Grain & Chaff

South of the border

Financial woes have university officials in Connecticut looking at tuition and fees increases to offset budget cuts ordered by Gov. John Rowland. At the University of Connecticut, President Philip E. Austin recently warned of possible limits on enrollment and higher student costs. UConn, which has seen state support drop from 50 percent to 40 percent of its budget over the past decade, has been ordered to cut personnel costs at the Storrs and regional campuses by $13 million. Meanwhile, the four-campus Connecticut State University system is considering a 13-percent tuition increase, the largest in 10 years, to cope with a $10 million shortfall in state funding. The tuition hike faces a Dec. 13 vote by the board of trustees. In the interim, the four campuses are cutting costs through a combination of hiring freezes, appointing fewer adjunct professors and teaching assistants and trimming out-of-state travel by faculty and staff.

Delayed gratification

Greenfield Community College President Robert L. Pura and 11 members of the school's executive council are deferring 3 percent pay raises to demonstrate solidarity with 75 college employees whose pay raises were vetoed earlier this year by Acting Gov. Jane Swift. The GCC board of trustees this week approved the 3 percent increase for Pura after its personnel committee gave the president an outstanding evaluation for leading the college. With the increase, Pura's salary would rise from $121,000 to $124,630.

Job market

Former associate vice chancellor for Facilities and Campus Services Ted Weidner is one of five finalists for director of the Facilities Services Group at the University of Iowa. Weidner, who was hired here two years ago, suddenly resigned in mid-November. ... Former UMass Police chief Jack Luippold was one of five finalists for the chief's post in Belchertown, but was passed over for an internal candidate. Luippold left UMass last year for a job with the state Department of Mental Retardation.

Class acts

Boston Globe reporter Kevin Cullen, '81, is one of 26 Nieman Fellows currently studying at Harvard University. Under the auspices of the Nieman Foundation, about two dozen journalists are chosen annually to come to Harvard to broaden their interests or to develop deeper insight into an area of specialization.