Goverance Structures Of The Community College

Merger, new Board of Regents, highlight state education changes

HARTFORD -- As of Friday, the Board of Governors of Higher Education is no more and Michael Meotti 's title has shifted from Commissioner of Higher Education to interim president of the new Board of Regents.

Still, nothing should change on the 12 community college campuses or four state universities for now, Meotti said.

"The key to this is that this is a change that affects the highest level of governance and is not going to require anything to change on the campuses today or next Tuesday or next Wednesday," Meotti said. "These are strong institutions with experienced leaders, faculty and staff. They know how to run educational institutions on a daily basis and will continue to do so while we work through the consolidation of the governance structure in central offices."

That is the message Meotti said he delivered Friday to system office heads as the state began to enact a new state law that did away with the Department of Higher Education and will merge the Connecticut State University system with the Connecticut Community College system and Charter Oak College , which offers online degrees.

Mary Anne Cox, assistant chancellor of the community colleges, said system heads had requested the meeting and that she left with some short-term assurances lines of communication will remain open and the transition will not be disruptive for students. Cox called the meeting positive and said Meotti agreed to create a transition team.

Part of Gov. Dannel Malloy 's efforts to streamline the system and make it more efficient, the systems merger law calls for appointment of a 19-member Board of Regents; no appointments have been made. The Legislature was told the merger could save as much as $4.3 million. Members of the Legislature's Higher Education Commission questioned that figure and expressed concerns about the merger happening too fast.

The Board of Trustees for both community colleges and the state university system will remain intact until December, although their actions can be overturned by the new Board of Regents, Meotti said. He doesn't anticipate that being an issue.

Community college officials remain concerned about the merger's effect on several functions handled centrally, such as financial aid, human resources and IT services.

"We have to make sure that integration continues so there won't be any disruption for students," she said.

In May, Community College Chancellor Mark Herzog resigned, but has stayed on in an interim capacity through June.

New Book: Legacy of Leadership: Profiles of Presidents of AACC ...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — “A new book from work done by the Kellogg Community College Leadership Legacy Project (KCCLLP) is now available,” announced Dr. Bernard Luskin, Director of the KCCLLP, CEO and Senior Provost at Touro University Worldwide. This important work provides readers with lessons from the past and what the future of community college education holds.

The book, Legacy of Leadership emphasizes the special role that the Kellogg Foundation and these leaders played in the dramatic creation and expansion of community colleges. It chronicles community college evolution from being called the American Association of Junior Colleges, through the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, to the present American Association of Community Colleges,” Luskin explained. “ Legacy of Leadership represents part of what was learned through the KCCLLP. In addition, our research revealed that the Kellogg Foundation funded more than five-hundred-and-fifty fellows. Many of them became major community college leaders who established best practices now used among colleges worldwide. Notably, several thousand additional leaders emerged from the community college leadership programs in universities supported by the Kellogg Foundation,” Luskin added.