The University of Connecticut hosted its first university senate meeting of the academic year on Sept. 8 to discuss UConn’s record enrollment, housing and federal executive orders.
The university senate meets on the first available Monday of each month in the Student Union, beginning at 4 p.m. Senators include undergraduate and graduate students, professors, directors and other prominent figures of UConn. The senate votes on resolutions, by-laws and other matters to be presented to the board of trustees for approval. All senate meetings are open to the public, although public comment is not permitted.
The 2025-2026 senate includes multiple Undergraduate Student Government leaders as senators. Vice President Haritha Subramanian, Comptroller Billy Lipinski and Chief Diversity Officer Phoenix Harper all attended the meeting as senators. USG President Andy Zhang, while a senator, was not in attendance.
The senate meeting began at 4:02 p.m., as called by UConn President Radenka Maric, who attended the meeting virtually. The first order of business was to elect a moderator and a secretary for the year. The senate unanimously elected Del Siegle of Neag’s Educational Psychology department to the role of moderator and Christine North of Neag’s Curriculum and Instruction department to the role of secretary. Both Siegle and North held these same positions for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Siegle took over moderation of the senate meeting and began with a land acknowledgement before beginning a 10-minute roll call of senators. After the approval of the minutes, Maric began her presidential report.
Maric thanked the senators for their work and noted that the 2025-2026 freshman class is UConn’s largest in history. She added that the university was also able to provide financial aid to over 6,000 students, many of whom are first generation, despite the school’s decrease in federal funding.
Senator Andrew Bush asked Maric about May’s “Resolution to Work in Mutual Defense of Academic Freedom, Free Expression, Institutional Integrity, and the Research Enterprise,” which had passed the senate unanimously by voice vote but was not implemented.
“We request that the President, Provost, and Senior Leadership provide updates to the Senate Executive Committee and Senate with a speed and frequency appropriate to the ongoing urgency of the national situation,” the resolution said. The resolution also proposed sharing resources with other public and land grant state institutions.
Chief of Staff to the President Michelle Williams explained that the administration could not support the resolution during this time, as the university instead has been focusing its attention of more pressing issues. Williams called out research and student programs as two of the areas UConn has been focusing on in regard to federal executive orders.
Associate Vice President for Budget, Planning and Institutional Research Reka Wrynn described these decisions as “belt-tightening activities” that have decreased the university deficit. She said she was “optimistic” about addressing the resolution but that the university has not reached that point.
Chair to the Executive Senate Committee Robert Day was next given the floor for a discussion of the actions the committee had taken over the summer. He noted that the committee has been looking for ways to increase communication between the senate and UConn executives, specifically on topics of budgets and other monetary issues. Day also congratulated former UConn Provost Anne D’Alleva on her new position as the next president of Binghamton University.
“Binghamton will be fortunate to have her as the next president,” Day said.
Day also indicated a need for the senate to draft a resolution on how the university should approach programs designed to address racism. According to Day, these programs are now illegal. This includes a proposed Anti-Black Racism (ABR) course.
Senator Alvaro Lozano-Robledo asked Day if UConn should evaluate the common core curriculum requirement that students take a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion course as a part of the Content Area Four: Diversity and Multiculturalism requirement.
Day stated that, as there are a wide variety of courses offered under Content Area Four that are not all specifically related to DEI, UConn is not worried about the requirement.
Vice President for Student Life and Enrollment Nathan Fuerst began a presentation on new undergraduate students at UConn. Fuerst noted that the new class of freshmen at Storrs are the “most diverse” and “most qualified” class in UConn history, with high average test scores and with 27.8% of the class being first-generation students.
Fuerst stated that the Stamford campus had the “largest intake [of students] ever,” while the Hartford campus saw a decline in enrollment compared to previous years, which he attributed to a loss of regional campus housing options.
He added that while UConn will continue to prioritize first year and transfer students in the housing program, the university still cannot guarantee housing for older students. However, the university hopes to open up permanent housing for Hartford students on Pratt Street next year.
UConn has also seen a decrease in the number of international students enrolling, which Fuerst attributed to the current political environment. He stated that the university has had to offer more financial aid to international students as the market shifts in order to entice them to enroll at UConn.
Senator Beth Ginsberg raised concerns about the amount of space available at Hartford, citing cramped classrooms and an art gallery that was “chopped into a third of what it used to be.”
Binghamton will be fortunate to have her as the next president.
Robert Day, Chair to the Executive Senate Committee
Fuerst stated that the university will need to do more strategic planning to solve the issue of space in Hartford, but that it is a problem he is aware of.
Fuerst’s team is working with Facilities Operations to improve the amenities of UConn dorms, a change that is “desperately needed” according to Fuerst. This includes air conditioning and bathroom improvements.
The meeting then transitioned to a presentation from Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School Leslie Shor. She noted that there is a rise in the number of students in the master’s program, but a drop in the number of Ph.D. students, which Shor contributed as possibly being related to budget issues as some departments may not have the money to hire Ph.D. students as teaching assistants.
Shor also raised the possibility of a new problem facing UConn in the form of international visas. The Trump administration proposed a rule change in August, which would limit the amount of time an international student visa would allow, with a four-year cap, according to CNN.
There have been talks of the federal government limiting master’s degree students to two-year visas and Ph.D. students to four-year visas, according to Shor.
After Shor concluded her presentation, Siegle adjourned the senate meeting at 5:20 p.m.
This post was updated on Sept. 10 to a correct a mistake wrongfully stating that Christine North works in the Chemistry department.