A 2,000-page report on how to improve the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system has been released by former Chancellor Terrence Cheng. The report suggests adopting “north star goals,” focusing on workforce development, and finding new revenue streams.

Report Details

The report, which was compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, recommends consolidating governance within the CSCU system and forming a subcommittee to bolster programming for workforce development. It also suggests that evaluations of the system’s performance should focus on helping students find careers.

Cheng’s time as chancellor ended abruptly in April 2025 after he admitted to misusing a state credit card. Despite this, the Board of Regents retained him as a special advisor, a role that continues through the end of the month, at his full $442,000 annual salary.

Faculty and lawmakers have complained that the system has been cumbersome and bloated since the state combined the four regional universities and community colleges into the CSCU system 15 years ago. Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) questioned why Cheng didn’t make those changes while he was in charge, pointing to no-confidence votes from faculty unions at each campus.

There are also questions about how much work Cheng put into the report, with estimates suggesting that between 80% and 95% of the report was written by AI. Cheng did not respond to a request for comment, but a spokesperson for the regents said that Cheng was transparent about using AI as a tool to aggregate and synthesize large volumes of data.

Original reporting: NBC Connecticut — read the source article.