UConn Presents Details On Sweeping 10-Year Initiative

[huskymedic]

State Investing $1.55 Billion In 'Next Generation' Project To Bolster Research, Hire STEM Faculty, Forge Partnerships With Industry

http://www.courant.com/news/educati...on-update-20140805,0,2422596.story?fdlkf?fdlf

 

[Seaa Blue]

imho... Has "Welcome to the Big Ten" written all over it.

 

[CTMike]

Endowments are great and UConn is working to improve that, but $1.55 Billion is some serious state support! I hope Herbst has a copy of the article waiting for Delany on his desk tomorrow...

 

[noeynox]

You know what stood out to me. The politician who pointed out that UConn hasn't done a good enough job selling to the general public how beneficial and awesome this plan is. Seems like a constant theme with UConn. It just doesn't get out in front in telling its story. They want to let its results tell the story. That just doesn't work with 90 percent of the population.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

You know what stood out to me. The politician who pointed out that UConn hasn't done a good enough job selling to the general public how beneficial and awesome this plan is. Seems like a constant theme with UConn. It just doesn't get out in front in telling its story. They want to let its results tell the story. That just doesn't work with 90 percent of the population.

Agreed. And I think this is something not unique to UConn. I really think most of the state has an issue with this - businesses, government, our cities, etc. Yankee hard work ethic is all good but keep you head down and carry on at the expense of telling your story is something that really has to change if we are going to succeed in the information age...

 

[Dooley]

You know what stood out to me. The politician who pointed out that UConn hasn't done a good enough job selling to the general public how beneficial and awesome this plan is. Seems like a constant theme with UConn. It just doesn't get out in front in telling its story. They want to let its results tell the story. That just doesn't work with 90 percent of the population.

Excellent point. Like CTFAN4LIFE said, it's all part of the northeast fabric. You work damn hard, don't put up much fuss, and maintain a level of modesty. For the most part, North easterners aren't going to flip their bats, do an elaborate TD dance, or try to posterize somebody with a windmill dunk when a simple one handed jam will do. We expect our sports teams to play ridiculously hard and battle through adversity. That explains why UCONN fans are just as (or more!) proud of the 2011 Big East Championship as we are the 2011 National Championship.

UCONN, as a school, hasn't done the type of chest thumping as other schools. Sure, there were the comments back in 2011 that expressed befuddlement that we didn't get in the ACC. Rightly so. But even then, people cringed and labelled UCONN as a bunch of spoiled, entitled brats for complaining.

Since then, all CR rhetoric has been on lockdown. If you read between the lines, as we often like to do here, you won't go too far into an interview with President Herbst without hearing the words "flagship" or "research". It's clear how UCONN is trying to position itself. They want in the B1G. Alumni wants in the B1G. Fans want in the B1G. We are not divided. This type of financial commitment is yet another example, amongst many others, that show just how badly UCONN wants in the B1G.

But yeah, a tiny bit of promotion might not hurt in today's world of social media.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Endowments are great and UConn is working to improve that, but $1.55 Billion is some serious state support! I hope Herbst has a copy of the article waiting for Delany on his desk tomorrow...

And that's on top of the 2.3B from UConn 2000 and 21st Century UConn since '95, plus Faculty 500. 3 consecutive apprx. ten year programs.

 

[businesslawyer]

I think you are wrong if you think athletics is behind the strides that UConn is making. This is good for our state, and for its flagship university, regardless of its effect on conference realignment.

That having been said, if it helps the Big Ten pull the trigger on us, great. I know it's not relevant to the ACC ever doing so.

 

[Stinger92860]

This is a great initiative which will provide significant benefits to the University, the state and the region.

 

[Dooley]

Herbst is on record as saying that schools' athletic programs are a wonderful marketing window/tool towards improving academics. While these campus projects won't directly have much to do with athletics (I doubt our STEM labs are going to study the effects of fouling late in the game when up by 3), they do enhance the university profile as a whole. That includes athletics.

 

[RoderickSpode]

I think you are wrong if you think athletics is behind the strides that UConn is making. This is good for our state, and for its flagship university, regardless of its effect on conference realignment.

That having been said, if it helps the Big Ten pull the trigger on us, great. I know it's not relevant to the ACC ever doing so.

Perhaps, but none of this stuff happens in a vacuum. These types of investments never would have occurred without earlier athletic successes, and I think the current administration understands the importance of athletics in continually improving the university's stature and national brand.

Not to mention that membership in the Big Ten has much bigger implications than merely a step up in athletic competition -- though I'll be honest, that's the only part I really care about

 

[CL82]

 

[ASweet3781]

If UConn is about to be killed by TV revenue by the Power 5, why not use some of this state money to give to the athletic department to stuff the coffers and off set the TV contracts?

I mean if we are going to throw a billion dollars of state money to UConn I'd like a couple years of ACC level TV revenue kicked over to athletics just to make a statement.

 

[upstater]

Perhaps, but none of this stuff happens in a vacuum. These types of investments never would have occurred without earlier athletic successes, and I think the current administration understands the importance of athletics in continually improving the university's stature and national brand.

Not to mention that membership in the Big Ten has much bigger implications than merely a step up in athletic competition -- though I'll be honest, that's the only part I really care about

I'm not throwing cold water on the idea that athletics lead to a lot of the higher profile and thus the investment. In UConn's case, I tend to think that way. In many other cases, I think athletics is a pipe-dream for raising the profile. In the case of the SUNY's, they too are experiencing the same kind of increases in applicants that UConn is seeing, and billions of investment from the state. Athletics, obviously, has little to do with it.

 

[Fishy]

Enrollment is increasing most everywhere.

SUNY is seeing large increases because the low tuition reflects the fact that most of their instructors spend large portions of their day arguing on the internet.

 

[FASTEDDY]

IMHO, UCONN does not do enough to promote the fact that it is now ranked in the TOP 20 National Public Universities (USNWR rankings).

We whould publicize the heck out of this and let everyone in the region (NE, NY, NJ,PA,MD, OH) know our situation. It continually pains me when people think that schools like UMASS, UVM, UNH, SUNY are the same as UCONN and that they are just interchangeable. BS! UCONN should be considered the destination Pubic University in the region whether you live in CT or not! Let's market the heck out of our successes as we are the only Public University in the region who can say we are TOP 20 and continually rising up the rankings.

 

[Sportsman5]

IMHO, UCONN does not do enough to promote the fact that it is now ranked in the TOP 20 National Public Universities (USNWR rankings).

We whould publicize the heck out of this and let everyone in the region (NE, NY, NJ,PA,MD, OH) know our situation. It continually pains me when people think that schools like UMASS, UVM, UNH, SUNY are the same as UCONN and that they are just interchangeable. BS! UCONN should be considered the destination Pubic University in the region whether you live in CT or not! Let's market the heck out of our successes as we are the only Public University in the region who can say we are TOP 20 and continually rising up the rankings.

UMass has a higher or equal reputation score from guidance counselors and presidents of other universities according to the us news and world report survey. In fact uconn is being brought down in the rankings because their score is lower than most of the schools 5-10 spots ahead of them. Uconn was considered a step up from UMass 10 years ago when I was in high school in massachusetts. It is insane that the majority of peer institutions and guidance counselors rate UMass higher now.

 

[upstater]

Enrollment is increasing most everywhere.

SUNY is seeing large increases because the low tuition reflects the fact that most of their instructors spend large portions of their day arguing on the internet.

I'm on the internet all day. Wish it weren't so. It's unfortunate. I come here for sanity.