UConn President Thomas Katsouleas will leave post, sources say

[Guapo]

Nah man I’m pretty sure RU was ahead of us in what Kay has been frustrated over since before they moved to B1G; remember their AAU status and how important that was. Pretty sure it’s the biggest reason (besides it being their doorway to the NY/Philly market) they got in over us.

By “sales pitch” I mean to perspective students

 

[Dove]

NEXT!!!!!!

 

[Rocktheworld]

I always got a chuckle of when people say that Professor XYZ is so brilliant that is why his class is so hard to follow, when the answer is likely that he or she is just a bad communicator.

My neuro professor told us a story when he was at Berkeley studying physics that one of his professors would write with his right hand and as he would move along the board he would erase with his left. Keep up or maybe try chemistry lol.

Actually that professor of mine is a great example of why research-involved professors are great. He was doing neuro cognitive type stuff involving visual/semantic priming that I won’t get into here but I helped out in. It was so obvious in normal lecture though that his being so up to date on literature allowed him to bring up brand new developments and what we are on the cusp of figuring out; this made the field and its future possibilities so interesting to me. He is a major reason why I am where I am today.

As opposed to some psych/soc professor trying to convince themselves they are woke and important thanks to their obsessing over gender pronouns.

 

[Rocktheworld]

By “sales pitch” I mean to perspective students

Damn you’re quick

Also didn’t really compute that you were talking about athletics rather than research/academics until I hit post

 

[HuskyHawk]

It’s telling when the state university of an area who has had residents since the 1600s is younger than that of states who didn’t become American territories until 150+ years later (using Michigan as an example). Northeast always had universities before “state universities” were a thing and everyone went to ivies and other privates.

Sure, but there is some lack of foresight involved in that. Virginia brought William & Mary in as a state institution in 1906. Second oldest school in the country to Harvard.

Trinity dates to 1823. That sure would have been a sweet school and campus to bring in to the state and build out from. What is now UConn could have stayed the Ag focused school (like K State, Iowa State and Texas A&M all are or were) and become Connecticut State U, and an expanded Trinity could have become UConn. Hartford would be a vastly different and better place had that happened.

Ancient history for sure, but the New England states kind of blew it here by relying so totally on private higher ed. Pennsylvania brought both Temple and Pitt in as "state related".

 

[Guapo]

Damn you’re quick

Also didn’t really compute that you were talking about athletics rather than research/academics until I hit post

It’s a combo of all 3 tbh

 

[Guapo]

Sure, but there is some lack of foresight involved in that. Virginia brought William & Mary in as a state institution in 1906. Second oldest school in the country to Harvard.

Trinity dates to 1823. That sure would have been a sweet school and campus to bring in to the state and build out from. What is now UConn could have stayed the Ag focused school (like K State, Iowa State and Texas A&M all are or were) and become Connecticut State U, and an expanded Trinity could have become UConn. Hartford would be a vastly different and better place had that happened.

Ancient history for sure, but the New England states kind of blew it here by relying so totally on private higher ed. Pennsylvania brought both Temple and Pitt in as "state related".

The public/private school thing is a feature of the region’s culture, not a bug.

I do agree that it’s a feature that has generally negative impacts

 

[Slick]

Says in the article "it wasn't a good fit" and also talks about some labor cost issues that seemed to frustrate him on getting research grants. On top of all of that, probably was a really tough year and a half dealing with COVID and wants something cushier than the title of President.

I'm sure we will hear more down the road and will be interesting to see where he goes next since it sounds like he isn't leaving for another post and also who they replace him with.

He is staying on as a professor fully tenured at 330,000 dollars a year??? Who are the dopes that make these kinds of deals? He is leaving after less then 2 years and should get NO TENURE and No $330,000 thousand dollar job. Does anyone realize this is why Ct is so broke?

 

[Guapo]

The public/private school thing is a feature of the region’s culture, not a bug.

I do agree that it’s a feature that has generally negative impacts

 

[CL82]

Well this was unusually candid:

 

[mustafa]

UConn has a real identity problem. Many on campus want it to be Michigan academically. Legislators and the voters want it to be half Michigan, half Michigan State.

The Goal should be to be MICHIGAN.
Trying to be Michigan State is pointless and stupid.
UCONN should be top tier. That needs to be the aim and overarching goal.
The more everyman qualities of a Michigan State can be filled by the Connecticut State University System (CCSU, ECSU, SCSU, WCSU) with continued investment in these universities.

 

[Guapo]

The Goal should be to be MICHIGAN.
Trying to be Michigan State is pointless and stupid.
UCONN should be top tier. That needs to be the aim and overarching goal.
The more everyman qualities of a Michigan State can be filled by the Connecticut State University System (CCSU, ECSU, SCSU, WCSU) with continued investment in these universities.

Combine the directionals into one “Connecticut State University.” Give them the “other” D1 sports program

make Eastern the main campus.

Now wouldn’t that be a fun lil rivalry?

 

[mustafa]

I like this. There is a growing rift. There are some people who want UConn to be an elite public university.

Then, there are others who are really really upset when so many state students get rejected out of UConn. I think it bothers a lot of people that good, smart students can't get into UConn. Especially with the money they are poring in there. Not a ridiculous view. I want my kids to go to school there, but they are good students and as they go forward are not top of class.

Add that to the fact CSU schools are underfunded and might not offer all the majors, it becomes difficult to find a reasonable solution in state

I can see both sides of the coin.

The solution, while not easy or costly, should be UCONN become Elite and invest in CSU to build that up more and more and provide the majors needed.
Connecticut, should have an ELITE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY that can compete with the ELITE PRIVATE SCHOOLS and be a beacon for top tier students and economy growing research. CSU should be more cost effective yet good quality for the majority of students. Community College have their 3rd tier role as well.

 

[mustafa]

Combine the directionals into one “Connecticut State University.” Give them the “other” D1 sports program

make Eastern the main campus.

Now wouldn’t that be a fun lil rivalry?

not a bad idea but make the main campus in New Britain (CCSU). Middle of the state, bigger name, easily accessible and close to state capital / leadership.
Cutting out a lot of the redundancy in CSU (due to 4 campuses) can also save a lot of money.

 

[Guapo]

not a bad idea but make the main campus in New Britain (CCSU). Middle of the state, bigger name, easily accessible and close to state capital / leadership.
Cutting out a lot of the redundancy in CSU (due to 4 campuses) can also save a lot of money.

Ugh I know CCSU makes more sense for a number of reasons...but it’s such a friggin’ ugly campus

 

[mustafa]

He is staying on as a professor fully tenured at 330,000 dollars a year??? Who are the dopes that make these kinds of deals? He is leaving after less then 2 years and should get NO TENURE and No $330,000 thousand dollar job. Does anyone realize this is why Ct is so broke?

1,000,000% CORRECT!!!!

This guy should get nothing and like it. GTHO. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. No sweet paychecks buddy.

 

[Hoophound]

Ugh I know CCSU makes more sense for a number of reasons...but it’s such a friggin’ ugly campus

Really? I always thought it was the nicest of the CSU’s.

 

[mustafa]

Ugh I know CCSU makes more sense for a number of reasons...but it’s such a friggin’ ugly campus

Not really IMO.
Getting better and they've built / building some nice buildings. They can grow it out further and expand it.

 

[Guapo]

Really? I always thought it was the nicest of the CSU’s.

I think Eastern is the nicest campus...but I haven’t lived in CT in nearly 10 years

 

[husky429]

I think Eastern is the nicest campus...but I haven’t lived in CT in nearly 10 years

CCSU's campus has improved a lot in the past 10 years. It's far and away the best of the CSUs imo.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Agree regarding your first point. Build up the other state sponsored entities and differentiate so they become part of a single integrated system rather than compete against each other.

Where UConn is getting killed in UNWR rankings is the state funding component. As the state lowers its funding, our ranking drops.

As to your 3rd point, UConn could do much, much better. Penn State is a good school to emulate here. They do a lot of work to maintain and enhance the schools brand.

Except the entire state stood behind Jerry Sandusky according to the review conducted by P St Board of Dir.

 

[Guapo]

CCSU's campus has improved a lot in the past 10 years. It's far and away the best of the CSUs imo.

fair enough! I’ll defer to the people who live there, obviously

 

[UKemba15]

"One of the best choices a student can make in pursuing higher education is a research university where they are learning from faculty who are creating new knowledge,” he told The Courant’s editorial board in 2019. “There’s a value proposition when you are gaining the inspiration, insight and wisdom from those who are really leading the way. These are the kinds of experiential learning that you just can’t replicate anywhere else.”

This line kind of struck me. How true is that actually at the undergraduate level?

My fiance is defending her PhD as soon as her family gets time off from work, she also has a JD... I would think she has probably has taken more classes than most people. Her opinion is that the professor MOST attached to research are the worst teachers of undergrads. Even the most unique undergrad majors don't really require professors that are specialized like you would for grad programs.

Just food for thought. I don't really have enough experience to say definitively.

I went to a university with a lot of research professors and I agree with you. They are an EXTREMELY invaluable resource when you are really diving into a topic that you are passionate about, but when it comes to teaching the mechanics they have a hard time making the lessons relatable to undergrad students...or it just seems harder to absorb the material (in my personal experience). Half of the physics professors weren’t even shy about not giving a poop about the “teaching” component.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I still hold my UConn education up against any. My first 2 years were at the Stamford Branch and many of my professors were adjunct teachers at night who taught after working all day.

 

[HuskyHawk]

The Goal should be to be MICHIGAN.
Trying to be Michigan State is pointless and stupid.
UCONN should be top tier. That needs to be the aim and overarching goal.
The more everyman qualities of a Michigan State can be filled by the Connecticut State University System (CCSU, ECSU, SCSU, WCSU) with continued investment in these universities.

That is pretty insulting to Michigan State. It’s endowment is 3.4 billion, dwarfing UConn’s. It’s ranked #80 in USNews and is not much less competitive than UConn. It is a bigger research school than UConn. It’s just a very poor example. CCSU, SCSU are never going to get in the ballpark of Michigan State, it’s quite a bit better than URI, Maine, UNH and UVM and the CT state system schools are way short of those.

UConn can strive for Michigan, UVA status but it isn’t going to get there.

 

[the Q]

not a bad idea but make the main campus in New Britain (CCSU). Middle of the state, bigger name, easily accessible and close to state capital / leadership.
Cutting out a lot of the redundancy in CSU (due to 4 campuses) can also save a lot of money.

uconn swallowing them up would save even more redundancy. Especially in management level salary and fringe. One large system.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Ugh I know CCSU makes more sense for a number of reasons...but it’s such a friggin’ ugly campus

Not that social life dictates academic decisions, but of all the historical Normal/Teaching colleges Southern's located in a city young people now actually enjoy and some want to live in after graduating. However, New Haven also enables reasonably convenient train access to the City, Fairfield county internships, or even Boston. Doesn't matter, unlikely to ever happen.

 

[CL82]

Except the entire state stood behind Jerry Sandusky according to the review conducted by P St Board of Dir.

Clearly I was talking about the way school promotes it's brand among employers and alumni, not about the Sandusky outrage. But you already knew that, right?

 

[Edward Sargent]

Clearly I was talking about the way school promotes it's brand among employers and alumni, not about the Sandusky outrage. But you already knew that, right?

Promoting its brand yes they do a great job. Providing an education? I can’t say they are any better than UConn.

 

[BackAftaThis]

UConn’s sales pitch should be pretty obvious; it’s the closest approximation to a big time school experience with sports culture/school pride etc. as you’re going to find in New England and, maybe, the Northeast (as I think UConn has “that” more than Rutgers does)

I’m from Long Island and UConn checked all the boxes for me of what I wanted in a school and was far away enough that I could be away from home but close enough that I could always get home if needed