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USG gives a vote of 'no confidence' to Board of Trustees for tuition decision
Kate Monohan
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: News
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A vote of no confidence simply means that USG believes that the Board of Trustees ignored the student voice when they chose a lower tuition increase than USG recommended, said Samuel Greenberg, a 7th-semester political science and journalism double major and member of the External Affairs committee
USG will send a formal letter to the board notifying them of their decision.
USG favored an 8.6 percent tuition increase, and felt that the Board of Trustees ignored its recommendation.
They also spent more than half of the meeting discussing a vote of no confidence against Gov. M. Jodi Rell, which was eventually voted down.
Seamus Keating, chairperson of USG's External Affairs committee and an 8th-semester political science major, proposed the votes of no confidence against Rell and the board because he thought she had done "back-door" deals to sway the board.
Funding Board Chair Jared Ashmore said that Rell didn't want to increase tuition at all, and the 6 percent was a compromise. The trustees were "strong-armed" by Rell because she has the ability to cut UConn's funding, Ashmore said.
"What really is at issue here is the way that it [Rell's alleged board lobbying] occurred," Keating said. "She truly abused her power."
According to Speaker of the Senate Corey Schmitt, the two student trustees opposed the 6 percent increase, while all of the other members approved it.
"There's lots of smoke, and someone's holding a gun here," Greenberg said.
Comptroller Jason Ortiz pointed out that Rell isn't in a position to retaliate by decreasing UConn's funding, and USG members should not be afraid to send her a message of disapproval.
Some senators thought that there was no evidence showing them Rell had lobbied the Trustees to vote her way, and Keating was relying on third-party information.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Zbigniew J Grabowski
posted 3/19/09 @ 3:05 PM EST
Forgive me if I'm seriously off my rocker here, but does something seem to be seriously amiss here? The fact that USG would favor a LARGER tuition increase than passed by the board of trustees leaves me with no choice but to lean towards having no confidence in my student government. (Continued…)
Look beyond what is written
posted 3/19/09 @ 7:59 PM EST
The problem is not in your analysis, friend. It is in the article. The actual reason that this happened has little to do with the numbers or the amount the tuition was raised - rather, HOW it was gone about. (Continued…)
uconn'12
it's not about the numbers
posted 3/20/09 @ 1:04 AM EST
After reading the first comment left to this article, I was simply aggravated. The proposition (vote of no confidence) is what this article is about. We will never agree on what amount tuition should be raised for 09-10. (Continued…)
JoeC
posted 3/21/09 @ 5:17 AM EST
A few comments are in order.
First, a historical perspective is useful. During a previous effort to raise tuition in the late 1980's-early 1990's, there were enough vigorous student protests to get the statewide press coverage. (Continued…)
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