UConn’s 10-year, $1.5 billion Next Generation Connecticut
(NextGenCT) initiative, which targeted investments in facilities, faculty and
enrollment, was touted as “one of the most ambitious state investments in
economic development, higher education and research in the nation.”
The program’s focus when state lawmakers and former Gov.
Dannel P. Malloy originally approved it in 2013, was to help make UConn a top
research institution in science, technology, engineering and math through new
buildings, faculty and staff, and increased enrollment.
A decade later, the program has yielded some significant
results, including major new campus facilities, increased research dollars and
enrollment in STEM fields of study, and new faculty and industry partnerships
that have spurred economic development across the state, officials said.
However, some shortfalls in initial funding expectations
have hindered UConn’s ability to achieve some NextGenCT goals, particularly
around faculty hires.
Even still, UConn and Democratic and Republican legislative
leaders say the investment has been a success, helping to raise the stature of
Connecticut’s flagship public university.
And more investment could be on the way. UConn has requested
$420 million in additional capital funding from lawmakers for current and
future STEM projects, which the school says would help address Connecticut’s
current and future workforce shortages.
“If you value public education, you’ve got to support higher
education institutions,” said Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, a Hartford
Democrat who has been a big proponent of investment in UConn. “At the end of
the day, tell me how we could have better directed those resources.”
By the numbers
NextGenCT was an extension of the UConn 2000 program that
was launched in the 1990s and provided the school with billions of dollars in
capital spending for campus renovation and expansion projects and other uses.
NextGen has been funded through both capital and operating
budget components. In exchange for the funding, UConn was required by the
legislature to track its progress in reaching certain benchmarks, including how
it ranks nationally vs. other U.S. research universities.
UConn, which has more than 32,000 students across multiple
campuses statewide, recently published a NextGenCT annual report that was
shared with the school’s board of trustees in February. The report, dated
December 2023, is significant because it highlights nearly a decade of progress
since the 10-year program was first approved by the legislature.
It outlines key successes, including the construction of
major new buildings on UConn’s Storrs and satellite campuses — many aimed at
attracting STEM-focused students and faculty.
New buildings erected over the last decade included the:
$220 million, 200,000-square-foot STEM Research Center and
Science building in Storrs that came online during the current academic year.
$139 million UConn Hartford campus, which includes 215,000
square feet of new space over three buildings, completed in 2017.
$95.8 million Werth residence hall, with 730 beds and over
212,000 square feet, completed in 2016.
$92.5 million Engineering and Science Building with 115,000
square feet, completed in 2017.
$23.7 million Monteith mathematics building renovation,
completed in 2016.
Enrollment boost
Another key focus area of NextGenCT was boosting enrollment.
According to the school, since fiscal year 2013,
undergraduate enrollment in STEM fields has increased 41% at UConn’s Storrs
campus and 61% at UConn’s regional campuses in Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury
and Avery Point. The number of STEM-related undergraduate degrees awarded has
increased by 28%.
Increased interest in UConn, which recently gained national
attention for winning its second consecutive men’s college basketball
championship, was reflected in the record number of applications the school
received — 56,700 — for the Class of 2028.
“Although the number of high school graduates has decreased
in the state and region, UConn is drawing an even larger component of that
shrinking pie — without compromising on its high academic standards and
admission requirements,” the annual report said.
At the graduate level, STEM enrollment since 2013 has
increased by 30% in master’s programs and 26% in doctoral programs, UConn said.
STEM-related master’s and doctoral degrees conferred have also increased by 16%
and 34%, respectively, according to the university.
More UConn graduates are staying, living and working in
Connecticut, and using their skills in key growth industries like
biotechnology, engineering and health care, which is critical to growing the
state’s economy, Ritter said.
Meantime, more than half of the engineers in Connecticut are
UConn program graduates, according to state Sen. Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford), a
former Senate minority leader and Higher Education Committee member who said
the NextGenCT investment has been worth it.
Another key part of the program was establishing industry
partnerships. The school said it has obtained $300 million in partnership
funding from various new programs, many of which are located at the school’s
new Innovation Partnership Building, a $132 million, 115,000-square-foot
facility located in the UConn Tech Park.
Some of those partnerships include the $25 million UConn
Thermo Fisher Scientific Center for Advanced Microscopy and Materials Analysis;
$59.7 million Eversource Energy Center, focused on researching and mitigating
storm hazards; $12.8 million Pratt & Whitney Additive Manufacturing Center;
and $7.5 million Comcast Center of Excellence for Security Innovation, focused
on cybersecurity.
The school has also worked on commercializing more of its
research, a key focus area for major research universities. The number of
companies that are in UConn’s Technology Incubation Program has grown from 29
in fiscal year 2013, to 59 in fiscal 2023, according to the school’s annual
report.
TIP companies raised $146 million in capital in 2023 vs.
$29.1 million in fiscal 2013.
Ritter said the NextGenCT price tag was large, but overall,
he sees the investment as money well spent.
Going forward, he believes the success of the program will
help support further capital projects.
“I’d like to see more kids admitted, see more dorms built,”
Ritter said of UConn. “I think we can grow by a couple thousand students.”
Funding shortfalls
Despite those gains, UConn’s annual report does highlight
challenges in achieving some NextGenCT goals.
For example, while the school continues to increase its
annual research expenditures, the percentage change over the past five years
has lagged other peer institutions.
UConn in fiscal year 2022 reported $367.6 million in
research expenditures, which was a 52% increase from fiscal year 2013.
UConn’s peer institutions (including Michigan State, Purdue,
Indiana and the universities of Utah, Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas and Delaware)
experienced an average of 78% growth in research expenditures during that same
time period.
Those peer institutions, on average, are also well ahead of
UConn in other key research categories, like invention disclosures, patents
issued, startup companies formed and licensing revenues.
Limited state operating funding support has also led to
“significantly lower” faculty hires than originally planned, according to the
annual report.
UConn has received the full $1.5 billion NextGen commitment
through bonding, but additional annual operating funds were supposed to support
the effort, particularly around faculty hires.
“But fiscal constraints at the state level have proven
challenging,” university officials said, and only $15 million in operating
support was provided during the first year of the program, with no additional
operating funding provided in the remaining years.
“This reduction in operating funds is specifically a
reduction in the capacity to hire new faculty, and it creates significant
challenges for the University in meeting the operating goals of NextGenCT,” the
annual report said.
UConn has funded 174 new NextGenCT faculty hires between
fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2024, with 98 of those hires in STEM fields, the school
said.
Full-time STEM faculty increased by 28% during that same
time period to 857.
Kelly, the Republican lawmaker, said the operating funding
shortfalls have been the result of state budget negotiations beyond UConn’s
control.
“We should not equate the success of a program based on the
number of professors hired, but more so on the students attracted and retained,
then sent out into the workforce,” Kelly said.
What’s next?
UConn President Radenka Maric said initiatives like UConn
2000 and NextGenCT have made the university a top choice for students within
Connecticut and throughout the U.S.
That’s reflected in the record number of student
applications and national rankings, such as the U.S. News & World Report,
which ranked UConn as the 26th best public university in the nation, and No. 58
overall.
However, she said more work still needs to be done to
address Connecticut’s workforce challenges in key STEM fields, such as
manufacturing, health care and life sciences, which face long-term shortages.
To address those needs, UConn has requested $420 million in
additional capital funding for current and future STEM projects on its Storrs
campus, including demolition of the 1960s-era Torrey Life Sciences Building,
which would be replaced by a new $320 million, 200,000-square-foot science
building.
The funding would also pay for $100 million in renovations
to the school’s Gant Science complex.
The legislature’s Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee
recently endorsed the funding request, Maric said, and it now awaits action in
the House and Senate.
Fairfield, Westport to replace four aging, substandard bridges by 2028
FAIRFIELD — The town is preparing to replace four
deteriorating bridges in the coming years.
Town officials said construction crews will rebuild a
Commerce Drive bridge over Ash Creek this summer, two more over Sasco
Brook next year and a fourth over Pine Creek on Oldfield Road from 2027 to
2028.
The bridges running over Ash and Pine creeks date back to
the 1920s and 1930s, respectively, pushing the end of their service life, and
the Sasco Brook bridges don't meet required standards for height and width —
all factors that have warranted the upcoming upgrades, worth a total of over
$15 million.
"Age and bridge condition usually dictate whether (a)
bridge is repaired or replaced," said Town Engineering Manager Bill Hurley
in an email. "Sometimes if it’s just the deck or one component of the
bridge, we can repair (the) bridge, but if it's multiple components or if the
substructure is in poor condition, replacement is usually recommended."
The 47-foot Commerce Drive bridge has been standing since
1929, according to a town description of the replacement project. Hurley said
all bridges have an estimated 75-year service life, but the one on Commerce
Drive is in poor, though not yet serious, condition.
He said funding from the state and Connecticut Metropolitan
Council of Governments will cover project costs, which will likely total
between $2 million and $3 million. The money comes from a grant through the
state Department of Transportation's Local
Transportation Capital Improvement Program. Bridgeport is also sharing the
municipal costs of the project with Fairfield.
In 2022, Hurley had said one lane of traffic would
remain open on the bridge.
Hurley said the construction projects over Sasco Brook will
target the bridges on Fairfield's
Wakeman Lane and Kings Highway West and could last from April to
December 2025. He said they will shut down traffic along the two bridges as
officials redirect vehicles onto Post Road.
He said Westport will take the lead on construction at the
two Sasco Brook bridges, while Fairfield shares costs and offers input.
Fairfield and Westport only need to cover 10 percent of the project each due to
state funding through the state DOT's Local
Bridge Program. Fairfield will spend a combined $865,200 for the work on
the two bridges, which together will cost $7.8 million, according to town
records.
The new Kings Highway Bridge will stretch 60 feet and
include 32 feet of roadway width and 4-foot shoulders on each side, according
to a town description of the project. The Wakeman Lane bridge will be 36
feet long with 20 feet of roadway width and 2-feet shoulders, another
description states.
The Oldfield Road bridge replacement is expected to
make a larger dent in the town's wallet than the other three projects. Hurley
said construction and design should be worth over $6 million, but the town will
apply for a local bridge grant that could cut those costs in half. He said the
rebuild of the Oldfield Road bridge could take up to a year and a half.
Hurley said Fairfield hired a scuba diver to inspect
the Oldfield Road bridge underwater in 2022 or 2023, and the diver found
parts of the bridge in disrepair, with some rebar exposed and chunks of
concrete missing. The RTM appropriated $570,000 last month so the town can
start designing the project.
Hurley said the state inspects bridges 20 feet and longer
twice a year, while municipalities keep track of the shorter ones. He said the
Oldfield Road bridge falls into the second category, leaving Fairfield to
monitor the bridge with help from a consultant, which recommended its
replacement in the fall.
Hurley said the town could keep traffic open through the
Oldfield Road project, but limit the flow of vehicles to a single alternating
lane.
He said Fairfield will hold a public information meeting about the Oldfield Road project likely sometime in the next winter or spring of 2025.
UConn's Gampel Pavilion could see $100 million renovation project under proposal
UConn expects word out of the State Capitol by May 8, the
day the General Assembly adjourns, on whether the state will fund a proposed Gampel
Pavilion renovation of about $100 million.
Already, $10 million in state bonding has been allocated
toward more immediate improvements (scoreboard, court-level digital
infrastructure, lower-bowl seating) to the Huskies’ on-campus home for men’s and women’s
basketball.
Soon, plans could be set in motion for an overhaul and
expansion of several areas of the facility, which opened in 1990.
“We’re working with the state right now,” athletic director
David Benedict said in a recent interview. “There are a lot of conversations.
We've been engaged for the past six months and bringing a lot of people to
campus, and showing them different facilities and talking about what,
potentially, there would be if we're able to make an investment. We're
approximately 35 years into Gampel. There's not been a major renovation
since it was completed. So as we look to the future and the state wants us to
look long-term into playing at XL, the idea here and the request is, ‘Look, if
you want us to continue playing there and support that endeavor, we need some
support here.’”
Feasibility studies have been done. Goals for major
Gampel renovations include club spacing in areas currently occupied by athletic
leadership and NCAA compliance offices on the building’s east side, and
additional premium seating options, such as loge boxes, and merchandising areas
on the north side. Said areas would also serve as a training table for
student-athletes.
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter last week confirmed
discussions with Benedict over $100 million for Gampel.
“I think we’re having good conversations with the
administration,” Ritter said. “It’s all sort of packaged into the UConn 2000
stuff.”
UConn 2000 is a sweeping categorization for a state-funded
initiative of improvements to the Storrs campus’ infrastructure that was
initiated in the 1990s and continues to this day.
“I think if Gampel is going to be renovated, there is going
to be some expectation of the university raising some of those funds,” Ritter
said. “But the state built the original one and so it’s not a crazy ask for the
state to come in and step in. I think we have to finalize what the numbers will
look like, though.”
The costs-money-to-make-money, revolving-doors relationship
between Connecticut, UConn and the UConn athletic department is unique, one
entity simultaneously paying and charging the next to create a tornado of money
unlike anything in college sports.
By playing basketball and hockey at the XL
Center, UConn boosts the Downtown Hartford economy and placates those at
the Capitol with sway over appropriations. By doing so, the Huskies sacrifice
lucrative on-campus revenue opportunities. That is particularly challenging in
that UConn operates without the heavy media payouts of power conferences
and operates annually on a university subsidy
exceeding $30 million.
“When you're only playing half your season here it really
limits your ability to generate resources because half of your games are in a
building you don't own, and we don't get all of the revenues associated with
playing [Hartford] games,” Benedict said, sitting in his Gampel office. “In
fact, we pay money for the right to play at XL. So that's really the give and
take there, and that's the proposition that we're making.
“But in terms of the investment, it would be focused on how
we improve the overall building and how we can generate more money, how we
provide a better experience for the student-athletes, how we provide a better
experience for the fans. Those are the primary tenets of how we'll invest the
money if we're fortunate enough to get it. Those are avenues for us to help our
department, financially. If we're going to receive those dollars, we have to
invest them in a way that is going to help us generate more money to offset our
annual operating costs.”
Dollar signs, not sheep, dance in Benedict’s mind when his
head hits the pillow.
“The real challenge is when you don't fall asleep,” he said.
“Good, bad or indifferent, I take the fiduciary part of my job seriously as
opposed to having the mindset like, ‘It's not my money. What do I really care?’
I can't do that. I can't approach my job in that way. Sometimes for my own
sanity, I wish I could. But I don’t approach it that way. Therefore, it's very
important to me, if we’re going to do things financially, that we have a plan
as to how we're going to do it as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, this is someone
else's problem and it will get resolved one way or another.’ I don't, and I
can't, do that.’”
Gampel’s construction coincided with the first tsunami of
national basketball success under Jim Calhoun, opening two years after the
Huskies’ 1988 NIT championship. The 1990 “Dream season” included Big East
championships and ended in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. The first of six
national titles followed in 1999.
Now Benedict is looking for investment, and return on
investment, at a time when the actual basketball product has never been more
attractive. Needing to maximize every potential revenue stream, the future of
Gampel is front and center.
The Huskies earned 10 “units” — or NCAA revenue payouts of
about $2 million apiece — with its past two men’s championship runs, money that
goes to the Big East to be dispersed among 11 member institutions. It is paid
out in installments over six years. UConn also earned a Big East performance
bonus of about $2.5 million each of the past two years by reaching the men’s
Final Four.
While the money coming back to Storrs for winning isn’t
insignificant, much of it is also shared. UConn, of course, also benefits by
taking 1/11th of the pooled money (after Big East operating expenses are
paid) from the NCAA Tournament success of other conference programs. All UConn
can do is win and earn as much as possible, work toward shrinking ledger-sheet
gaps that are always under a microscope in Connecticut.
“I can remember when I drove from Alabama to Connecticut to
actually assume to the job permanently,” said Benedict, who previously worked
at Auburn and was hired by UConn in 2016. “I remember driving up [Interstate]
84 and stopping and taking a picture of the sign before the exit and saying, 'I
want to impact that sign. I want those numbers to change.'”
UConn had four men’s championships at the time and 10
women’s championships, the 11th coming weeks later. Benedict led the
effort to hire Hurley in 2018, and a 2020 move from American Athletic
Conference to the Big East better positioned men’s basketball for the success
that Hurley is now driving. Numerous ambitious athletic facility projects have
come to fruition, transforming the Southwest section of campus.
The next initiatives are the Field House (for which $15
million in state bonding was recently allocated), and Gampel.
“Why is it this little town in Connecticut and this
university have been able to create this formula and environment to have this
level of success?” Benedict asked rhetorically. “You can try to get real
thoughtful or you can just say, 'We've hired some Hall of Fame coaches.' There
have been Hall of Fame coaches who have been identified and brought to Storrs
who have chosen to stay here for a long time. How many places have been able to
attract and recruit and identify and make good decisions around this many
coaches that will ultimately be in the Hall of Fame? I mean, Dan Hurley is
going to be in the Hall of Fame, because he's not done yet. Whether he's
already earned that or there's more to do, that's not my decision, but he'll be
in the Hall of Fame.
“So to have two leaders of our men's basketball program who
will be in the Hall of Fame is amazing. And to do it in a place
like Storrs, and to do it without the halo of a Power Five conference, I
think is even more impressive. Dan came in at a time when we weren't on a
trajectory that looked like, 'Yeah, this guy is going to win some championships
here.' I think there were probably a lot of questions, whether UConn men's
basketball was ever going to be relevant again versus, ‘Are they going to be back-to-back
national champions?’”
The UConn women finished 33-6 and reached the Final Four for
the 23rd time despite losing five players to season-ending injuries. The
UConn men won 27 of their final 28 games, finishing 37-3 and winning their six
NCAA Tournament games by a combined 140 points, a record differential.
“You can think about winning a championship here because
it's been done here before,” Benedict said. “But I think for anyone to go any
place and say ‘I expect to win national championships in men's basketball,’
that's certainly an aspirational goal if you're really committed to doing
it, but having a goal and having an expectation are two different things.
“At UConn, and to Dan's credit, he came here because that
was the expectation. I don't want to suggest that I know how people who got to
the Final Four, the opposing coaches, felt. But I think some people were happy
to be there and I think some people wouldn't be happy unless we came away as a
winner. I think that's the difference right now with our program and the
mentality we have within the program. It's expected to win. Not just, you're
happy to be there. That bar, you can't even suggest how high that bar is
because getting there is unbelievably hard and you should feel good about
getting to the Final Four.”
Hurley set, or re-established, that bar and is essentially
doing one-armed pull-ups on it.
“It's an unbelievable achievement,” Benedict said of
reaching a Final Four. “But I've been in the Werth Champions Center many times
where he pointed out to the players during practice, ‘Look at the banners.
That's the expectation.’ That was long before we won. He's driven to do that.”
Stamford finance committee wants less money in school construction fund for 2024-25 budget
Brianna Gurciullo
STAMFORD — The Board of Representatives committee in charge of reviewing the budgets for the city and public schools has recommended that the full board approve them without any more cuts.
However, the recommendation comes with an understanding that the Board of Finance will reduce the amount of money that will be raised through taxes for Stamford’s school construction reserve to $10 million. Top of Form
“Fund 57,” as it’s known, is supposed to help finance a multi-year, $1.5 billion plan to overhaul the school district’s aging buildings. The total cost is expected to be split about evenly between the city and the state.
The Board of Representatives and Board of Finance agreed to raise $20 million for the fund in 2022 and another $15 million last year. The Board of Finance also allocated $5 million in surplus money to the fund.
Mayor Caroline Simmons proposed raising an additional $20 million in her fiscal year 2024-25 operating budget request.
Rep. Lindsey Miller, D-7, the co-chair of the Board of Representatives’ Fiscal Committee, said he and other city representatives thought $20 million was “too much” and that cutting the amount for the fund was an easier way to “alleviate the tax burden” than making a host of smaller cuts to the operating budget.
Asked about the agreement, Board of Finance Chair Richard Freedman said: “Politics is the art of compromise.”
“If I had my druthers, it would have stayed at ($15 million),” Freedman said. “But this is a decision made by two boards. ... So I talked to my board members, and ($10 million) is where it ended up.”
Members of the Board of Finance and city officials have said that by raising cash through an increased tax rate, the city won’t have to bond as much, which means it will have less to pay in interest and more flexibility in its capital budget. They have also said that while the state will eventually reimburse the city for eligible expenses, officials need to have cash available to pay construction bills when they are due.
None of the money in Fund 57 has been spent so far, Freedman said.
“People have different opinions on this,” he said about the amount raised. “I think the city needs to pay for its obligations, and ... to the extent possible, it should build its obligations into its taxation rate, the mill rate. But other people would prefer a lower tax rate.”
“You’re going to have to pay for it eventually,” he added. “Do you pay for it now or do you pay for it later?”
The Board of Finance took up the proposed operating and capital budgets earlier this month. It reduced the Board of Education’s side of the combined operating budget by $3 million, the city government’s side by about $2.15 million and the capital budget by about $5.4 million.
South Windsor High School field upgrades get design approval, but funding still pending
SOUTH WINDSOR — Town officials have approved the school
district's plans for major
field upgrades at South Windsor High School.
The $7.5 million needed for the project must now be approved
in a town-wide
referendum for it go forward, though the Town Council declined to set a
date for that public vote when the matter arose at a January meeting.
The design for the plan was updated April 17 after being
unveiled in February, but the broad design remains the same: a lighted,
multipurpose artificial turf field to support high school football and soccer,
seven new post-concrete tennis courts as an upgrade to the existing six courts,
and four all-new pickleball courts.
The project also includes a new driveway from the Wapping
Annex parking lot to the student parking lot as a way to provide more traffic
flexibility throughout the high school campus.
The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the
school board's plans for the high school field upgrades at a meeting Tuesday
night, with a handful of conditions centered around reducing potential
nuisances to neighbors.
Under the PZC's approval, officials must monitor noise
levels around the field over the first year and construct sound barriers
if any issues arise, and any loudspeakers used on the field must face away from
residential neighbors.
Any events with lights on the turf field must end by
9 p.m., with lights turned off within an hour of the end of the event, and
the tennis court lights must be programmed to shut off by 10 p.m.
The Board of Education originally asked the Town Council for
a March 12 referendum date to allow for construction to begin in the spring.
Officials expect to discuss the referendum again in June, with the vote most
likely to be included on the ballot for the November election if approved.
Gold Star Bridge meeting to be held Tuesday
Groton ― The state Department of Transportation is
encouraging people to share their feedback during a meeting on the
rehabilitation of the northbound span of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge,
scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Groton Municipal Building at
295 Meridian St. and on Zoom. The meeting will be livestreamed on the Groton
Municipal Television YouTube channel.
“This project will address existing bridge deterioration,
increase the bridge’s load carrying capacity, and extend its service life,” DOT
Project Manager Tracey Brais said in a statement.
According to the news release, the purpose is “to address
the deficiencies of the deck and steel superstructure and to improve freight
travel.“
“The project will increase the structural capacity of the
bridge so that all legal, permit, and emergency vehicles can use the bridge,
improve system safety, ensure long-term performance of the bridge, and continue
to meet the traffic demands for the region,” according to the release.
The project will replace bridge components, including the
deck, barriers, fencing, expansion joints, drainage system and overhead sign
supports; strengthen steel; repair and replace bearings; repair and clean
concrete; and construct and reconstruct approach slabs, among other steps.
The DOT said construction on the estimated $591.9 million
project is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2025.
Information on how to access the Zoom meeting, which will be
recorded, and how to submit comments is available at: https://portal.ct.gov/dot/ctdot-press-releases/2024/public-informational-rehabilitation-of-the-gold-star-memorial-bridge-in-new-london-and-groton