UConn president tells trustees historic budget deficit requires broad cuts; academic programs with low enrollment could be eliminated

With UConn facing the largest projected budget deficit in its history, the board of trustees approved a budget for the coming fiscal year that cuts four athletic programs and girds the university for reductions in academics and residential occupancy.

“Beyond the health and safety challenges, we continue to face unprecedented financial challenges as a result of the global pandemic,” university president Thomas Katsouleas said during the teleconference board of trustees meeting Wednesday morning.

The approved budget for the 2021 fiscal year, which projects a deficit of between $47 million and $129 million, recommends drastic measures to address UConn’s staggering revenue losses. The UConn athletic department, tasked with shearing $10 million from its budget, will cut the men’s cross country, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and women’s rowing programs after the 2020-2021 year.

Other cost-saving measures will likely include increasing class sizes and reducing or eliminating academic programs with low enrollment.

UConn has proposed bringing students back to campus in the fall through a hybrid of online and in-person learning, with masks required for public spaces and other COVID-19 safety measures. In-person learning is scheduled to end at Thanksgiving, with the final two weeks of classes and exams held online.

Enrollment projections are still in flux, as the university prepares for a range of scenarios, from the best-case scenario that classes proceed on campus (an estimated $46.6 million in revenue losses), to the worst-case scenario that the semester is conducted online (an estimated $128.6 million in revenue losses).

UConn received $10 million to offset coronavirus-related expenses through the federal CARES Act but that amounts to just $300 per student and was not enough to cover even the increased costs from the spring semester, which included $30 million in housing and dining plan refunds after students were sent home in mid-March.

Katsouleas told the trustees that while remote learning was effective this past spring, it is “clearly not what our students, our parents and our faculty are interested in receiving and delivering.” There is a “high value” placed on the residential university experience, he added.

Enabling on-campus learning hinges on reducing the density of classrooms and residential dorms. Officials said that that they were preparing for 70% occupancy in on-campus housing, which could mean that some students may lose their housing assignments for the fall.

Preparing to reopen

Following its phased reopening plan, UConn resumed research operations in late May and athletic pilot programs are scheduled to return over the course of the summer. Residential students are expected to return during the second week of August, to allow for testing and a two-week quarantine period before classes start Aug. 31.

Reopening campuses remains dependent on the university’s ability to meet gating conditions developed by the state, including adequate supplies of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer, contact tracing abilities and surge capacity in nearby hospitals, said Associate Vice President of Public Safety Hans Rynhart.

Katsouleas warned that with students, staff and faculty traveling in and out, there is no way to entirely safeguard a college campus against the virus. Instead, the university must “assume that some virus will come in” and institute measures to ensure that it does not spread, from contact tracing to designated quarantine areas.

Implementing social distancing entails some challenges. In most classrooms, maintaining six feet of distance between students means that rooms can only reach 30% capacity, said Provost Carl W. Lejuez.

At Storrs, while apartment and suite-style living make social distancing more possible, traditional dorms pose greater issues and would be only 50% filled, said Dean of Students Eleanor Daugherty.

“We have never closed our residential experience for students despite [COVID-19] … we’re going to continue to do that as we head into the fall,” she said. About a thousand students remained safely on campus during the spring, she added.

Due to reduced occupancy in dorms, some students could lose their housing assignments for the fall, Daugherty said, though the university will work closely with such students, who would still be able to attend classes on campus.

“Housing is yes or no, but there is a lot of flexibility in how we accommodate the academic needs,” she said.

Bracing for enrollment declines

Whether the semester is on campus, online, or a hybrid of the two, the university anticipates enrollment declines and revenue losses. If classes are held on campus, UConn estimates increases in new in-state and out-of-state students but a 75% reduction in new international students. And if classes are online, the university projects a slight decrease in new in-state students, a 40% reduction in new out-of-state students and a 65% reduction in new international students.

Katsouleas said that the loss of in-state revenue — which could amount to as much as $8 million — is somewhat uncertain, given that many in-state students have expressed their commitment to the university, while others may still opt for gap years.

But the loss of many international students — estimated at $13 million in revenue — seems inevitable, since “we kind of know which students are out of the country and are unable to matriculate for the first time,” he said.

UConn compensated for the loss of international students in part by admitting more out-of-state students, which could result in a $9 million gain if classes are on campus — or an $18 million loss if classes are online.

Still, Katsouleas said UConn had received a strong number of deposits and the number of new undergraduates at the Storrs and regional campuses has largely met or exceeded target numbers, which he called a “positive sign.”

“We have done extremely well. This is not completely surprising to me. During times of financial crisis, there is a rush to value … applicants tend to prefer public flagship universities,” he said.

Fiscal challenges at UConn Health

UConn Health has also seen revenue tumble due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a projected $102.3 million to $188.5 million operating loss for the coming year.

Even as the hospital was on the frontlines fighting the pandemic, for months it was losing about a million dollars a day due to the cancellation of elective surgeries and routine procedures, said Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, the chief executive officer of UConn Health.

“Even though we have resumed our services, with elective surgeries, et cetera, we don’t expect to be back to full services until probably April of next year,” he said.

Eliza Fawcett can be reached at elfawcett@courant.com.