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Students, faculty and health professionals warn proposed budget cuts threaten UConn, CSUs and community colleges
Summary
Hundreds of students, faculty and hospital clinicians told the Appropriations subcommittee cutting state support for UConn, UConn Health and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities would reduce student services, research capacity and nursing and allied‑health training, and urged permanent funding solutions amid federal grant uncertainty.
Students, faculty, union leaders and health professionals spent hours at the Higher Education Subcommittee hearing urging lawmakers to restore or increase state funding for the University of Connecticut (UConn), UConn Health, the Connecticut State Universities (CSUs) and the Connecticut State Community College (CT State) system.
Lorien Toupontz, undergraduate student body president at UConn Storrs, told legislators, "UConn is a vital organ to Connecticut," and said state investments in the flagship university return money and jobs to the state economy. Several UConn students described personal hardship that federal and state aid helped them overcome: Justin Guinta said UConn enabled him to graduate debt‑free after earning many scholarships, and Zachary Buda described his work on campus and plans to remain in higher education.
Faculty and research staff warned cuts would also imperil research and clinical capacity at UConn Health. Nathan Adler, a UConn faculty researcher, told the committee that recent federal funding threats — specifically the proposed cap on negotiated indirect cost rates for NIH grants — would create large shortfalls if enacted, and that state support is needed to offset any loss. Ian McNeil, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at UConn Health, said the medical center has expanded clinical capacity and training but that the governor's proposed reductions would put that growth at risk.
Community college students and staff described lost campus services and staff vacancies. Leanne Zalewski, a CSU faculty member, and multiple CT State students cited closed library hours, fewer tutors, shrinking advising and constrained mental‑health services. Administrators and faculty urged expansion of the state's PACT/Mary Ann Handley program beyond community colleges to state universities as a way to prevent tuition‑driven attrition.
Union leaders and graduate students called for stable, permanent funding. Wynn Gadkar Wilcox, academic department chair and legislative committee chair for CSU AAUP, warned that multi‑year cuts would force program closures and layoffs. Members of graduate unions at UConn said increases in fees and parking costs had already placed new burdens on students and researchers.
Ending
Witnesses did not record any committee motions or votes during the hearing. Many asked the legislature to use the budget process to protect research dollars, preserve student support services, and consider alternatives to the current funding guardrails so higher education receives stable support going forward.
