Office of the Provost

Dear UConn Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students,

Universities across the U.S. are at an important crossroads in their relationship with academic journals. At the same time when library resources are facing budget cuts, the costs of journals are skyrocketing, often resulting in dramatic cuts to staffing and crucial support services for faculty, staff, and students in order to continue to pay for journal subscriptions. The short- and long-term impact of COVID-19 will only exacerbate these issues.

To address this budgetary dilemma, I am partnering with Dean of the Library Anne Langley to assemble a committee to discuss the future of journal subscriptions at UConn. The committee’s work will focus on developing a strategic approach to how we can most effectively continue to maintain access to the full range of journals our academic community depends upon. In the context of this work, the committee will look to how other universities are addressing this issue and also will seek novel approaches best suited to our unique academic needs at UConn.

The committee composition will begin with 5 members of the Provost’s Library Advisory Committee and will also include 5-10 faculty, staff, and students across multiple constituencies at the University. Additionally, the committee also will include several ex-officio members from the libraries staff to provide highly valuable context and content knowledge to support the work of the group. This committee will meet regularly through Thanksgiving, leading to a recommendation for our University to follow starting in the new academic year.

If you are interested in joining this committee, please send a one paragraph statement of your interest, or the nomination of someone else, to provost@uconn.edu with the subject line: “Provost Committee on the Future of Journal Subscriptions at UConn.” We will accept all statements of interest and nominations through Sept 17.

Sincerely,
Carl

Carl Lejuez
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs