million at the Storrs-based programs and $1.3 million more at the Health Center. But if we continue operations at current levels in FY '04 we will be about $10.1 million short of where we need to be at Storrs and $2.5 million at the Health Center; adding estimated fringe benefit impact, the numbers rise to $13.6 million and $3.6 million respectively. The numbers for FY '05 are even worse: we will be $16.6 million short of needs at Storrs ($22.4 million including fringe benefits) and $4.5 million ($5.9 million including fringe benefits) at the Health Center.

While these are large numbers, some might contend that, at a University whose total annual budget from all sources is in excess of $1 billion, reductions of this magnitude are sustainable. And the University certainly will survive. But the fact is that we have long since made almost all of the "easy" cuts in operations and we have gone far toward realizing potential efficiencies. If we are to avoid reductions in program scope or quality, we will have to make exceptionally difficult choices and undertake significant sacrifice.

In February and again this month I was able to report to the University community that the two major professional employee associations at the Storrs-based program, the UConn chapter of the American Association of University Professors and, subsequently, the University of Connecticut Professional Employees Association, stepped forward to contribute to our shared commitment to excellence. The membership of both associations voted overwhelmingly to support an amendment to their existing contracts that provides for a wage freeze, contract extensions, and an agreement by the University administration that there will be no budget-induced layoffs for these employee groups, though the University retains the ability to make programmatic reductions. Concurrently, the wage freeze for senior administrators that was imposed last July and adjusted for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year will be continued in FY '04. (In effect, this means that faculty and professional staff will experience a one-year wage freeze, and administrators will experience a nine-month freeze in FY '03 and a wage freeze for the entirety of FY '04.) The savings generated by these sacrifices, coupled with other cost savings measures and the tuition and fee increases approved last summer, will help keep our challenges to a level that, with prudence and some luck, we can manage.

This will not, however, solve all of our problems. We do not yet know if the State's early retirement incentive program will have negative consequences for next year's budget; moreover, additional rescissions remain possible if the economic climate does not improve. This year's winter weather gave us no help in terms of energy or snow removal costs and we need to be prepared for a recurrence in 2004. We will continue monitoring expenditures with extraordinary care and focus whatever new investments and new appointments we make on the fulfillment of our core mission.

The Physical Transformation Proceeds

On December 18, 2002, following a lengthy and intensive study, the Connecticut General Assembly's Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee published its final report on UCONN 2000 Construction Management. To our gratification but not our surprise, the 27-page report concluded that the program has been well run and has, overall, produced quality facilities on time and on budget. The Committee offered a few recommendations, which are already being implemented, but its essential finding is that "(t)he University process for managing the UCONN 2000 construction program incorporates industry best practices for controlling costs, schedule and quality." In addition to the professional awards cited earlier, this represents a clear stamp of approval for UConn's administration of a phenomenally successful initiative. All of us owe a debt of gratitude to the many dedicated University staff members who contribute to this effort.

The ongoing construction at the core of the Storrs campus is clear evidence that UCONN 2000 continues to move at a dramatic pace as we approach the conclusion of this phase of our transformation in 2005. Within the next few months we will open or dedicate several UCONN 2000 and other building projects in Storrs: the Advanced Technology Laboratory adjoining the Agricultural Biotechnology Laboratory; the Information Technology Building; the Biology-Physics Building; the Towers Central Dining Hall; and the new Waterbury campus. Approximately 1,300 new beds will be available for students this September to help accommodate enrollment growth, including apartment and suite-style housing and the new Husky Village fraternity and sorority housing. Work proceeds on the Student Union, the Gentry Building addition, the Benton Museum addition, the Pharmacy Building, and the Center for Undergraduate Education.

This October we will officially open the new downtown Waterbury campus, an exceptionally attractive facility that illustrates the potential strength of our regional campuses and helps implement our role in the economic development of Connecticut's communities. Five years ago we took a major step in our commitment to regional campus enhancement with the completion of the downtown Stamford campus, which, with growing enrollment and strong community support, more than met our early expectations. I expect that we will witness similar progress in Waterbury, where we build on a strong foundation of quality and access.

The demonstrated success of UCONN 2000 and other construction efforts created the climate in which 21^st Century UConn won support across the State. The Governor's leadership and the bipartisan endorsement by the General Assembly gives us the opportunity and the resources to move closer to our often-proclaimed ultimate goal of creating a statewide campus that is a point of pride for our students, our faculty, and, indeed, every citizen of Connecticut.

UCONN 2000 came at a time when the need was so deep and so obviously compelling that we could have started virtually anywhere and addressed one or another urgent problem. A Master Plan guided our efforts, but to a great extent the sequencing decisions were relatively clear-cut. As we begin planning for 2 ^st Century UConn, we face a different situation for two reasons. First, the Health Center is now included-and rightly so, since apart from the Academic Research Building, capital investment in research and teaching facilities at the Health Center has been minimal for the last several years. Second, we have responded to most (but not all) of the urgent needs at Storrs and the regional campuses. We will complete projects that were on the initial UCONN 2000 list but had to be deferred due to compelling requirements elsewhere. But as we move beyond that stage we will proceed in a manner driven by the needs and aspirations of our teaching, research, and service programs. The academic planning process now underway at Storrs and the analogous processes at the Health Center will be critical to every major facilities decision through the lifespan of 21^st Century UConn. I expect widespread participation in that planning effort.

Strengthening the Research Infrastructure

In my November report to the community I wrote at some length about the progress of the University's research program. As I indicated then, the relationship between the improvement of our physical facilities and the capacity of our faculty to attract research funding is as close as it is clear at Storrs, the Health Center, Avery Point and elsewhere across the University. But the key determinant of excellence continues to be the quality of our faculty. Two weeks ago the University bestowed the title of Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor on five faculty members, Professors Gary English (Dramatic Arts), Deborah Fein (Psychology), Deborah Kendall (Molecular and Cell Biology), Philip Marcus (Molecular and Cell Biology), and Robert Weiss (Chemical Engineering). They join fifteen colleagues who have received this honor since 1998, and in hearing about their work we were reminded yet again of the breadth and quality of scholarship at this institution. Later that day a presentation at the annual Trustee-Faculty dinner, focused on the Health Center, reinforced the point.

External funding is often cited as a measure of progress both because it is important for its own sake in enhancing our resource base and because it offers a strong measure of external assessment of our strength as a research university. The $182 million in research awards this year is impressive in itself. Another point worthy of note is that 22 individual faculty members across the University each received more than $1 million in federal funding in FY '02; we expect that when our final numbers are in there will be an equal or greater number of individuals in that category in FY '03. We are proud of this level of performance, and we are equally proud of the scholarship of outstanding faculty in other disciplines, such as the humanities, where funding may not be the best criterion of success but external recognition comes in other forms.

Continuation of the facilities program will certainly help continue our progress in securing research funding, but the enhancement of our operational structure is of at least equal importance. UConn is making significant strides on multiple fronts. For example, in March of this year the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare wrote to thank us for our efforts in "bringing the program of animal care and use at the University of Connecticut into full compliance with provisions of the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals," a clear recognition of the significant operational changes and capital investment the University has made in this area in recent years. As indicated in prior communications, we are working to strengthen our capacity to support faculty in the development of proposals and the administration of funded projects. And, as I mentioned above, we continue to work closely with our Congressional delegation and others to secure federal earmarks for specific programs.

Above all, we are committed to assuring the highest standards of accountability and integrity in all aspects of our research program. I know that our faculty and staff share this commitment, and in an institution of this size and complexity this common sense of purpose is itself the most important guarantee of integrity. Beyond this, however, it is essential that we continually upgrade procedures to guarantee compliance and identify areas of concern. The problems at the Environmental Research Institute demonstrate the importance of this effort and present an opportunity to strengthen further our oversight and administrative mechanisms. We are working with dedicated staff to create and maintain an environment in which faculty can work productively on their important research and where full compliance with University and external regulations averts costly distraction.

Substance Abuse Task Force

Early in April I received the final report of the President's Task Force on Substance Abuse. I appointed this 24-member Task Force last fall to look closely at a problem that UConn shares with colleges and universities across the nation. Under the able leadership of Professor John DeWolf of the School of Engineering, the faculty, students, staff, parents and community members on the Task Force presented a thoughtful, pragmatic document that offers 51 specific recommendations for action. I accept the proposals as important goals and have initiated a process to determine how the objectives they outline can be met most effectively.

My charge to the Task Force asked for a definition of the problem as it relates to our institution; an examination of causes, with specific reference to things the University administration, faculty, staff and students can affect; identification of replicable, effective models at other colleges and universities; and a special focus on issues regarding students at severe risk. The Task Force responded with four months of intensive study, review of the national literature, consultation with internal and external experts, and multiple meetings with students. Recommendations fall into three categories:

• Strategies focused on individual student behavior (e.g., implementing a process to notify parents of students found to be engaged in substance abuse; strengthening the judicial process; assuring strong support for programs aimed at students at high risk).
  
  
• Strategies focused on the student population as a whole (e.g., increasing the number of Friday classes to cut down on the "three-day weekend" phenomenon; enhancing non-alcohol recreational activities and space for activities or simply for students to gather informally in a non-alcohol environment).
  
  
• Strategies focused on the off-campus environment (e.g., promoting strict enforcement of existing State regulations concerning alcohol sale and availability; encouraging improved training for bar owners, managers and staff concerning enforcement; additional road checks to limit drunk driving; work with local apartment house owners and managers toward better control over large gatherings).

A final recommendation, which I will implement over the summer, is the designation of a "Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist" who will be responsible for implementing, coordinating, and evaluating our policies. He or she will work closely with faculty, students, staff, and law enforcement agencies and the community on an ongoing basis.

Expanding Private Support

Expansion of philanthropic support remains a key University goal. Our success in this area over the past decade has been critical to UConn's progress and our continuing ability to attract private investment reflects a strong and valid perception that funds contributed to the University yield major returns in the enhancement of quality and opportunity. I am pleased to report that Campaign UConn is running ahead of schedule for attainment of its $300 million fundraising goal by June 2004. Thus far the campaign has raised $240 million from more than 75,000 donors.

Private support is vital at the University of Connecticut. It has made possible sixty-five endowed chairs and $5.6 million annually in student scholarship aid, along with many targeted programs and facilities enhancements. This would be good news at any time. In a period of extreme economic uncertainty, it is an extraordinary testament to the widespread sense that the University is a worthy target of external investment.

The University of Connecticut Foundation plays the central role in our development program and its efforts expanded dramatically during the tenure of Edward Allenby, who served as President of the Foundation from 1993 until his departure last year to join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. I am delighted that an extensive national search has brought John Martin to the Foundation as its new president, effective this July. John is currently Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University System of Maryland and President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Maryland Foundation. At Maryland, he has spearheaded two capital campaigns, most recently one that significantly exceeded its $700 million goal and more than doubled the university's endowment. A Connecticut native, he has more than 30 years experience in management and investment oversight, development, communications, and external relations. He is a nationally recognized leader in his field and is superbly qualified to build on the Foundation's exceptional record of achievement.

Diversity and Affirmative Action

Many of us have followed with deep concern the national debate over affirmative action, and especially the Supreme Court cases involving the University of Michigan's admissions programs. Over the course of many years in higher education, I have consistently held to the view that diversity is an essential goal and that rational programs of affirmative action are an indispensable means of attaining diversity objectives. The University of Connecticut benefits greatly from the presence of a student body whose composition moves closer and closer to reflecting the State as a whole. Diversity enriches the educational experience of all students and it helps us fulfill our mission of service to the people of the State. The rising strength of our student body, as measured by SAT scores and other, less quantitative measures, demonstrates that diversity and quality can go hand in hand.

It will be extremely unfortunate if the Supreme Court's decision in the Michigan cases limits the ability of colleges and universities to pursue appropriate affirmative action programs. However the Supreme Court rules, the University of Connecticut will do everything possible consistent with the law to continue to enhance access by students from all racial and cultural backgrounds, and to build on our efforts to enhance the diversity of our faculty and staff.

These efforts are continuing with special vigor this year. Diversity training is proceeding under the direction of the Office of Diversity and Equity, which has also acted as a catalyst in broadening searches for positions being filled at the University. Development of a formal mentoring program for junior faculty is well underway; the number of minority students in the Honors Program has doubled; outreach to Native American students is now occurring for the first time; and efforts to support minority students in science, mathematics and engineering have expanded dramatically in the past year.

The University at a Time of National Crisis

For the past several months, issues of international concern have occupied the thoughts of most of us at the University, as they have for many Americans. I know that the members of the UConn community share a sense of profound relief that the war in Iraq is coming to an end, but I also know that there are sharply divergent views on campus about the war itself and other aspects of international policy.

When the war began I encouraged academic departments and student groups to engage in multiple discussions, panel presentations, and other activities related to this issue. More than twenty events took place, engaging dozens of faculty and a large number of students. (I am grateful to a faculty-staff-student committee chaired by Professors Mohamed Hussein of the Department of Accounting and Mark Boyer of the Department of Political Science that played a key coordinating and planning role for many of these activities.) Students held a candlelight vigil in support of our troops (though not in support of or opposition to the war itself); an ongoing Benton exhibit focused on issues of rupture and healing. In addition, student groups exercised their right to state their views through non-violent, non-disruptive demonstrations across campus, including a "tent city" across from East Campus.

All this is wholly appropriate to a university dedicated to the free expression of ideas and tolerance of dissent. Our role, as I said in the message I sent at the outset of the UConn activities related to the war, is not to tell students what to think, but to provide the information they need to develop their own opinions based on a strong foundation of knowledge. I continue to be gratified by the civility of debate on campus and by the seriousness displayed by thousands of our students. It speaks well for our University and it suggests that this generation is indeed preparing well for its role in a democratic society.

Concluding Thoughts

Spring is always a time for optimism, particularly after a harsh winter. This year is no exception. UConn still faces serious challenges, but the achievements over the past year and, indeed, for many years prior to this one, demonstrate our ability to meet high expectations. Students who arrive on campus for the first time this August will be part of a University community that is fulfilling every aspect of its instructional, research and service mission with an exceptional degree of distinction, and is accelerating its progress to the front ranks of American public higher education.

We are about to enter a period of especially significant change at UConn, as several faculty and staff depart to take advantage of the State's early retirement incentive program or for other reasons. All will be missed, though, happily, many will remain in the area and will stay active in the life of the institution. I speak for the entire University community in wishing them the best in the years ahead.

These men and women helped sustain UConn over the course of decades, and often helped overcome challenges far greater than those we face today. In so doing they created a strong foundation on which we all have the privilege to build. We can best recognize their contributions, and best serve our students and people of our State, as we redouble our efforts to assure that the University of Connecticut aspires to the highest level of excellence in every aspect of our performance.

cc: Board of Trustees