Notes on the Research Supporting this Blog:

The four postings contained on this blog involved extensive research on the University of Connecticut’s housing and environmental issues and its financial and legislative history.  Specific sources and methods for the research conducted for each the four postings are listed below.  While the research has taken over three years to complete the most intensive phase of the process was during the period March to October 2017 when most of the interviews and final editing was completed.

1.       Research on UCONN’s Legislative History

The first blog posting required an analysis of all the major laws and legal opinions that have been enacted since 1881 to the present.  Using the legal subscription services of Hein Online hundreds of laws were reviewed during the period 1881 to 2016 to determine which ones made significant changes in the financial and administrative aspects of the University of Connecticut and its predecessor organizations. Heinlein is one of the premier legal services subscription services that provides a complete inventory of all of the state’s session laws (i.e., the laws prior to their codification into state statutes).

In addition, existing literature on the university’s legislative history was reviewed at UCONN’s Dodd Center to independently verify the university’s perspective in its own legislative history.  In addition, all of the published and unpublished annual financial and statistical reports of the University of Connecticut dating back to 1940 were reviewed to develop financial and demographic trends and to determine how important state legislation influenced university operations.  An extensive literature on the history of universities was also consulted including classic works by Thorstein Veblen, author of Higher Learning in America, Derek Bok, Our Underachieving Colleges, and Herbert London, Decline and Revival in Higher Education and Arthur Vidich, "The Higher Learning in America in Veblen's Time and in Our Own" in The International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 7, # 4, Summer 1994, pp.639-68.

Recently Bruce Staves, a history professor at the University of Connecticut published Red Brick in the Land of Steady Habits: Creating the University of Connecticut, 1881-2006. This book provided valuable insights on the financial challenges faced by past UCONN presidents and their legislative strategies to accomplish their expansionist objectives.

Finally, thanks go to the staff at the University of Connecticut Dodd Center, Connecticut State Library and Harvard’s Widener Library for access to their relevant historical collections.

2.       Research on the UCONN Landfill and Chemical Pits

The most extensive research conducted for this blog involved tracking down all of the extant copies of reports and news media articles on the long history of the university’s landfill and chemical pits located to the east of Hunting Lodge Road. To understand the history of this landfill, it was necessary to review all of the extant files that exist at the Mansfield Town Offices (note: there are an estimated 15,000 pages of documents released over the last sixty five years and most of these are in the town hall archives).  In addition, historical news stories published in the Hartford Courant, Willimantic Chronicle and the Mansfield Independent News were consulted to determine major events in the life of the landfill and its eventual closure. In addition, interviews were conducted with over a half dozen key Mansfield residents and state and local public officials that were intimately involved with citizen efforts to monitor and hold the university accountable for its environmental responsibilities to properly remediate the landfill and the adjoining chemical pits.  A number of important studies were also found in the University of Connecticut PhD thesis collection – especially that of Ruth Izrael. The blog posting on this topic provides extensive references to the sources used to compile the chronology of events and the summary conclusions that are presented.

3.       Research on UCONN’s Housing and Environmental Issues

The research supporting the posting on UCONN’s environmental and housing issues could not have happened without first establishing the university’s legislative history. Once that was accomplished, it was necessary to review all of the significant environmental impact evaluations (EIE) and related studies issued by UCONN as part of its request for 1) a Water Diversion permit, 2) extension of Sewers to Mansfield Four Corners and 3) permission to remove the historic houses on its main campus.  Numerous technical studies have also been consulted that provided the hydrologic characteristics of the Fenton and Willimantic Rivers both of which provide potable water to UCONN.  Interviews were also conducted with Mansfield residents involved in earlier phases of the housing crisis as well as those familiar with historical water withdrawals from the Fenton River.

In addition, an extensive amount of research was required to identify the history of fraternities and dormitories on UCONN’s Storrs campus including a very time consuming review of microfilm copies of the UCONN Daily Campus for the years 1970 through 1980 (available at the Dodd Center), a more convenient review of relevant online issues of the Hartford Courant (available through the Homer Babbidge Library) and relevant case law on Mansfield’s battles with fraternities in the 1990s (zoning case law is available at the UCONN Law Library in West Hartford).  Home Babbidge’s Presidential archives were also consulted at the Dodd Center which turned out to provide extensive insights into why Babbidge and the Board of Trustee chose to expel fraternities from the Storrs campus. Brue Stave’s book, Red Brick in the Land of Steady Habits: Creating the University of Connecticut, 1881-2006 was also marginally useful in framing some of the broader housing issues faced by UCONN in the 1970s – although this book failed to address the true breadth and depth of the town-gown struggles of the last fifty years.

Once fraternities were forced off campus by President Babbidge’s policies, it was necessary to review the Mansfield Planning and Zoning Commission minutes to determine public reaction to the adoption of fraternity zoning regulations and the Commission’s rationale for adopting such regulations. Fortunately, the Commission keeps excellent minutes of their public hearings and decision making processes and this was immensely helpful in understanding the fraternity crisis of the 1990s.

In addition, the author has spent over forty years tracking zoning and subdivision regulations in Connecticut to determine trends and to assist town planners, state legislators and regional planning agencies with the development of inclusionary zoning concepts. In 2017, the author updated a 1992 study of inclusionary zoning practices in the 169 municipalities of the state. This recent analysis identified the regulatory approaches used by Connecticut zoning commissions to regulate “family” and “fraternity” across the state.  Copies of these studies are available from the author by contacting him at cvidich@gmail.com.

4.       Research on Re-Structuring UCONN for the 21st Century: A Vision

The research for this blog posting builds on the research of the previous four postings but also relies on the author’s extensive experience working with issues of sovereign immunity in the federal government which sensitized him to the disequilibrium of power that exists between the federal and state governments and made it easy to identify the same issues with respect to the disequilibrium of power between UCONN and Mansfield.  This disequilibrium power is most noticeable in the arena of land use, environmental and public health laws.  In addition, Thorstein Veblen’s classic study, Higher Learning in America, former Harvard President Derek Bok’s Our Underachieving Colleges, as well as Bruce Staves’ history of the University of Connecticut each helped to identify the University of Connecticut’s business strategies and their shortcomings.

The University of Connecticut’s Master Plan was extensively consulted to determine UCONN’s forthcoming building plans and their fiscal priorities. In addition, recent news media accounts in various Connecticut newspapers have provided excellent assessments of the questionable construction practices associated with the recent UCONN 2000 and Next Generation construction programs that were enabled by the Connecticut State Legislature.  The author also reviewed relevant online minutes, reports and financial analyses of the UCONN Board of Trustee with respect to the issues identified in this blog posting.