Interim Vice President for Finance Speaks on University Deficit at USG Senate 

Interim Vice President for Finance Reka Wrynn announced to the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) on Wednesday that the University of Connecticut had reduced its budget deficit from $37.9 million to $12.6 million, adding that tuition and fees were likely to increase. 

“We don’t have those exact amounts yet, but yeah, it’s inflation,” Wrynn said. “The cost of things goes up. But I will say that the university is committed to any time we increase tuition and fees that there is an increase in the financial aid bucket.” 

The university is in the process of implementing what Wrynn called a financial sustainability plan consisting of three key pillars: growing enrollment, resource reallocation and personnel optimization and reduction, adding that the “guiding principle” of these initiatives was to keep students from being “negatively impacted.” 

“We want to hear back from you,” Wrynn said. “If you know you’re being negatively impacted, we want to hear that, so you know certainly we’ll look into them.”  

Wrynn announced that UConn plans to increase enrollment by 4,000 students over the next five years. Multiple senators questioned this initiative, citing a housing crisis on the Storrs campus along with shrinking access to amenities like areas for students to study. 

Wrynn said that there was no housing crisis at UConn, saying there were plenty of empty beds available across UConn’s multiple campuses. 

“Don’t believe everything you read. We have plenty of empty beds this year,” Wrynn said. “At the Storrs campus, in Stamford, in Hartford, we have empty beds right now. So, we would like to grow enrollment to fill those beds.”  

When pressed by one senator regarding the number of available beds on the Storrs campus, Wrynn said she believed there were roughly 550 available beds on the campus. Wrynn added that a private development just outside of campus was also underway to provide more housing for students, in addition to housing expansions at the Hartford and Stamford campuses. 

Other senators questioned Wrynn regarding student access to study spaces on campus, which Wrynn claims there are plenty of, according to data given to her by the Dean of the UConn Library. 

Senators challenged Wrynn’s claim and said they frequently had to search every floor of the library to find space to study. One senator brought forward concerns about the accessibility of spaces known as study pods, which are inaccessible to some students due to their raised nature. 

Wrynn added that resources would be reallocated to “our high priority areas,” to ensure they experience as little cuts as possible. 

A senator representing the African American Cultural Center (AACC) asked Wrynn why so many black organizations had experienced such large cuts to their budgets. Wrynn said it was because those organizations were not a part of those high priority areas. 

“Primarily non-academic funds were the funds that were swept,” Wrynn said. “I would have to dig into the specific case to see, you know, maybe to step back a little bit in that there’s only so much money, right, to spread around and things get more expensive every year, whether it’s the travel or whatever the event is that you’re looking to participate in.” 

Wrynn also spoke on UConn’s loss of federal research grants since the change in administration. The university had 63 of its grants terminated, which provided $41.3 million in funding for ongoing and future research. 

Wrynn said that UConn is in the process of shifting its research priorities to be in line with the priorities of the Trump administration, something she says is usually procedure. 

“We are pivoting as we do every four years when there’s a new administration,” Wrynn said. “We tend to pivot and realign our research priorities with the priorities of that administration and seek out research awards that are along uh those lines.” 

Those research priorities include national security, quantum information science, biosciences, artificial intelligence and health, wellness and quality of life, according to Wrynn. 

Senators asked Wrynn what UConn’s research priorities were during the Biden administration to make the shift in priorities clearer to students. Wrynn said she was not familiar with those priorities herself but said they were published somewhere online. 

A UConn Today article from September 2021 lists genomics and neuroscience, climate studies, cybersecurity, energy, personalized medicine, cancer detection and care, manufacturing innovations among others as previous research priorities. 

In addition to federal cuts, Wrynn mentioned the constant funding risk from the state government, which can reduce UConn’s funding by up to five percent without the approval of the legislature, according to her. 

“That’s always a risk in our budget,” Wrynn said. “If they should choose to do that throughout the year for any given reason, then that would create an additional reduction in our budget. And so, we just continue to remind people of that risk.” 

State funding dropped to $268.2 million in Fiscal Year 26 from $319.5 in Fiscal Year 25. $95.7 million, or 18% of FY 25 funds were denoted as temporary support. 

Wrynn said the university expected another $15 million decrease in state funding for FY 27 but had submitted a request for $12 million to be put back into permanent funding. 

While the university is operating under a deficit this financial year, Wrynn said that UConn still had the funds to cover current expenses for the time being. 

According to Wrynn, the university has a balance of cash funds set aside for circumstances like this, similar to a savings account. But those funds are limited according to Wrynn.  

“As you all know, when you spend that money down from your savings account, that’s one time funding,” Wrynn said. “It can Band-Aid the problem for one year, but once you spend it, it’s gone. And so, it doesn’t solve any problems.”