A new hand on UConn’s tiller
The selection of Dr. Thomas C. Katsouleas as the University of Connecticut’s 16th president is a clear indication that the university’s board of trustees intends our once-humble agricultural school to continue its transformation into a top-tier research university.
Dr. Katsouleas seems to be a good choice to accomplish that mission. As provost and executive vice president at the University of Virginia, he helped guide one of the top-ranked public universities in the nation.
His proposal to nearly double the university’s research spending over the next seven to 10 years, from $265 million to a half-billion dollars, is a bit of an eye-popper, but done right, that sort of investment could pay far greater dividends.
It would require coordination and cooperation with the business community outside the university, though — and Dr. Katsouleas says he intends to do just that.
“Good public universities are pillars supporting their state, serving its needs and supporting its economy,” he said. “Great flagship universities, with their satellite campuses and partners, are the crown jewels of the state, uplifting the mind and spirit not just of their own students but of the surrounding communities and indeed the entire state.”
The surrounding communities could use a bit of uplifting. In high-tech manufacturing in particular — from Pratt & Whitney to Electric Boat and to all the ancillary industries and small businesses that depend on them — there is a shortage of talent. UConn can contribute to that workforce. The more the university can integrate with the needs of the business community, the better.
Dr. Katsouleas seems content to leave the athletic department alone for the time being, despite its financial needs — it spent nearly $81 million in 2018 and generated only $40.4 million — and the football team’s lackluster performance on the field (one win, 11 losses) and in the financial department (it brought in $7 million last year and spent nearly $15.8 million). But he should continue to scrutinize the athletic department instead of simply writing off the loss as a hard-to-quantify investment in the university’s status.
The new president will also have to deal with the same financial pressures that the rest of the state is under. UConn’s $2.4 billion budget for this year — $1.36 billion for UConn Storrs and the regional campuses, and $1.04 billion for UConn Health — was $14 million short. It’s only a fraction of the total budget, but over the next few years, the deficit is projected to increase. He will have to square his plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in research with the financial realities. Relying on tuition increases to boost faculty salaries, as he did at the University of Virginia, is not a sure way to gain the good will of the parents and students who pay the tuition.
And the students matter most of all.
Making UConn a top-tier research institution is a laudable goal, in that it could further improve UConn’s national status and provide a long list of benefits to the school and the state. But university officials must remember the most important part of the university’s mission: “With our focus on teaching and learning, the University helps every student grow intellectually and become a contributing member of the state, national, and world communities.”
Too much focus on securing grants and publishing could create a culture where professors’ quests for prestige overshadow their dedication to the classroom, leaving too much of that critical work to adjunct faculty and graduate assistants. The university currently has a high ratio of full-time to part-time faculty, a standard that it should do everything to maintain while ensuring that professors are primarily dedicated to the development of their students.
The University of Connecticut made great improvements over the last two decades by almost any measure. Steering this already well-appointed university into the future will be a challenge. We wish Dr. Katsouleas the wisdom and creativity to do it well.