By: Noah Nunez
General Reporter
Interim Chancellor Natalie Braswell made her first visit to the university on Thursday, Oct. 1, to discuss issues faculty and students have been facing, hoping to provide clearer transparency into the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system.
Braswell’s meetings were split into group discussions with staff and students, hoping to address their individual concerns and how best to tackle them as the semester continues.
“The things that you guys are doing are so awesome, and the mission gets lost in all the chaos and the noise from the outside; I just want to bring that back,” Braswell said.
Braswell spent the majority of her discussion with faculty discussing budgetary concerns and how her time at CSCU has been spent addressing issues with contracts regarding student internships and trips.
Braswell acknowledged that these issues are systemic and not quickly solvable, offering faculty the ability to email her in case of any stalled issues.
“There’s just not a system in place to adequately address the timeliness of getting these contracts done,” Braswell said. “I mean, we’re not fixing this budget in a year; we’re not fixing this budget in a biennium. Anyone who thinks that is just being naive. Can we fix it in two biennia? I think so.”
Concerns over the vetting process that failed to stop the previous chancellor from being put into the role were brought up as well, with Braswell introducing a new accountability website to provide clearer requirements.
“Within the next couple of weeks, maybe we’ll be putting up a website. It’s basically going to be an accountability website that’s going to have all of those types of issues, so you know exactly sort of what it is we’re trying to do,” Braswell said.
In her meeting with students, Braswell discussed issues regarding financial aid with certain majors and plans to help students who may not be eligible.
“Obviously something’s happening on the national level that trickles down and has an effect, especially when it comes to federal financial aid,” Braswell said. “And so the question is, sort of, unfortunately, playing a waiting game to wait and see what’s going to happen versus what’s not going to happen.”
Issues arose during her discussions with students as acronyms and terms used at the university were put into question, making students struggle to see what she could address directly.
Communication major Luke Famel, a junior, joined the conversation but found difficulty discussing more nuanced issues.
“I feel like part of the issue was some of these questions were more locally and she acts on a larger level,” Famel said. “And I feel that was also some of the difficulties answering them because a lot of them she’s hearing for the first time and is also learning about.”
Even with these difficulties, some students found the chancellor’s appearance today helpful and important to see.
Psychology major Ariana LeCates, a senior, was very appreciative of the chancellor’s time.
“I am very honored to be in that room with the conversation. She was very attentive, listened to everything that we were kinda throwing at her, and had an answer for everything, especially when conversations got difficult,” LeCates said.
Braswell’s first visit to campus turned out to be an informative moment for everyone involved.
Even with a few bumps throughout, she provided clear answers to students and faculty voicing their concerns.
