Matthew Biadun | Staff writer
Higher education across Connecticut is keeping a keen eye on Hartford, where the Governor recently unveiled his biennial budget proposals. These proposals will now be taken up by the legislature, and will undergo debate and revision for the rest of the session. Governor Lamont’s budget did not include major increases to the CSCU system. While funding has stayed comparable to FY2025, the exhaustion of federal ARPA funds (of which the CSCU system had received $130 million) leaves many worried about university budgets.
Jeremy Campbell serves as Vice President of Finance and Administration for Eastern. He entered the role at the start of this year, having previously worked in executive positions at UConn, and before that, at Yale. Due to his recent entry, Mr. Campbell was not involved in Eastern’s requests or proposals for this budget. However, he was able to provide an update on several building projects and ARPA funding. Transcriptions for the interview are included below.
Question: In January of 2025, a Facilities Report said that a structural beam was being repaired for the Sports Center. Previous requests for state funding included funding for a new sports center, which is also on Eastern’s Master Plan. How bad is the need for a new sports center? Is it in danger of falling down, or is it moreso a case of future proofing, since we will eventually need a new one.
V.P. Campbell: “To your point, yes, there is that structural beam, that’s being taken care of, because obviously there’s a structural concern. There’s another project underway in its design phase…where the pool, yknow, its an old system, and we have to replace the piping and all that fun stuff. To your point, yeah, we’re putting money into an old, older, old facility, to keep it up and running. There’s something called ‘useful life’...it’s past its useful life. It would either need a massive, comprehensive renovation or it needs to be replaced. That was the plan, to replace it…the Sports Center is an important part of every institution…that’s a really important part of the student experience. So yeah, it’s not only that the facility is well past its useful life, I think to the point you were making, we are putting money into it, and that will keep costing a lot of money to just keep it going for, yknow, and there’s really no return there, because it is past its useful life…and I can get you the status, the Sports Center has been on the request line for awhile, I think dates back quite a few years. It is still there. It is high up on the priority list for the system…but there is no funding for it. That’s not to say we won’t continuously ask for it, which we will, but there is currently no funding, it’s not approved.”
Eastern’s Master Plan document - an official document outlining plans for future buildings, renovations, campus expansion, etc. - proposes building a new Sports Center by the Fine Arts Building, and turning the current Sports Center into a student recreation building.
Question: Special funding for a new health center was requested previously. What is the status for that? What is the motive behind a new health center?
Answer: “I believe there’s a capacity issue. I’m not sure behind the actual infrastructure…my guess is it’s not in the best shape, especially if there’s been a request for bond funds. That being said, just like the sports center, there’s no approved fund, there’s nothing appropriated, so it’s out of the list. And I think that’s kind of where the students come in. You know, we, the administration, we certainly advocate, but I think it’s also important for the students to advocate…so unfortunately, they’re not where we want them to be, as far as funding is.”
A new Health & Counseling Center is on ECSU’s Master Plan, and would theoretically be located right below Laurel and Nutmeg.
Question: The school has a Master Plan, a ‘dream scenario’. On it it lists a potential acquisition of Windham Tech for campus expansion. Any status on that? Is it actively being pursued, or just being kept in mind if the tech school is ever moved?
Answer: [Motions to a thick packet on a desk] “We do have it, right here! It’s being updated, we start next year…Windham Tech is there, and they would obviously have to build a new facility, from what I understand it would not be there. And of course, if in fact, yknow, its state property, so we of course would make our interest unknown in that property. It would be important strategically, to your point. There’s a lot of potential there, it’s a big space…that’s also something, I’m not sure it's in the Governor’s budget this year, but they’re waiting on funding for that, and I believe they still have to pick a new location. Luckily, its owned by the state right now, we don’t have to worry about a new developer coming and taking it. We, yknow, would have an opportunity, so that’s something we will certainly follow closely and if it does happen, yes, the university, I’m sure, as they should, will advocate to purchase that plot.”
Eastern’s campus is currently constrained on most sides with residential housing, except for Windham Technical High School to the east.
Question: ARPA funding has now been exhausted. Has Eastern used that money to hire full-time staff, or likewise took on any recurring costs?
Answer: “No. Eastern actually, if you look parallel with enrollment declines, has actually reduced headcount of faculty and staff. At that same time, keep in mind, there have been salary increases. Yknow, obviously people need increases and we were also going through a high inflationary time. The way it works is, typically, the universities get the share from the state for those increases. Let’s say the next year salaries increase by ten dollars, yknow, we’re currently paying a hundred dollars, one-ten next year for all of our staff costs, the state would bear a portion of that increase, roughly something like sixty-or-so percentage points…during that same time period, that state appropriation funding only increased by, a couple-not even two million dollars. We did get one time funding. So, no, it wasn’t a specific like, ‘we’re putting this person on ARPA funds’, we take it across the entire institution and those ARPA funds were used in part to cover contractually increases and to cover, to some degree, the decline in enrollment. Keep in mind…the university was actually very prudent in this aspect, they recognized that student counts were going down…so just didn’t refill those positions as people left. The challenge is, you still have those increases, and those one time funds are now gone. So it’s not necessarily that we hired a bunch of people, quite the opposite, we’ve managed the reduction in students by reducing staffing counts."
Question: Is Eastern currently planned to run in the red?
Answer: The biennium budget request was six-to-seven million for that year.
Question: That’s the deficit?
Answer: Yes.
‘ARPA funds’ came from the American Rescue Plan Act passed during Covid. The CCSU System received $130 million dollars, while UConn received $140 million. Funds have since been spent.
Question: Along with the Master Plan, Eastern has a ‘Strategic Plan’. It’s written to cover 2020-2025; is a new one in the works?
Answer: Yes…we will be doing that. Timeline wise, I’m not sure, but to your point that is different from the Master Plan. But that’s gonna be great, yeah, President Ismaili has a great vision which I’m sure will be reflected in that plan.
Eastern’s ‘Strategic Plan’ covered 2020-2025, and was concerned with institutional focuses, maximizing its degrees, the liberal arts focus, etc.
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