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Women’s Soccer: Huskies drop preseason opener to Boston College
By Kyle Constable, Staff Writer
A second-half fireworks show negated a quiet start as UConn women’s soccer fell to Boston College 2-1 in their first preseason game at Morrone Stadium Monday night.
Two goals in a five-minute span from Boston College’s Hayley Dowd erased a 1-0 Huskies lead in the final 10 minutes.
Despite the loss, head coach Len Tsantiris felt confident about his team’s performance, especially given that many of the starters did not play a full 90 minutes.
“We used a lot of young kids,” Tsantiris said following the loss. “I wanted to see the younger kids, what they can do. Can they play?”
His assessment?
“They did fine. We competed.”
While the younger Huskies might have given away the lead, the veteran core that made up UConn’s 2014 squad powered them to a 1-0 lead.
Junior forward Rachel Hill broke the stalemate with a shot in 67th minute, driving past the defense and landing the ball in the far side of the net. Senior forward Samantha McGuire was credited with the assist in a pass that Hill described as “a great ball through, a perfect ball.”
“It makes it easy for me,” Hill added.
Coming off an American Athletic Conference tournament championship last year and a 14-5-5 record, everyone admits they feel the bar is set high for this season.
“This is just the beginning,” sophomore midfielder Danielle Gottwik said. “We definitely want to win the conference tournament again, but also the regular season.”
Tsantiris echoed the sentiment, but cautioned that the team cannot focus too much on the road ahead, instead focusing on the challenges in front of them now.
“We’ve got to prove ourselves every game,” Tsantiris said. “We’re not looking ahead. … Just play, fight and learn to win.”
Part of that process is developing better communication on the field. Gottwik believed the most significant weakness in Monday’s matchup was a lack of communication.
“You can never talk enough,” Gottwik said. “Just knowing where everyone is, what they’re doing, what your teammates need – you can never be ‘good enough’ at that.”
Shots did not come easy for either side in the first half, but Boston College had a pair of quality looks that just missed the net.
The offense opened up in the 20th minute when UConn sophomore forward Faith McCarthy launched a rocket from 30 yards at the goal. Boston College goalkeeper Leah Settipane’s diving save proved to be the only force powerful enough to deflect it.
The Eagles had arguably their best look of the night in the 26th minute, when Dowd’s open shot in the box broke wide on the near side.
In the 40th minute, UConn earned a free kick just outside the box, but it was quickly smothered by Boston College’s defense.
Looking for to take a lead going into the half, the Eagles tried to net a corner kick in the 45th minute, but the Huskies cleared it to keep it tied at halftime.
Tsantiris’ starters came out swinging in the second half, looking to score early. In the 53rd minute, McCarthy crossed to Hill right in front of net, but a diving Hill just missed heading it in on the far side.
Two corner kicks for the Huskies followed in the 56th and 57th minutes, but UConn once again failed to capitalize.
After 62 minutes, Tsantiris pulled starting goalkeeper junior Emily Armstrong, who was last year’s preseason conference goalkeeper of the year – and is a contender for the same recognition this fall. Tsantiris replaced her with senior Allison Saucier, who started 21 games in 2014.
Hill finally broke through with her goal in the 67th minute; but after underclassmen began replacing many of the starters in the final 15 minutes, Boston College was able to mount one last offensive effort.
The Eagles earned a free kick in the 81st minute from 35 yards out, but a beautiful chip into the box was jettisoned wide to the far side.
Boston College would bounce back from their misstep in the 82nd minute on an equalizer from Dowd, who drove into the box and scored at point blank range.
The crowd seemed content with a 1-1 tie, but the Eagles were not having any of it. Dowd navigated through the younger defenders once again and launched a shot from 10 yards out to give Boston College a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute.
Even though some lapses from the underclassmen cost the Huskies the game, their teammates had nothing but praise for the young players’ work ethic.
“The freshman coming in, they’re a really good group,” Hill said. “They’re really stepping up. They know that they need to go hard and change their level of play.”
UConn will play one more preseason game on Friday at 7 p.m. in Storrs – this time against the University of Montreal – before kicking off the regular season at home on Friday, Aug. 21 against Colgate.
Criminal Cyber-Intrusion Infects UConn Engineering Servers
The UConn Engineering department recently acknowledged a “criminal cyber intrusion” in their servers. The data breach, suspected to have originated from China, may have exposed personal information, but officials have not reached consensus on the extent of exploited information.
The first data breach, traced back to September 2013, went undetected and “opened the door” for malware to be inserted into the UConn Engineering computer network said Tom Breen, a spokesperson for the UConn Engineering Department.
“These types of things have become more and more common,” Breen said, “universities have to be vigilant and proactive to protect our resources from harmful intruders.
UConn IT professionals, working with outside specialists, deduced that the attacks originated in China based off of the type of malware. Officials said that personally identifiable information might have been compromised, but cannot say decisively either way.
“We noticed the malware in March of this year,” Breen continued, “Part of the challenge of going back is that we don’t have all of the information before a certain point.”
“We don’t have any direct knowledge that any data was taken out at all, but we’re assuming that it was, and we’re taking steps to up our security to be on the safe side.”
The F.B.I. and State Attorney general were notified in response to the cyber attacks.
UConn is “taking steps to further secure our systems,” said Vice-Provost and Chief Information Officer at UConn, Michael Mundrane, in a public statement.
The vulnerable point in the servers was patched, all passwords were reset, and all servers that were compromised were decommissioned and rebuilt.
“Hopefully we can come up with some new policies that will make us stronger and better prepared for cyber attacks like this in the future,” Breen said.
New policies will likely university-wide and will likely take effect during the 2015-2016 academic year.
UConn Highlights from 2015 American Kickoff
Newport, R.I.— The American Athletic Conference kicked off the 2015-16 football season Tuesday with its third annual Media Day. To begin the day, the conference released the preseason media poll, where Cincinnati received 22 of a possible 30 votes to win the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship game.
The Bearcats were also the favorites to win the East division, while Memphis beat out Houston and Navy as the West division favorite. UConn was picked to finish last in the East division. This season marks the first year with two divisions due to the addition of Navy as a football-only member of the American.
Diaco has high hopes for new season
Despite being predicted to finish last in the conference, UConn football head coach Bob Diaco has high hopes for his second season with the Huskies.
“I didn’t read it. I don’t care. It has nothing to do with what I’m doing. Zero,” Diaco said of the media poll. “Everything is going to be done better at a higher level.”
Diaco has taken the positives away from last year’s 2-10 season and used them as a foundation to build off of as the Huskies take on one of the 25 hardest schedules in the country. Even with the difficult schedule, Diaco believes his team is talented enough to compete with the best in the country.
“We’re going to win every game,” Diaco said. “We’re going to play as one of the four teams in the playoffs and win a national championship. And how are we going to do it? We’re going to focus on today.”
Big Expectations for wide receiver Noel Thomas
Coming off a 26-catch, four-touchdown season, junior Noel Thomas comes into the 2015 season as the projected No. 1 receiver. After working hard in the offseason, the Norwalk, Connecticut native seems to be on the verge of a breakout season.
“I’ve watched this guy. This guy is making an investment, and I’ve been around great receivers and he looks like one of them,” Diaco said of Thomas. “If he’s not one of the most dominant wide receivers in the country, then shame on him.”
The Huskies will need a strong season from Thomas to fill the void of Geremy Davis and Deshon Foxx, who finished first and second respectively in receptions last year. Dhameer Bradley and tight ends Tommy Myers and Alec Bloom also figure to be integral parts of UConn’s passing game.
Adams, Melifonwu look to lead UConn defense
The UConn defense was a bright spot for the Huskies last season, and this year looks to be no different even with the loss of former captain and current Dallas Cowboy Byron Jones.
Last season, redshirt senior Andrew Adams and redshirt junior Obi Melifonwu were major contributors in a UConn defense that ranked No. 36 in the country in passing yards allowed per game.
“We’ve been together for three years. Our chemistry is unreal. We hang out together off the field…knowing that he has my back and I have his back, that goes a long way,” Adams said about his relationship with Melifonwu. “We just look to improve from last year and be one of the best safety duos in the country.”
Adams and Melifonwu combined for 171 tackles last season, with Adams adding a team-high four interceptions and a fumble return for a touchdown. Melifonwu successfully broke up three passes last season, good for second on the team amongst returning players.
“The safeties are the best tandem in the country,” Diaco said. “Tell me a better one.”
Shirreffs leads quarterback battle
Heading into the first practices of fall, North Carolina State transfer Bryant Shirreffs has an early lead in the race to become UConn’s starting quarterback. After a strong showing during the spring season, the job will be Shirreffs to lose once practice start this Thursday.
“Bryant’s going to run predominantly with that one offense,” Diaco said. “Everybody is going to get a chance to their wears, and we’re going to play the best players.”
Tim Boyle and junior college transfer Garrett Anderson figure to be the most likely challengers to Shirreffs. Freshmen Tyler Davis and Brandon Bisack are in the mix as well.
Boyle threw one touchdown and three interceptions last season in nine games for the Huskies and has the size and skill to pry the job away from Shirreffs with strong showings in practice. Anderson’s experience at the junior-college level could give him an edge as well, either as a starter or the No. 2 slot.
Diaco will name the starter two weeks before the Sept. 3 season opener against Villanova.
Civil Conflict
One of the biggest stories in the American Athletic Conference this offseason was the Civil Conflict trophy, which was created by Diaco to be awarded to the winner of the Central Florida-UConn game. After taking the internet by storm, Diaco elaborated on the creation of the Civil Conflict trophy and its intentions.
“That was created out of respect for their program and coaches,” Diaco said. “The targeting of that program was the beginning for our team…this is a great program. Coach O’Leary runs a program the way I love a football program to be run, and he’s created one of the best football programs in the country and the best in our conference.”
After defeating UCF 37-29 at Rentschler Field last season, Diaco and the Huskies will take the Civil Conflict trophy down to Orlando to take on the Knights Oct. 10.
DC Quick Hits – August 3, 2015
Here are some of the latest happenings in UConn sports:
Larin Ties MLS Rookie Scoring Record
Cyle Larin scored twice to lead Orlando City to a 5-1 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Larin now has 11 goals in his rookie season. With two goals, Larin tied former UConn star Damani Ralph for the MLS rookie-scoring record. Ralph set the record in 25 games in 2003. Larin tied the record in just 15 games and is currently fourth in the MLS in scoring.
Men’s Hockey Releases 2015-16 Schedule
The UConn men’s hockey team announced their full 2015-16 schedule this past week as they begin their second season in Hockey East. The Huskies open the season Oct. 9 with an away series at Alabama-Huntsville and play their first home game Oct. 19 at the XL Center against Arizona State.
Adams and Knappe To Represent UConn At American Summer Kickoff
On Tuesday, the American Athletic Conference football media day for the upcoming 2015 season will be held in Newport, Rhode Island. Among those attending for UConn will be head coach Bob Diaco, redshirt senior safety Andrew Adams and redshirt junior offensive tackle Andreas Knappe.
KML Learning What WNBA Game Is About
Since being selected by the Seattle Storm with the No. 3 pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis has struggled to adjust to WNBA competition. The NCAA career leader in 3-pointers has shot just 28.6 percent from three and is averaging 2.9 points per game in her rookie season with the Storm.
Jakob Nerwinski Invited to USMNT U-23 Training Camp
Last Tuesday, it was announced that UConn junior Jake Nerwinski was invited to attend the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team training camp in Carson, California from August 5-8. Nerwinski will join 28 other players that will vie for a spot for the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in October. Nerwinski will be a captain for the UConn team hoping to get back to the NCAA tournament in 2015.
DC Quick Hits – July 27, 2015
Here are the latest happenings in UConn sports:
Shabazz Napier traded to the Orlando Magic
Yahoo! Sports reports that two-time national champion Shabazz Napier was traded from the Miami Heat to the Orlando Magic over the weekend in exchange for a protected second round pick. Napier averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 assists in 51 games in his rookie season with Heat and will likely compete with newly-signed C.J. Watson to be Orlando’s first guard off the bench.
Former UConn soccer star Cyle Larin scores a hat trick against New York City FC on Sunday
Cyle Larin did his best to keep Orlando City in Sunday’s match against New York. In a high scoring affair in which New York edged out Orlando 5-3, Larin scored in the 50th, 61st and 85th minute. Unfortunately for Orlando, it wasn’t enough.
Larin now has nine goals in his rookie campaign. His three goals Sunday completed his first career hat trick.
Maya Moore makes a fan’s wish come true
Former UConn standout Maya Moore visits 14-year-old Ariya Smith as part of the “My Wish” series on SportsCenter. Smith, who has systemic lupus, idolizes Moore, and the two got to meet and shoot around thanks to ESPN and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Moore wins WNBA All-Star MVP honors at Mohegan Sun on Saturday
Five players with UConn ties put together strong showings in Saturday’s WNBA All-Star game at Mohegan Sun Arena. Sue Bird and Maya Moore led the West team to a 117-112 victory over the East thanks to 30 points from Moore, the game’s MVP. Tina Charles scored 13 points in 15 minutes for the East and rookie Stefanie Dolson scored four points in her All-Star game debut. Elena Della Donne, who originally committed to UConn before transferring to Delaware, scored 16 points as starter for the East.
Days of Our Lives for Dudes
It was a new low point of the many in this inane life I chose watching grown men play games.
Short on sleep and long on methamphetamines coffee, my eyes and attention were one with Adrian Wojnarowski’s Twitter account as I waited in suspense for another adult to choose his place of work .
With each mounting clue of Lebron James’ return to Cleveland, I, who had firmly believed he would return to Miami for at least one more season, sunk deeper and deeper into this warped dopamine drip I had entered.
I was no better than a junkie waiting in a back alley to see if his dealer would come through or not. Is Woj gonna get me the stuff? Maybe I should try Marc Stein? What about Brian Windhorst?
I wasn’t even any better than every girl I’ve ever mocked for watching any asinine reality TV series. This was The Bachelorette and I was waiting to see which team would get the final rose.
In between asking Google how much caffeine would kill a 200-pound man and misplacing my frustration onto my poor friends and poorer mother, I removed myself from the insanity to allow for some scarce self-reflection.
This is goddamn ridiculous. How did this become to be?
In only a couple of days, I had spent more time and received more enjoyment from monitoring NBA reporters’ timelines for tweets about exotic car transportation trucks and people pilgrimaging to a man’s house than I had watching the first and second rounds of the NBA playoffs.
None of it nearly resembled the sports stories my grandpa passed onto me of Pete Rose running over Ray Fosse at home plate in the 1970 All-Star game.
What I had only recently and reluctantly began to accept had become hugely evident in that moment: the transaction of sports had superseded the action.
Fans, myself included, have grown to care more about “what team is acquiring which player” than the actual game action in which those moves will make any difference.
For all the conversation about transactions this past week, only one move warranted this level of intrigue and significantly changed the power structure of the league — LaMarcus Aldridge signing with the San Antonio Death Star.
Okay, Demare Carrol (who I like, actually) signed with the Raptors. Cool. They have a 22% better chance of advancing to the second round.
Okay, Greg Monroe signed with the Bucks? Milwaukee’s 2015-16 ceiling shot way up from 47 wins to 52.
The inconsequence of these signings only augments my curiosity for this shift, the explanation for which I believe is two-fold:
1. The simulated roster construction of fantasy sports has made an increasing number of fans attracted to transactions from belief that they could manage a roster better than many general managers.
After all, coaches and front office executives make for much easier, relatable targets of downward social comparison than professional athletes.
Fan X sitting at home with Doritos crumbs falling from his face knows he can’t run a pick-and-roll in the NBA, but he has played enough NBA 2K franchise mode to know that giving Reggie Jackson 80 million dollars isn’t smart.
And more importantly…
2. If the core purpose of sports’ existence is to entertain, then let’s call the majority of free agency for what it truly is: male soap opera.
Reports about Player X leaving Team Y because he didn’t get enough attention from Player Z is every Kardashian episode and Star Magazine cover cloaked in the masculinity of sports and served to fans as episodes of a TV show I like to call “Days of Our Lives for Dudes.” (Yes, I know many women enjoy sports as well. Sorry ladies.)
The show’s latest and greatest episode bestowed us with the most spectacular story plot since KG said Melo’s wife tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios and then they almost fake fought.
For those who missed it here’s a synopsis of the DOOLFD episode:
DeAndre Jordan is an underappreciated housewife living in the shadow of her husband, who regularly lets DeAndre know when she doesn’t meet his standards by overcooking the roast or forgetting a signature on their tax-exempt forms.
Overcome with frustration, Mrs. Jordan eventually decides to leave her husband and kids in search of the validation her husband refuses to give her.
Lo and behold, Mrs. Jordan meets mistress Mark Cuban and his $80 million dollars at a bar, where he tells her that she is the prettiest girl there (and also that he thinks she can be a Shaq-esque centerpiece of the Dallas offense..what?).
Cuban and Jordan have a week-long bedroom escapade until her husband(s) Blake Griffin and Chris Paul suddenly realize how much they need their wife and proceed to go crazy trying to win her back.
The episode climaxes as grenades of banana emojis are slung between her husbands and mistresses, whereupon Doc Rivers hops in a wagon which is tied to and lugged by Big Baby Davis from California to Texas, where they meet up with Chris Paul who paddled in on a banana boat.
In a showdown reminiscent of that in Anchorman, they confront a deranged Mark Cuban, who is carrying a trident for some reason, and a near-nude Chandler Parsons, who only seems to wear underwear when he’s not playing basketball.
Finally feeling the affection she longed from her husband, Jordan comes running back into his welcoming arms and 88 million dollars.
And of course the episode ended with Chris Broussard getting scorched for being bad at his job because that’s the way all these things should end.
Sports are entertainment; the less seriously they are taken, the more they can be enjoyed.
The more sports can resemble professional wrestling and the less I have to hear some graybeard bemoan a baseball player pimping his homerun trot, the better.
Nothing has made this clearer for me than Wednesday’s spectacular shit show.
Sometimes it’s okay to be more entertained by some soap opera than a Nets-Raptors first round playoff series.
DeAndre Jordan spurning the Mavericks and speculation about exotic car transportation trucks leaving LeBron’s house provided more “what the fuck is about to happen next?!” moments than almost any game ever could.
Wednesday night reminded me that I want with my sports more banana emojis and and drunk Mark Cuban stories and Paul Pierce’s terrible old person Twitter ineptness (YOU’RE A GOD DAMN RED BLOODED AMERICAN LEARN HOW TO TWEET AN EMOJI) and ridiculous hot sports radio takes and more ridiculous freakout videos from (un)masked fans and NBA players quoting Edgar Allen Poe and banana emojis.
(Really I just wanted JR Smith to jump in with an eggplant emoji but WHATEVER JR I didn’t want the pipe anyway.)
None of this nearly resembles the stories our grandfathers proudly recounted.
And that’s okay.
Sometimes the best sports stories have nothing to do with sports.
[100 emoji]
UConn Dining Jumps on the Food Truck Bandwagon
The University of Connecticut’s Dining Services are taking on a long-awaited project that is anticipated to create quite a stir on campus – university food trucks.
Dining Services Executive Director Dennis Pierce said the idea has been in discussion for the past three years, and everything is finally in order to move forward with the process.
University-run food trucks have been popping up at college campuses across the nation, according to thelance.net.
“We’re probably one of the last major schools without a vending truck,” Pierce said.
Two food trucks will be introduced, employed with student labor; the first one serving just ice cream, as an extension of the Blue Cow shop located in the Student Union. All ice cream served will be products of UConn’s own Dairy Bar. Pierce anticipates the truck to have different routes for day and night, depending on the season.
“The ice cream truck was specifically an idea that came from President Herbst,” Pierce said.
The location of The Dairy Bar is also a long hike for many students, so Pierce hopes the ice cream truck will make up for the limited access.
The second truck will just serve meals, and the menu is sure to be anything but ordinary.
“A food truck is literally a kitchen on wheels,” Pierce said. “It will first start off as a taco truck, but not Mexican food…more like off-the-wall tacos.”
Dining staff recently sat down to taste test about 14 different kinds of tacos, with a variety of meat, vegetable, vegetarian and gluten free options, Pierce said.
Many of the menu options will change with popularity and with the time of year. Dining Services plans to utilize UConn’s Spring Valley Student Farm in order to incorporate locally grown in-season produce in the recipes. There’s even talk of “meals in a field,” a spinoff of Dining Services annual Pop-Up Dinners, where the trucks would park in the field and set up tables for students.
A couple of different ideas are going around about where the food truck will make regular stops. Dining Services is looking at different schedules, as well as a possible permanent lunch location on Fairfield Way, but that would include some type of construction, Pierce said.
“The questions that cannot be answered right now are ‘where’ and ‘when.’ But I see both trucks having multi-schedules,” Pierce said.
There’s no telling where the best location and when the best time will be as far as scheduling the trucks, so that part will take a bit of experimentation. Dining Services plans to use various social media to promote the schedules, and will decide upon the best scheduling option based on popularity.
Pierce said he anticipates that the trucks will be in high demand, and expects a positive turnout. Dining Services is also planning to book the trucks for events around campus, possibly including events such as Family Weekend and Spring Weekend. As far as off campus events go, though, Dining Services is making UConn’s students and staff its main priority.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we were asked to do off campus,” Pierce said. “But first and foremost we want to serve the university community.”
Both trucks should be up and running by the time the upcoming school year begins. The trucks are currently being wired with wireless transaction systems, so that they are able to take credit and debit cards. Neither truck will take UConn meal plan points.
While Pierce said he understands the inconvenience of not being able to use points, the value of one point is not equal to the value of one dollar. After reviewing the expenses, Dining Services just wouldn’t be able to pay the trucks back on points.
“I know it’s not going to go over well, but this is a business,” Pierce said.
If the trucks go over well and it becomes financially feasible, Pierce said the university would consider introducing more food trucks, though he noted that he wanted to be careful in competing with different eating options around campus.
“We’re really excited about it; it’s definitely going to be a learning experience for us,” Pierce said.
2015-2016 UConn Reads Theme Announced: Race in America
For the 2015-2016 academic year the UConn Reads Steering Committee selected “Race in America.”
The decision to choose a race related topic is especially interesting following race related incidents on the UConn Storrs campus during the 2014-2015 academic year.
Two highly publicized incidents at UConn’s now infamous “Spirit Rock” sparked a dialogue about racism on campus last year. The first occurred last fall, when members of Pi Kappa Alpha (Pike) were accused of racism and harassment by the cultural sorority Alpha Kappa Kappa (AKK).
UConn President Susan Herbst responded in a letter to the Storrs community, “These events did not reflect the community we strive to be — one that is welcoming, civil, inclusive, and that celebrates the great achievements that can be realized through our diversity”.
Five months later, students painted over the black and white rock that read “Black Lives Matter,” leaving only, “Lives Matter.”
UConn student Julian Rose called the incident “an outrage,” in his April interview with the Hartford Courant.
“There are people that actively deny there’s an issue, there are people that simply don’t care and there are the people that realize there’s a problem and want to change it,” Rose said.
In a December letter, Vice President of Student affairs Michael Gilbert said he believes “it is important for our campus to seize upon the opportunity to engage in a thoughtful and honest dialogue on the significance of the issues presented to our campus and their local, national, and global relevance.”
UConn Reads Steering Committee would not say if their choice was a direct result of last year’s issues on campus. Their focus is on the United States as a whole.
“In trying to understand the contemporary moment, I find that I turn to literature, which is uniquely suited to reflect upon the complex terrain of race in America,” said director of the Institute of Asian American Studies and chair of the UConn Reads Steering Committee Cathy Schlund-Vials.
“The UConn Reads program was created to bring together the University community – from students, faculty, and staff to alumni and friends of UConn, as well as citizens of Connecticut – for a far-reaching and engaging dialogue centered on a book suggested by the community.”
Recent events in Texas, Baltimore, South Carolina, and Ferguson give students plenty to discuss. Students can submit nominations for the 2015-2016 UConn Reads selection online through August 1, 2015.
“The most recent events at UConn and in the rest of the US only highlight issues that people of color have been clamoring about for centuries,” Rose said earlier this week. “Due to social media and the ubiquity of cell phones, people are now able to syndicate real stories to the masses, which has provided our communities with a great deal of connectedness and therefore strength, in a common voice.”
Last year, UConn Reads selected “food” as its theme and The Omnivore’s Dilemma as the “book to read.” The selected book will be offered at the UConn Co-Op for a discounted price.
State Funding Drops To Lowest In University History
With the new fiscal year set to begin midnight Wednesday, UConn is facing a minimum $28.2 million reduction in state funding from the previous year, dropping the rate of funding the state lends to its flagship university to an all-time low.
Gov. Dannel Malloy has the power to additionally reduce the amount appropriated to UConn by 5 percent before midnight tonight, which could become 6.5 percent depending on a vote by the legislature, which is currently in special session.
Any further reductions would force the University’s Board of Trustees to revise the new fiscal year’s spending plan, which was finalized on June 24 and divvied up a total of $1.3 billion – $243.2 million from the state – for UConn Storrs and its branch campuses.
“We are waiting and watching and hoping,” UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said.
The state will now fund only 30 percent of the university’s budget, an appreciable decrease from 43 percent in 2000, and roughly 50 percent in the early 90’s, Reitz said.
State lawmakers originally proposed to cut UConn’s funding by $40 million, but later scaled that back to $28.2 million upon hearing pleas from those who would be most impacted.
”I think it was helpful for legislators to hear student voices (in February). It had an impact in how law makers made their cuts and I believe and I hope it will continue to,” Retiz said.
UConn is not alone in receiving less state higher-education funding.
From 2003 to 2012 the national average for public university funding from their respective state dropped from 32 to 23 percent, according to a report to the Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate in 2014.
“We are grateful for what we receive,” Reitz said. “We are in better shape than other universities.”
The state’s support is not only being used to fund the day-to-day operations of the school, but infrastructure for the future as well.
Nineteen million of the $243.2 million grant is designated for the Next Generation Connecticut project, which Reitz said the university is obligated to put towards NextGren as a part of an agreement made in spring 2013.
The state funding reductions resulted in $14.6 million less than requested specifically for Next Generations, making UConn unable to proceed with all of the hiring and student scholarships that were planned for this year. The school’s employment of 50 faculty members across all campuses reaches only half of their original goal for this year.
“The hardest thing will now be to get the student to faculty ratio to the 15:1 that we have been striving for,” Reitz said. “We were at 16:1 last year, but it is going to increase now.”
UConn has already enrolled 250 additional freshman in the class of 2019, and despite funding cuts to basic operations and Next Gen – which has resulted in a significant slowing of the planned faculty hiring – the University will continue to increase class sizes each year, Reitz said.
“We are committed to bringing in more (students) because of the dorms under construction and the promise to the state,” Reitz said. “The Next Gen building projects will not be affected. The money for them comes from a capitol bond. The STEM and honors dorms are coming along fine and will finish on schedule.”
The growing student to faculty ratio will force current professors to teach more sections, as well as faculty who have completed research projects to take on more undergraduate classes, Reitz said.
Although faculty will be increasing at UConn, staff and mid-level administrative positions will be seeing rounds of layoffs in order to compensate for the decreased funding.
For example, the Bursar’s offices at all branches have been merged into a single office based in Storrs. The maintenance crews – which used to be separated into residential and non-residential departments – will now merge as one department.
“A lot of empty positions will just be eliminated instead of refilled,” Reitz said. “When people leave throughout the whole year (2015-2016) there will not be a new hire in their place. There is no guarantee that any position that comes open will be filled.”
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