UCONN's Future

[John]

From a student standpoint, Herbst was awful. She is great in terms of boosting the reputation of UCONN but she really doesn't care about students. People can disagree all they want, but she is probably the least student-friendly president the school has had in a long time.

In terms of academic standings, many forget that the recession was the greatest driver of the climbing academic ratings. Connecticut has a lot of smart kids and good high schools - keeping them home due to cost was the biggest reason the rankings climbed. All you have to do is look at the ratings in 2005 and the ratings in 2010 before Herbst got here - they shoot up right around 2008 and continued to climb. She inherited a perfect storm.

She's captaining the Queen Mary, she doesn't have time to worry about how the deck chairs are arranged.

 

[hthusky74]

Lets see the University has a $40 million deficit, and they pay Hillary "Free Education For All" Clinton $250,000 to speak there. 'Nuff said.

 

[Samoo]

She doesn't relate well to students. She's pretty distant and really only spends time within the STEM programs. Friends of mine in physics, CS, etc. said she would stop by their classes and job fairs all the time yet she never showed her face to other departments. She has had some questionable stances in regards to incidents happening on campus and she never really backed the student body with regards to mistreatment of students by the UCPD.

UCPD is the true underlying issue with students as they pretty much have free reign to do whatever they want. I know a lot of people who were pulled over by them and searched without warrants and the issues have been brought up to USG and the administration yet they've never touched on the subject. There were a few incidents of police brutality while I was in school and she kept her nose out of it. Students don't feel like she has any interest in their day-day lives and I don't think she does either.

Jesus, I went to a school of 1,600 students and wouldn't have known the President if I had tripped over him (and I tripped over a lot of things and people that I vaguely recognized during those 4 years). As to the UCPD, campus cops have always sucked. They have an inferiority complex because they aren't real cops.

 

[Carl Spackler]

All of you are forgetting the three most important functions of a university president.

1. Provide competitive sports teams for the alumni
2. Provide lots of teaching assistants so that senior faculty can minimize the time they spend in the class room
3. Provide s safe environment where undergraduates can get drunk, high and have sex.

LOL. That's not going to be on the next president's report to the BOT of any college, but it's hard to argue against.

 

[UConn9604]

All of you are forgetting the three most important functions of a university president.

1. Provide competitive sports teams for the alumni
2. Provide lots of teaching assistants so that senior faculty can minimize the time they spend in the class room
3. Provide s safe environment where undergraduates can get drunk, high and have sex.

You laugh - I once heard a notable former UConn President who shall remain nameless share the best advice he received upon taking the job, from another university president: "you will succeed if you provide football tickets for the alumni, parking for the faculty and sex for the students." True story.

 

[HuskyHawk]

College students are so pampered and coddled now. All we got on arrival at UConn was a cinder block room, crappy furniture and if you were willing to go get it, a gallon of cheap paint. No food on weekends, no internet, no cable, no AC (but more heat than you needed and no way to adjust it).

I always viewed that as a positive, to jolt kids who had it easy with their parents into seeing a sliver of the real world. I say a sliver, because with food and shelter, you still were taken care of. Now college kids live in accommodations that are as nice or nicer than their family homes. Free gym, everything they could ever need.

As for the President, students aren't supposed to interact with them. I never did and didn't count that as a negative.

 

[John Greene]

You laugh - I once heard a notable former UConn President who shall remain nameless share the best advice he received upon taking the job, from another university president: "you will succeed if you provide football tickets for the alumni, parking for the faculty and sex for the students." True story.

When I was young, naive and convinced that the world was a perfectible place, I would marvel at the cynicism of older people who thought like this. Now that I am old (fast approaching 70)and understand that 50% of success is just showing up, I marvel at the naivete of people who don't.

 

[Durks07]

Jesus, I went to a school of 1,600 students and wouldn't have known the President if I had tripped over him (and I tripped over a lot of things and people that I vaguely recognized during those 4 years). As to the UCPD, campus cops have always sucked. They have an inferiority complex because they aren't real cops.

You realize that they are in fact state troopers, right?

 

[JMick]

you can all talk about "back in my day" all you want, I'm just sharing the sentiment around campus by most students. Any time anyone says something bad about Herbst here they get attacked. Students don't like her. You can give all the reasons why they're "wrong" but it doesn't change the fact that students don't like her and that she doesn't seem to care about students. Right, wrong or indifferent, you can't change how people feel.

 

[JMick]

College students are so pampered and coddled now. All we got on arrival at UConn was a cinder block room, crappy furniture and if you were willing to go get it, a gallon of cheap paint. No food on weekends, no internet, no cable, no AC (but more heat than you needed and no way to adjust it).

I always viewed that as a positive, to jolt kids who had it easy with their parents into seeing a sliver of the real world. I say a sliver, because with food and shelter, you still were taken care of. Now college kids live in accommodations that are as nice or nicer than their family homes. Free gym, everything they could ever need.

As for the President, students aren't supposed to interact with them. I never did and didn't count that as a negative.

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” - Socrates

 

[UConn990411]

you can all talk about "back in my day" all you want, I'm just sharing the sentiment around campus by most students. Any time anyone says something bad about Herbst here they get attacked. Students don't like her. You can give all the reasons why they're "wrong" but it doesn't change the fact that students don't like her and that she doesn't seem to care about students. Right, wrong or indifferent, you can't change how people feel.

Nope. But we can tell you that your opinion will likely change after you graduate.

 

[UConn9604]

you can all talk about "back in my day" all you want, I'm just sharing the sentiment around campus by most students. Any time anyone says something bad about Herbst here they get attacked. Students don't like her. You can give all the reasons why they're "wrong" but it doesn't change the fact that students don't like her and that she doesn't seem to care about students. Right, wrong or indifferent, you can't change how people feel.

In recent history, Harry Hartley was beloved. He was a single guy, I think, and he loved horses, jogging with Jim Calhoun, and drinking at Ted's (true story). Phil Austin came in with a more professional attitude, and more experience outside of UConn than Hartley. I won't use the words "porcupine" but you had to get to know the guy to see that he had a sense of humor. Mike Hogan had that Midwestern charm but he was in and out with a flash, and I don't think he left much of an impression (except for those darn cutouts of himself that he purchased). Then Herbst came along, and she's been a bit of a bulldozer where need be, and just plain demands results.

Yet when all is said and done, history will rank those four in the order of Herbst, Austin, Hartley, Hogan, in my opinion, for their success at UConn. The extent to which the President relates to (or even interacts with) students is only a small part of their overall rating and performance. It's nice, but it's certainly not mandatory.

 

[JMick]

Nope. But we can tell you that your opinion will likely change after you graduate.

I'm 2 years removed from graduating. I was there when Herbst got there. I have friends on campus still and they still feel similarly. My thoughts on her haven't changed.

I'm not arguing her merits. I'm just saying she's unliked by students and many recent alum.

 

[UConn990411]

I'm 2 years removed from graduating. I was there when Herbst got there. I have friends on campus still and they still feel similarly. My thoughts on her haven't changed.

I'm not arguing her merits. I'm just saying she's unliked by students and many recent alum.

Not by anyone I know, but I'll agree to disagree.

 

[minidarren]

You realize that they are in fact state troopers, right?

I think if you said this to a state troopers face he would punch you in the throat and then taser your @$$. There is only one state trooper and that is the dudes who drive around in the unmarked cruisers not some college police department.

There is a reason why they are called the UCONN Police Department and not the Connecticut State Police.

 

[JMick]

I think if you said this to a state troopers face he would punch you in the throat and then taser your @$$. There is only one state trooper and that is the dudes who drive around in the unmarked cruisers not some college police department.

There is a reason why they are called the UCONN Police Department and not the Connecticut State Police.

They're a municipal police force employed by the state. They aren't "state troopers" but they're not a campus security force either. Might as well be, though, with the way they act.

 

[CL82]

Right, wrong or indifferent, you can't change how people feel.

Perhaps, but sometimes you can give them a broader perspective and how they "feel" will change on it's own.

 

[JMick]

Perhaps, but sometimes you can give them a broader perspective and how they "feel" will change on it's own.

Or she could stand up for the school and it's students instead of letting the town of Mansfield run roughshod over off-campus students and development. The town is unfriendly to students and she has done nothing to address the issue. It's funny because it's about to bite the school in the butt while the town tries to stall development.

 

[zls44]

I think if you said this to a state troopers face he would punch you in the throat and then taser your @$$. There is only one state trooper and that is the dudes who drive around in the unmarked cruisers not some college police department.

There is a reason why they are called the UCONN Police Department and not the Connecticut State Police.

They absolutely are state cops.

 

[CL82]

Or she could stand up for the school and it's students instead of letting the town of Mansfield run roughshod over off-campus students and development. The town is unfriendly to students and she has done nothing to address the issue. It's funny because it's about to bite the school in the butt while the town tries to stall development.

...

Perhaps, but sometimes you can give them a broader perspective and how they "feel" will change on it's own.

...and sometimes you can't.

 

[JMick]

...

...and sometimes you can't.

look, I can recognize that she has helped promote the image and has done good for the value of a UCONN degree.

It doesn't mean I have to like her and it doesn't mean she does well with regards to the daily life of students.

 

[minidarren]

They absolutely are state cops.

They are cops that are employees of the state. They are not state troopers.

They aren't even in the same union as the state police.

 

[minidarren]

• Connecticut General Statute 10a-156b; The jurisdiction of [the UConn Police Department] shall extend to the geographical limits of the property owned or under the control of the above institutions, and to property occupied by The University of Connecticut in the town of Mansfield.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

There have been issues with the toy cops on campus for as long as there have been toy cops on campus. This is neither new nor is it unique to UConn. There have been issues with the way the town of Mansfield views UConn for as long as there has been a UConn. This is not new even id it is unique to UConn.

I'm not sure why an undergrad would really care about how friendly the school's president is towards the run of the mill student but I am very confident that down the road you will be thrilled with the value she will continue to add to the degree you will hold from UConn long after you've graduated.

 

[BlueMAB]

UConn police are Municipal police, not state cops.

http://publicsafety.uconn.edu/police/department-organization-noshow/department-overview/

The University of Connecticut Police Department (UCPD) is an internationally accredited law enforcement agency and a fully functional police agency with the same statutory authority as any municipal police department in the State of Connecticut.