Spring Break
Hogan Looks Forward To Changes In UConn's Future
Kate King
Issue date: 5/11/08 Section: News
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"Generally speaking, I haven't had many disappointments this year," Hogan said.
One thing that Hogan does regret is that the state budget for the university will not be as high as he had anticipated due to the current economic recession.
UConn had asked for $1 million this year for new faculty, Hogan said. The money would have been used to decrease the student to faculty ratio and to expand UConn's Honors Program by 40 percent over the next five years.
Earlier in the year, Hogan had expected that UConn would be granted the money by the state for this faculty expansion, but due to the current state of the economy, he is now less hopeful.
Despite this disappointment, Hogan has a very positive impression of his first year as head of the Huskies.
"I don't think it could have gone better," Hogan said. "I've enjoyed every single minute. I haven't had a bad day in eight months."
When he arrived on campus in September, the first thing that struck Hogan about UConn was the New England landscape.
"I thought the campus was beautiful," Hogan said, adding that he loved the sprawling, spacious layout of the university and the changing colors of the fall season.
He also noticed, however, that Storrs lacks a college-town community. This was a change from the University of Iowa, where Hogan was executive vice-president and provost before coming to UConn and which has a bustling town encircling the university.
A college town would not only enliven the Storrs campus but also help recruit new students to the university, Hogan said. For this reason, he is looking forward to the Mansfield Downtown Project, which has drawn up plans for a town center in Storrs, and which Hogan estimates may be complete in 10 to 12 years after it passes through state bureaucratic lines.
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