Long-time educator Terrence Cheng took over the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system in July 2021, and oversaw many changes in 2022 ranging from finalizing contracts with six bargaining units to intensifying efforts to retain students and boost enrollment.
Immediately prior to being named CSCU’s leader, Cheng, 50, served five years as director of UConn’s Stamford campus where he helped launch the Stamford Data Science Initiative as part of the Technology Incubation Program and the Center on Community Safety, Policing, and Inequality.
Cheng, an English professor at UConn’s Stamford campus who has authored two novels and numerous short stories and essays, oversees a $1.5-billion budget and 64,585 full- and part-time students.
The CSCU system includes Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut state universities, community colleges and the online Charter Oak State College.
Cheng’s focus has been on trying to overcome budget shortfalls and reverse sagging enrollment at the state’s public colleges.
He’s also helping oversee the somewhat controversial merger of the state’s 12 community colleges, which is expected to be completed this year.
Cheng, a Taiwanese-American, is the first permanent president of the CSCU system who is a member of a minority group; it was previously run by three white men.