FAC hears enrollment gains, reserve questions and several legislative items at March meeting

At its March meeting, the Faculty/Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Connecticut Board of Regents met online to approve past minutes, review systemwide enrollment data and raise questions about the system’s reserve balance, and discuss several items now before the Connecticut General Assembly, including expansion of the Mary Anne Hanley award to the state universities and a higher-education bill on faculty ratios.

The discussion opened with procedural business: committee members moved to approve the December minutes and adopted the meeting agenda. The motion to approve the December minutes was moved by Laurie (committee member) and seconded by John (committee member); one speaker stated, “I abstain because I wasn’t there.” The agenda was moved by Mark (committee member) and seconded by Laurie and adopted with no further roll-call objections recorded in the transcript.

Committee members then summarized data presented earlier at the Academic and Student Affairs (ASA) meeting. Lloyd Blanchard, identified in the meeting as the system chief financial officer, was cited as attributing recent enrollment increases to a post-pandemic rebound. Highlights cited to the committee included: roughly one-third of CT State students are first-generation students, about one-quarter of university students are first-generation, the system is majority-minority, and around 42% of students systemwide receive Pell grants (44% at CT State community colleges, 43% at Charter Oak, 39% at the universities). Retention rates reported were 65% at CT State and 77% at the Connecticut State…