Gov. Malloy Visits Stamford to Tout UConn Expansion Proposal

Governor Dannel P. Malloy visited the University of Connecticut-Stamford Campus Wednesday to talk about the Next Generation Connecticut long-term enrichment proposal.

Among the topics covered was the possibility of strengthening the college's foothold in the city through dedicated housing for students right in Stamford.

"We're trying to do something uniquely exciting here at Stamford," said Malloy during a conference in the Stamford Learning Accelerator.

The Next Gen Connecticut proposal lays out a 10-year, $1.5 billion project that would bring approximately 6,580 new undergrads, a restructuring of the UConn Stamford campus and 259 new faculty members—200 of which would be in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), a 47-percent expansion.

Malloy said the school would be contributing approximately $380 million of its own funds to the plan as well, and argued that, spread over the course of ten years, the funds are a not-so-significant monetary contribution to a worthy plan.

"We're failing to produce at a rate able to replace the current workforce," Malloy said. "These are the kind of investments we need to be making."

Malloy said Connecticut needs a draw like a stronger University of Connecticut, a college Malloy said would rise from a Top 25 school to a Top 10 school with a stronger STEM program, including a dedicated track focus in digital media. Malloy presented the idea of 50 new doctoral fellowships in the track.

The grant would additionally give UConn the ability to relocate their Greater Hartford Campus to downtown Hartford.