Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Is higher ed reorganization happening? Depends on whom you ask

  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • April 25, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Missing from the 467-page budget agreement announced last week was a plan to reorganize the state’s public colleges and universities–and now there’s disagreement between the Malloy administration and some top Democratic legislators over whether a deal for the restructuring has been reached.

“There were some outstanding issues that needed to be resolved before the House, Senate and governor could stand together and announce a budget deal. This was one of them. His plan for higher education is one of the centerpieces of the budget,” said Mark Ojakian of the state Office of Policy and Management. “Had there been no agreement, I can tell you quite frankly that the governor likely would not have stood up there and agreed to a budget.”

But several legislators close to the negotiations have a different recollection, and as a result, leaders of the Appropriations Committee have decided not vote the reorganization bill out of committee before their Tuesday deadline.

Legislators who attended budget meetings with the administration said they never agreed to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to combine the four-campus Connecticut State University System, the dozen community colleges, the online Charter Oak College and the Department of Higher Education under one Board of Regents. Collectively those institutions have nearly 100,000 students and 6,600 full-time staff. The University of Connecticut is not included in Malloy’s proposed shakeup.

“I have agreed to nothing,” Rep. Roberta Willis, the co-chairwoman of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee told her co-chair following a meeting at the State Capitol Monday. Her committee approved the proposal last month, but with the expectation that the details would be fine-tuned in consultation with the administration.

That hasn’t happened, she said, and now she has more concerns than before.

“They aren’t willing to compromise,” she said. Willis said she wants to know what jobs will be cut to achieve the projected $4.3 million in savings, why the reorganization has to happen before a strategic plan for higher education is complete and how the budgets and autonomy of the various institutions will be protected under the merger.

Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven and a member of the Appropriations Committee, has a similar view.

“I’ve asked a lot of questions and have gotten very few answers. We need to see the plan first before we can agree on any sort of deal,” he said. “Just because we all walked out of that room at the end of the meeting does not make it a deal.”

Ojakian is in charge of the higher ed reorganization for the Malloy Administration. Asked why the budget released last week says that the reorganization “is not provided” and the institutions will remain separate entities, Ojakian said, “The budget had already gone to print.”

Malloy said Monday creating one governing board “will go forward… We need to do something and we’re going to.”

Appropriations Committee members said just because the governor’s reorganization will not make it out of committee, it does not mean that a compromise can not be reached in the coming weeks. The regular legislative session ends June 8.

“It just hasn’t been made yet,” said Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, co-chair of the committee. “There are people who are not absolutely buying into that proposal and are not supportive.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Funding to fix CT’s roads and bridges is drying up, and officials don’t have a solution
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Kasturi Pananjady

Connecticut's transportation building program is on a financial diet after a five-year ramp-up after lawmakers rejected tolls.

Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

COVID deaths and infections in CT nursing homes decline as more residents are vaccinated
by Dave Altimari

There were 85 deaths in nursing homes and 312 residents infected during the week ending Jan. 12.

Lamont appoints reformers, disability advocates to Police Officer Standards and Training Council
by Kelan Lyons

The appointments are a requirement of the police accountability bill passed over the summer in a special session.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Opinion Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

Opinion Last votes of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others
by Gary A. Franks

Finally, the election season is over. The historic elections we saw in this cycle were intriguing. The runoff elections for the U.S. Senate in Georgia put a cap on the campaign season. For many people this could be described as a COVID-19 election. I would argue that this was an election influenced by a pandemic but determined by the killing of unarmed Black people with no adequate justice for the Black community.

Opinion Not just environmental problem; Killingly plant is a great target
by Joel Gordes

In 1990, I was one of five legislators to introduce the first climate change legislation that became PA 90-219, An Act Considering Climate Change, the most popular bill of that session. Back then I considered climate change a national security issue… and I still do.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO