• The board consists of 21 members.

• The governor appoints 12 members who serve staggered, six-year terms. Students elect two members, one undergraduate and one graduate, who serve staggered, two-year terms. Alumni elect two members to staggered, four-year terms.

• The governor; agriculture, economic and community development, and education commissioners; and the chairman of the UConn Health Center Board of Trustees are ex-officio members.

• One chamber confirms.

• The board makes rules for governing the university and develops a mission statement for it, including the role and scope of each branch campus. It establishes schools, colleges, divisions, and departments within the university. It oversees the financing and construction of UConn 2000. The board coordinates branch and institutional services and programs and makes recommendations on closing or merging campuses. It sets tuition and fees. It promotes fund raising and establishes gift policies for its foundation.

QUESTIONS FOR NEW AND REAPPOINTED NOMINEES

1. What special skills or experience do you bring to the board that can help it fulfill its mission? Are there any areas of board activity in which you are particularly interested?

2. What role does the board play in establishing the university's mission? How might it evaluate the extent to which the university is accomplishing that mission?

3. What are the greatest challenges facing UConn today? How is the board addressing them?

4. Many research universities have developed close relationships with the corporate world. How does the university reap the benefits of corporate support and avoid the pitfalls of corporate control? Does the board have any policy in this area? Should it?

5. Connecticut's non-English speaking population is growing. How should UConn respond to this trend? Conversely, have recent immigration restrictions affected UConn's ability to attract foreign students and faculty?

6. How should the board balance (1) the need to educate Connecticut residents against the desire to be a nationally recognized university that attracts top out-of-state students; (2) liberal arts education versus professional and employment-related training; (3) undergraduate education versus research?

7. What factors (e. g. , future jobs, demographic trends) should the university consider in developing its academic programs? Should the board consider this factor in determining whether to establish new schools, colleges, and departments and whether to close or consolidate existing ones.

8. Men now make up less than half of the enrollment in the state's (and nation's) colleges and universities. What do you think is causing this phenomenon? What consequences do you think it may have? How might it be reversed?

QUESTIONS FOR REAPPOINTED NOMINEES

1. What lessons has the board learned from the problems encountered in the UConn 2000 construction program? What has it done to address these problems? Have these problems affected fundraising?

2. UConn is increasingly attracting students with better high school academic records. How does an influx of such students affect the school's academic and social culture? How does it affect retention and graduation rates?

3. How many UConn graduates remain in the state after graduating? Does the university track its graduates to see what kinds of jobs they are getting? If so, what are the results?

4. As a research center, UConn's faculty has developed an impressive portfolio of intellectual property. What strategies does the university use to commercialize this property? How successful is it? How might it do better?

5. State support for the university's operations has diminished. How has this affected operations? State support for financial aid has also diminished. How has this affected students' access to UConn? What has the university done to offset this diminished state support?

6. How does UConn balance needs-based and merit-based financial aid?

7. UConn's enrollment has grown substantially over the past 10 years while the number of full-time faculty has remained relatively flat. This suggests larger classes or more part-time faculty. How has this trend affected students and faculty? Are its effects more pronounced in some academic areas than others?

8. How has the development of distance learning technologies affected teaching and learning at UConn?

9. UConn has had a reputation as a party school. In light of recent reports about the serious consequences of heavy drinking among college students, particularly binge drinking, what steps can the board take to curb this behavior?

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