UConn President Michael Hogan spoke to USG last night on legislative efforts, university funding and the student body as a whole. Hogan discussed the governor's initial proposed budget, which he said was very positive and was one of the best opening budgets in a very long time but does not include everything that the university wants.
The No.1 priority is funding for additional faculty hiring to achieve the 15-to-1 student-faculty ratio. The state is going through a complex budget season and Hogan said that there are predictions that the state will face very difficult budget decisions in the upcoming years.
Hogan also discussed expanding the Honors Program, which he wants to see expanded 40 percent over a period of five years. The number of students in the Honors Program is growing exponentially and the university cannot afford to accommodate everyone. Hogan stressed maximizing revenue streams to support the need for this growing program.
The quality of the undergraduate population is also improving year after year. The incoming class has an average SAT score of 1200, according to Hogan. These students have high expectations, and if they are going to be brought to this campus, the Honors Program will have to be expanded and additional faculty will be needed to tend to their growing needs. In addition, the university needs a variety of high quality programs to sustain and nourish the students. According to Hogan, if the state does not give the university more funding, it will have to consider how to use the existing funding to accommodate these needs.
Hogan talked about the balance between resident and non-resident students as well. He stressed the need for diversity and the fact that the number of diverse students coming on campus is going up by 10 percent. In addition, in order to sustain diversity, more international and out-of-state students should be brought to the university. Currently, the non-resident population is approximately 30 to 35 percent of the total student population.
The university has recently broken into the top 25 public universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. Hogan said that this is a very competitive field that we have entered, and the university will have to work very hard to both stay consistent or to move up in rank. Hogan described the university as a flagship institution with a very different mission that most community or other state colleges in the area and expressed his support and appreciation for the direction in which the university is moving in.
At the meeting, USG members also stressed the success of recent events that USG put on in the past few weeks. Student Appreciation Day, Bark for Beer and Spring Weekend activities were among some of the events put on that were considered a success.
The funding session held on April 28 was passed at the meeting last night as well. Fourteen clubs were granted funding in the amount of $51,478.73. The beginning unappropriated balance was $73,375.94 and the ending unappropriated balance was $21,897.21.
Ten acts concerning various topics were brought to the attention of USG members to vote on at the Senate meeting last night. They included the reallocation of budgeted funding and the allocation of the unappropriated surplus and issues of office hours. Members voted on reallocating $4,000 from the executive committee pilot program account to the executive committee executive account. Five thousand dollars was appropriated from the unappropriated surplus to the executive committee executive account. It was voted that all Senate members and executive members must spend at least three hours per week in the USG office, according to the act. Judicial members must spend at least two hours in the USG office.
In addition, the executive committee's ability to call special senates as well as the impeachment of justices was voted on. According to the act, the executive committee must call special or emergency senate meetings at least 24 hours in advance. On the topic of impeachment of justices, there was an alteration to the present article, which made clear that impeachment proceedings on a justice shall not be subject to appeals.
Two acts, concerning USG advisor Dr. Julie Elkins and proposing to continue Elkin's position as advisor for the 2008-2009 academic year, were both passed, as all other acts brought up at the meeting.
Contact Lindsay Fetzner at
Lindsay.Fetzner@UConn.edu.
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