New president works to strengthen UConn
STAMFORD — UConn President Thomas Katsouleas relies on a printed out, colorcoded daily calendar with very little blue space, signaling free time.
His thinking is hardly that oldschool.
As he traverses the state flagship university’s multiple campuses, this president in his rookie year is doing a fair amount of listening but he is also planting seeds — ideas for new faculty recruitment strategies, new kind of professorships and a shift in philosophy from ‘more is better’ to making what UConn has now the best it can be.
“I learn more every week about the excellence of the university,” said Katsouleas, sitting in a thirdfloor conference room at UConn
Stamford. “There is so much of the (UConn) story to tell that I didn’t know about before I came.”
Officially on the job since Aug. 1, Katsouleas said he has been to most branch campuses a few times. In the spring, he said he wants to start devoting more time at various schools on the Storrs campus.
His todo list is a long one — directed largely by marching orders from the Board of Trustees — but with an overriding goal of keeping UConn’s star rising among research universities and helping it grow the state’s economy.
He is quick to rattle off a running list of UConn’s recent recognition and firsts.
“Last week we celebrated UConn’s first Rhodes scholar,” Katsouleas said. Wanjiku Gatheru, a senior, is among 32 people nationwide elected to the American Rhodes Scholar Class of 2020. The honor gives her a postgraduate ticket to Oxford.
There were the eight UConn faculty members recently recognized with highly selective National Science Foundation Early Career Development Awards.
“The talent excellence is really strong,” Katsouleas said. “In certain areas we have incredible strength in research.”
And there is strength in gifts.
Last week, Sychrony of Stamford announced a lead $1 million gift to UConn’s efforts to give qualifying students a tuitionfree UConn education. Also recently announced was an anonymous $3 million gift to the UConn Foundation to endow professorships in ecology and evolutionary biology.
There is more to come, Katsouleas hinted. One of his goals is to double research dollars.
Early in the new calendar year, the president will finish up his search for a new chief diversity officer and a new provost who will be the chief academic officer.
“Already we have begun a couple of new strategies around faculty recruitment,” Katsouleas said.
One strategy will be to hire faculty in cross departmental disciplines. Another is to roll out something called innovation professorships, he said.
“It’s a concerted effort to recruit faculty whose scholarship is connect to societal needs, “Katsouleas said. “I don’t know anyone doing it quite the way we are doing it.”
On the research grant front, UConn is still looking for a way around pension liability costs that Katsouleas says handicaps the university’s ability to compete for research dollars.
“The current fringe rate is not working for the state,” Katsouleas said. “It’s harmful. Need to find another way.”
He said he sees nothing but good will among legislators and the governor to make some headway on the issue in the coming year.
On lawmakers
Katsouleas officially took over after the state’s 2019 legislative session was over. He has, however, met with lawmakersandsaidthe reception has been supportive.
“They care about the university,” Katsouleas said. “They know what it means to the economy.”
He said one of his first phone calls was from State Sen. Len Fasano, who during the state’s fiscal crisis in 2017 suggested former UConn President Susan Herbst should resign if she couldn’t handle the cuts leveled at the university.
“On my first day of work, a letter (from Fasano) was waiting for me,” Katsouleas said. “I called him. We had a good conversation.”
Other lawmakers have formed positive first impressions.
State Sen. Tony Hwang, RFairfield, a ranking member of the legislature’s Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee said so far he likes what he sees.
“I think he is going to succeed,” said Hwang, who was one of several lawmakers at the ribboncutting for a new privately financed digital lab at UConn Stamford last week.
Hwang said he likes that Katsouleas listens, likes that his background is as a scientist and especially likes that he started his own higher education experience at a community college, in Santa Monica, Calif.
“His main focus should be is getting (UConn’s) financial house in order,” Hwang said. “Academics — you never waiver on that, but there is a tremendous need to have budgetary discipline moving forward.”
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, DNorwalk, said having talked to Katsouleas a number of times he believes him to be very hardworking and coming in at a crucial time for UConn.
“A number of things are happening,” said Duff. “We need to keep the momentum going. (The state) needs to continue to invest in UConn, especially Stamford, which is the fastest growing part of UConn.”
This fall, UConn has 32,333 students across its campuses, a 76 student increase — or .2 percent. UConn Stamford’s growth this fall is 7.5 percent. Its enrollment stands at 2,126.
On tuition
UConn’s decision this month to set in motion a fiveyear cycle of tuition increases amounting to 23 percent was not a surprise. Multiyear tuition increases were approved twice under former UConn President Susan Herbst.
When Herbst and her Board of Trustees did it, there was a promise to add more faculty.
Katsouleas said the goal of the newest increase is threefold: to keep up with inflation, adjust to changes in state support and focus a dedicated portion of the increase on attracting the best faculty possible.
“We will be shooting at a higher level,” said Katsouleas.
He said he wants more tenuretrack faculty. That, he said, costs money.
After two decades and $5 billion worth of construction, Katsouleas also seems content to put the groundbreaking shovels away for awhile.
“There are a number of approved projects that are critical,” he said. “The Life Science building is already approved ... But to a large extent, my focus will shift way from building new capital infrastructure and toward excellent people and programs.”
The “rocket ship”
On several occasions during his visit to UConn Stamford last week, the campus was referred to as the “rocket ship” of the university.
Its enrollment growth is outpacing the university as a whole. Stamford UConn’s addition of residential housing a year ago helped fuel the increase. About 500 students live on campus, officials say.
Terrence Cheng, director of UConn Stamford, said the support he is getting from the new president has been strong.
“He is not saying ‘no’ to a whole lot right now,” Cheng said.
Cheng credits Stamford’s growth not only to being able to provide a full college experience but its academic programs and partnerships with the business community.
“Amenities will only take you so far,” Cheng said.
Katsouleas said he appreciates the role Stamford plays but also called it unique. Whether or not housing would work on other campuses depends on them, he added.
Back to the planner
So far, there hasn’t really been a typical day or week for the new president.
His days usually start at 5:30 a.m. in the gym, followed by a succession of meetings, speeches, phone calls and car rides across the state.
On a recent trip to the Avery Point campus to participate in a town hall meeting, Katsouleas managed to squeeze in an hourlong break on Long Island Sound with the sail club before meeting with legislators and dinner with a donor.
His day in Stamford would also not end until an evening dinner with a prospective donor “to explore his philanthropic interests and me helping him meet his goals,” Katsouleas said.