Under budget squeeze, Hogan proposes cuts

UConn President Michael Hogan presented a report to the Board of Trustees Tuesday afternoon that included closing centers, discontinuing programs and merging the UConn Health Center with Hartford Hospital system.

In his report to the board, Hogan said the $35 million gap in the budget forced him to recommend cuts. These cuts, which Hogan expects to save the university between $300,000 and $400,000, include the discontinuation of the Masters of Music in Music Education and the Ph.D in Music Education programs. He also recommended the merger of the kinesiology and physical therapy programs within the Neag School of Education and the merger of the Urban and Community Studies programs at the Storrs and West Hartford campuses. The physical therapy department has dealt with big cuts before. In 2006, the program was moved from the School of Allied Health to the School of Education after Provost Peter Nicholls' academic plan closed the Allied Health school and redistributed its departments throughout the university.

Hogan's report also recommended the closing of several centers throughout the school. The Center on Aging and Human Development; Center for Healthcare and Health Insurance Studies; Center for Individual, Couple and Family Therapy; Institute for Children, Youth, & Families (at the Stamford campus); Center for Contemporary African Studies and Center for Survey Research & Analysis will all be closed this summer. These closings are in addition to the fall 2008 closings of the Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, and the Center for Health Promotion.

In addition to the center closings, the university has decided to eliminate several positions, including the Dean of Students. On Dec. 5, Vice President of Student Affairs John Saddlemire announced Dean of Students Lee Williams' resignation, which will be effective June 30, via e-mail. The position will not be filled for next year. Other positions that will be eliminated are vice provost positions for public engagement and for multicultural and international affairs. In another attempt to cut costs, the university will also suspend the search for a new vice president for research.

Hogan also gave a presentation about the proposed merger between the UConn Health Center's John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington and Hartford Hospital. The board voted nearly unanimously - with only one abstention and no opposition - to provide an endorsement for the plan.

As Hogan told the board, the current John Dempsey hospital is so "old and worn out, it can't be adapted to modern standards. … It's only a matter of time before it needs to be replaced, or closed."

A study by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering has shown that, should the UCHC close its hospital's doors, there will be a serious shortage of doctors and dentists in the state for years to come. A total shutdown of the hospital could also be detrimental to UConn's research portfolio, of which the Health Center makes up half.

In addition, the UConn Health Center, with its 254 beds, is the second smallest academic hospital nationally, Hogan said. Merging with Hartford Hospital to create one hospital with two campuses would increase the hospital's bed count by more than 300 percent. The 1,100 bed-count of the combined hospitals would move UConn to the top-10 nationally in size. With this, Hogan said, the school's research portfolio would increase almost as much as the School of Medicine and Dental School's national rankings.