Faculty, students want new UConn president with clear vision
STORRS, Conn. --As the University of Connecticut prepares to find a new president, faculty and students say they want a dynamic leader with a clear vision.
UConn Board of Trustees Chairman John Rowe, who will lead the search committee, said he wants someone to continue the dramatic transformation that Philip E. Austin started.
Austin announced last week that he will retire in September after a decade at UConn. The search for a replacement is expected to start within a few weeks.
"I think we are on a trajectory for true national leadership and the path to that lies in academic excellence," Rowe said. "We are in the midst of completing the physical transformation of the university and have begun a critically important phase of recruiting additional faculty and further strengthening our research and academic programs. We need a leader well-suited to this task."
Higher Education Commissioner Valerie F. Lewis said strengthening research is key.
"We need a leader who will recognize the importance of research to our state -- since UConn is the one and only public research university in our state -- and therefore build even stronger partnerships with business," she said.
Students said they want someone with a vision for the future who will listen to them.
"I'd like to see a new president seeking a diverse range of opinions and thoughts and general ideas of how to bring UConn further along from where it is now," said UConn student body President Andrew Marone, 21, of Hamden.
Professors want someone who will expand the faculty.
"We need faculty members. Our student quality is fabulous. We need to match it with the numbers of faculty," said Debra A. Kendall, a professor of molecular and cell biology.
And civic leaders said they want someone who will continue to work on the sometimes-contentious relationship between the school and the town. They're now working together to build a new town center that will be more appealing to students.
"Under Phil Austin, we've come a long way and we're now very well-positioned," said State Rep. Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield. "We have to be very strategic going forward. We need someone who has a vision of the needs of the state and vision of where the country should go to provide higher education for the next generation."
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Information from: The Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com
