UConn to create master plan for Storrs Campus

[CL82]

With all due respect, shuttling the student section to Rentschler is a vastly different animal than shuttling the other 35k from off-campus lots back onto campus. If the idea is to build a 40k (or larger) stadium on campus, that idea should be dead on arrival. "Moving day" on campus was brutal enough, but to quadruple the population flow??? No chance...

Your respect is duly noted. I think we'll end up disagreeing on this one. Fan bases across the country somehow manage to be able to drive far greater distances to their campuses. I think that we can manage it as well. As has been stated above, an on campus stadium is an investment in the future. Kids will be invested in attending games while on campus and many will continue to so as alums.

I think it can be done without a huge investment of road expansion. As I posted frequently on this board, Rutgers uses existing back roads effectively to move cars at the end of games by designating roads as dedicated exit routes and using both lanes. Army is an inconvenient drive along small winging road, yet they manage to get people in and out of their stadium. We could as well. That said it seems to me that technology park might well merit an investment in the supporting infra-structure. That would benefit the campus as well.

Keep in mind that we are all in agreement that the Rent is our home for the foreseeable future. It is a great place to see a game, comfortable with good site lines. But it does make sense, in my opinion, to identify an on campus stadium in our long term plans.

 

[huskypantz]

Your respect is duly noted. I think we'll end up disagreeing on this one. Fan bases across the country somehow manage to be able to drive far greater distances to their campuses. I think that we can manage it as well. As has been stated above, an on campus stadium is an investment in the future. Kids will be invested in attending games while on campus and many will continue to so as alums.

I think it can be done without a huge investment of road expansion. As I posted frequently on this board, Rutgers uses existing back roads effectively to move cars at the end of games by designating roads as dedicated exit routes and using both lanes. Army is an inconvenient drive along small winging road, yet they manage to get people in and out of their stadium. We could as well. That said it seems to me that technology park might well merit an investment in the supporting infra-structure. That would benefit the campus as well.

Keep in mind that we are all in agreement that the Rent is our home for the foreseeable future. It is a great place to see a game, comfortable with good site lines. But it does make sense, in my opinion, to identify an on campus stadium in our long term plans.

Army's traffic situation after games sucks. Please don't use that as a standard for us.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is never going to be a 50k+ stadium in Storrs. Not in 10 years, not in 20 years, not in 50 years. That decision was made by the small town, small minds of the residents of the greater Storrs metropolitan area. The minute the NIMBY stuff popped up in the 80's should have also been the moment the state decided not another nickel would go into the Storrs campus. I think UConn should have been moved to Hartford before UConn 2000. Now that the state has spent close to $3 billion on campus over the last 20 years, everyone is all in on that place and forced to deal with the morons who live out there.

There will never be a highway or even a widening of 195. Too expensive and the bumpkins can tie it up in court for decades. No highway access, no football stadium.

 

[SubbaBub]

There is never going to be a 50k+ stadium in Storrs. Not in 10 years, not in 20 years, not in 50 years. That decision was made by the small town, small minds of the residents of the greater Storrs metropolitan area. The minute the NIMBY stuff popped up in the 80's should have also been the moment the state decided not another nickel would go into the Storrs campus. I think UConn should have been moved to Hartford before UConn 2000. Now that the state has spent close to $3 billion on campus over the last 20 years, everyone is all in on that place and forced to deal with the morons who live out there.

There will never be a highway or even a widening of 195. Too expensive and the bumpkins can tie it up in court for decades. No highway access, no football stadium.

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems, convert Storrs to ECSU (renamed to UConn - Mansfield focused back to agro and libral arts) and build a new main campus in East Hartford. Close UC-hartford, combine CCSU and SCSU, expand WCSU.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems, convert Storrs to ECSU (renamed to UConn - Mansfield focused back to agro and libral arts) and build a new main campus in East Hartford. Close UC-hartford, combine CCSU and SCSU, expand WCSU.

You haven't seen the Storrs campus in a long time, have you?

 

[CL82]

Army's traffic situation after games sucks. Please don't use that as a standard for us.

I've never had trouble getting out of Michie. I have gotten caught on the way in but other commitments kept me from leaving early enough. In the end, that's the key isn't it? Give yourself enough time, get in early and enjoy the tailgate. Problem solved.

 

[hthusky74]

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems, convert Storrs to ECSU (renamed to UConn - Mansfield focused back to agro and libral arts) and build a new main campus in East Hartford. Close UC-hartford, combine CCSU and SCSU, expand WCSU.

Not happening. They are, however, looking to have each of the state u campuses become flagships in their own right: CCSU-Bus/Tech, WCSU-Arts, SCSU-Health, and ECSU-Education. They said they won't dramatically reduce the number of majors offered at each school, but that it could happen on a limited basis.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems...

Quite the contrary, as in polar opposite. The factual plan is to further enable UCONN to distance itself as the state's flagship STEM research institution, and to align itself closer with Michigan, UVA, CAL, etc.

Over time, the directional, former state colleges now comprising their separate system may end up specializing in certain disciplines.

 

[huskypantz]

I've never had trouble getting out of Michie. I have gotten caught on the way in but other commitments kept me from leaving early enough. In the end, that's the key isn't it? Give yourself enough time, get in early and enjoy the tailgate. Problem solved.

Hmm, maybe I just picked a bad game. The UConn-Army game (yes, we sold out our allotment) back in 2005 was a lot of fun. It took our bus over an hour to get from the parking lot to the "highway" - it was a long ride home.

 

[Hoophound]

Has CCSU improved a lot in recent years? I know a few people with bachelors degrees from very good schools that then got a masters at CCSU. They have CCSU as their alma mater on social media and Linkedin. I found it odd that they'd put CCSU on there in place of NYU etc. unless it's rep has really improved.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The only people that want an on campus stadium are the students who show up late and can't be counted on and a handful of people on the Boneyard.

The Rent is so accessible to every part of the state and is in the middle of one of the largest population centers in the state.

You make the stadium harder to get to for 90 percent of the fan base and people simply aren't going to show up.

It's not feasible, practical and kills off a lot of our season ticket base in one swoop.

 

[whaler11]

Has CCSU improved a lot in recent years? I know a few people with bachelors degrees from very good schools that then got a masters at CCSU. They have CCSU as their alma mater on social media and Linkedin. I found it odd that they'd put CCSU on there in place of NYU etc. unless it's rep has really improved.

I know this much of the dozens of college grads I've hired over the last decade the ones from Central have turned out as well as the ones from UConn, Bryant, Bentley, Holy Cross, UMass, Providence and Hartford.

The single best employee I've ever had was a Central grad by way of Sacred Heart.

I've done really well with Eastern grads too, but their campus support is terrible when it comes to generating candidates. These days the only campuses I even contact when I have positions are Central and UConn.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Has CCSU improved a lot in recent years? I know a few people with bachelors degrees from very good schools that then got a masters at CCSU. They have CCSU as their alma mater on social media and Linkedin. I found it odd that they'd put CCSU on there in place of NYU etc. unless it's rep has really improved.

Central may have improved some, but social media sites often select or highlight the last education versus the more prominent or ranked university.

 

[UConnDan97]

Central may have improved some, but social media sites often select or highlight the last education versus the more prominent or ranked university.

I'll go one step further; social sites (and candidates' resumes) often list the highest level degree first, since the presumption is that the highest degree in the field of choice is what you are leveraging for your expertise. I'm in a similar situation, where I got my undergrad degree from UConn and my M.S. from a small private college. On the resume and on LinkedIn, it shows the private college first. Of course, in conversation, I tell people I went to UConn. Those were the most "formative" years anyways...

 

[Hoophound]

Ah. I only have a bachelors so I didn't think about Facebook etc. automatically highlighting the most recently attended or grad school.

As far as Whaler's comments about Central grads, I believe it. Most everyone I know that went there has done very well. Most are hard workers that had jobs during school and were pretty mature for their age at the time. Central has a world of potential. I think the campus is in an awesome location for college kids. They really should embrace campus life and work on getting kids to stay there on the weekends.

I have found that Babson and Bryant do a great job helping their students get jobs and they produce good prospects. Very practical curriculum at both schools.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems, convert Storrs to ECSU (renamed to UConn - Mansfield focused back to agro and libral arts) and build a new main campus in East Hartford. Close UC-hartford, combine CCSU and SCSU, expand WCSU.

Any move like that had to have been made by the late 80's. Too late now.

I do think a move should have been made to either make Hartford the main branch or make them co-branches of the same university in the late 80's. $3 billion poured into UConn Hartford the last 20 years would have gone a long way, and shut up the morons that live in the greater Mansfield area. I think UConn would be more appealing to out of state students in a city and would attract more business involvement.

We are where we are. If we want a FBS football program, it has to play in East Hartford. There is no way to get 50k people in and out of Storrs on gameday. The traffic before and after the game would bring 5 towns into gridlock.

 

[LIUCHusky]

Any move like that had to have been made by the late 80's. Too late now.

I do think a move should have been made to either make Hartford the main branch or make them co-branches of the same university in the late 80's. $3 billion poured into UConn Hartford the last 20 years would have gone a long way, and shut up the morons that live in the greater Mansfield area. I think UConn would be more appealing to out of state students in a city and would attract more business involvement.

We are where we are. If we want a FBS football program, it has to play in East Hartford. There is no way to get 50k people in and out of Storrs on gameday. The traffic before and after the game would bring 5 towns into gridlock.

UConn has no trouble attracting out of state students. With an upgrade in highway infrastructure there would be very few problems associated with traffic on game day.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I think UConn would be more appealing to out of state students in a city and would attract more business involvement. We are where we are. If we want a FBS football program, it has to play in East Hartford.

On top of LIUCHusky's factual statement UCONN has no trouble attracting out-of-state students, they are high caliber, pay more so they indirectly subsidize in-state students, and the university caps the percentage from outside CT at 25%. You are correct, no one's moving from The Rent.

 

[Fishy]

As someone who went to UConn as an out-of-stater, I would have to agree - I was high-caliber and I did pay more.

You all benefitted from my presence at your state university.

You are welcome.

 

[Bill Sussman]

As someone who went to UConn as an out-of-stater, I would have to agree - I was high-caliber and I did pay more.

You all benefitted from my presence at your state university.

You are welcome.

The short of it, I concur.

As someone who also went to UConn as an out of stater. I am the highest caliber but I didn't pay a cent more because UConn opened up its pretty purse and gave me some of that sweet sweet scholarship money. My first year was essentially pay for play to compensate me for my school work domination. The endorsement money was rolling in as I worked minimum wage in the admissions office. They sliced some money away after year one but I never paid more than in state tuition.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

The short of it, I concur. As someone who also went to UConn as an out of stater.

Sure, but the high caliber characterization is a far more recent development for many out-of-state UCONN students. A few exceptions existed, but most auslanders used to be at UCONN either due to sports or the New England Land Grant schools' exchange / cooperation program. Of course, most in-state students were equally shiett faced and didn't mind chugging brews paid by some Jersey punks' parents. No harm, no foul. )

 

[SubbaBub]

You haven't seen the Storrs campus in a long time, have you?

Actually, I have. I can assure you, for all the work they put into it, it's still a mess from a campus planning perspective. A colleague once say it best. Normally, you'd want campus buildings to have two front facades, at UConn many have two backs.

What this means is that previous expansions/remodels put very little thought into how the buildings and public spaces interact with one another. They simply filled empty space.

The creation of the Fairfield Way pedestrian east-west spine was a very basic idea. What's the north/south version? How does one get from the Jungle to the South Campus? How many roads and loading docks must you cross?

The North Garage and the South Garage are in about the worst possible spots imaginable. The access from 32 and Hunting Lodge Rd is horrible.

How does a major university not acquire prime land that currently houses a trailer park? Or allow a state road (N. Eagleville) to divide it's campus, especially one with a history of fatal accidents?

Where is the greenspace? Most campuses have lawns and quads for students to gather, recreate, and study. UConn has a beach volleyball court and a putting green for the south campus.

Why are the Hilltop residences and Charter Oak apta essentially cut off from the rest of campus for pedestrians?

I could go on, but I'd probably have to charge you.

 

[upstater]

Whether a bigger road or stadium gets built, it all depends on UConn's ambition. I've seen smaller and longer roads leading to much bigger universities. So the "impossible" predictions made by some here have already happened elsewhere. If the university is really to expand by 10k students, the area will need new infrastructure.

 

[babysheep]

Where is the greenspace?

Oh I dunno, this place called the Great Lawn? The massive South quad? The area in between Beach and CLAS? Our two lakes? The nostalgic North quad? The quad behind the library? The still fully viable, to-be-untouched space behind the Union? Seriously to any alum/student these are no-brainers...did you even attend?

How does one get from North to South? Spend a weekend on campus and you'll figure it out.

They're building this massive parking garage right on 195, in this palce called the Storrs Center, not sure if you've heard of it. North and South garages are great locations for what they accomplish for daily student and faculty needs. 32 and Hunting Lodge aren't exactly near campus.

Hilltop and Charter Oak are not cut off if you're not a fat slob opposed to walking up a hill for 5 minutes.

There are aesthetic changes that could be made but that's about it in my opinion. I've always thought that UConn was a super navigable campus.

 

[Fishy]

The move is to combine the UConn and State university systems, convert Storrs to ECSU (renamed to UConn - Mansfield focused back to agro and libral arts) and build a new main campus in East Hartford. Close UC-hartford, combine CCSU and SCSU, expand WCSU.

lol.

No.

 

[CAHUSKY]

Did UCONN seriously not have a master plan in place already? That's hard to imagine.

 

[UCONNJACK]

Did UCONN seriously not have a master plan in place already? That's hard to imagine.

New administration=New Master Plan. There have been multi master plans developed over the past twenty years

 

[huskymedic]

Did UCONN seriously not have a master plan in place already? That's hard to imagine.

Pick one... http://www.masterplan.uconn.edu/storrs.html

 

[CAHUSKY]

New administration=New Master Plan. There have been multi master plans developed over the past twenty years

A new plan with each administration? That wouldn't constitute a "master plan" to me. A master plan, in my experience, would be a long term plan overseen by the board of trustees (or whatever UCONN calls them) and each administration would be a steward of that plan. It may require updating but an absolutely new master plan with every administration would indicate no master plan but a series of short term 3 t0 5 year plans with no guiding document.

 

[specialisthusky]

A new plan with each administration? That wouldn't constitute a "master plan" to me. A master plan, in my experience, would be a long term plan overseen by the board of trustees (or whatever UCONN calls them) and each administration would be a steward of that plan. It may require updating but an absolutely new master plan with every administration would indicate no master plan but a series of short term 3 t0 5 year plans with no guiding document.

I beleive the Tech Park concludes 21st Century Uconn which was the master plan the new one will replace.