Last week the University of Connecticut’s board revealed that it voted not to continue President Radenka Maric’s term as president and to offer an interim presidency to House Speaker Matt Ritter. 

UConn is a great university and no matter whom it chooses as its next president, it will continue to be for some time.  Students will continue to have transformative educational experiences, and athletic teams will continue to win championships.  Under the leadership of President Maric, the university has thrived in most current metrics that matter.  Except for one – the university rankings, particularly in U.S. News and World Report.

Rankings are flawed in many ways, but they are nevertheless important.  They affect in the long term the quality of faculty and students and leadership that a university can attract.  USNWR is particularly significant because the largest factor in that ranking is peer rating by other university presidents.  That is, by the people who know most about what is going on in higher education. 

Universities move up or down in perceived and actual quality on seven- to ten-year time scales.  UConn has had five presidents over the past seven years.  That instability has not gone unnoticed by our peers, donors and others.  Over that same period, UConn’s ranking has fallen from the low 20’s to the low 30’s among public institutions.   Long the highest ranked public university in New England, UConn no longer is.  That distinction goes to UMass Amherst by a significant margin now.  At some point, the Board of Trustees, who have made those choices has to take responsibility for their long-term outcomes.  There are many paths forward for UConn but none of them will succeed without significant upgrades to its board and practices.

To reverse the downward trend will require visionary and stable leadership and a board that guides and supports its president in the high-level decisions that affect UConn’s long-term future.  This will not happen without major reforms to the UConn board and the way that it operates.

Improve its training

While UConn’s Board members are well-meaning and talented in their respective fields, they lack training in what it takes to be a successful university board. 

There are time-tested best practices that other boards have learned through formal training by consultants such as the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. 

This shortcoming of the UConn board has been noted by UConn’s outside accreditors among others.  However, the UConn board has yet to accept any recommendation to receive training or outside assessment.  Whether the current board continues or not, the governor should insist on this best practice.

Give strategic plans time 

The board needs to give time for whomever it chooses to finish their strategic plans.

Rarely if ever do boards have the expertise to know what it takes to move a great university forward and upward in the competitive landscape of higher education.  They must instead choose a proven leader who does and then give them the room to make it happen. 

Without this longer-term approach, UConn will continue to lose ground as other universities carry out their plans.

Allow shared governance 

A flagship public university is a large and complex ecosystem.  To move it significantly forward requires the collective wisdom and support of many constituencies to align around shared goals. 

To that end, the best universities have a long tradition of shared governance between their boards, administrators and faculty with additional vital input from students, parents, staff, donors and other stakeholders. 

The UConn board’s latest move to offer the presidency to Speaker Ritter by fiat without a public search is a dangerous abandonment of that principle.  Although this has been framed as an interim appointment, I don’t think that anyone believes that the Speaker of the House would resign his post to take a temporary role somewhere. 

It is unlikely for any university to choose the best leader for its future nor for that leader to succeed without the broad input of the university community.

Revisit the Ritter decision 

I hope that the Board of Trustees or the governor will revisit the decision not to allow President Maric to carry out her strategic plans.  The Board’s inability to stick with and support its own choices is doing unquestionable harm to the university and its students. 

If UConn changes leaders again now, yet another promising strategic plan will be left unfulfilled, nascent research initiatives will be left without their most vocal champion and a talented faculty and staff will be left bewildered if not justifiably angered.

If there becomes a need for an interim leader, they should be truly interim to allow for an open and consultative presidential search process.  I also urge the Governor and whatever board he decides to appoint to make the reforms above to bring it in line with best practices. Only in that way will UConn be able to regain its upward arc.

Thomas Katsouleas is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics and served as the President of the University of Connecticut from August 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021.