Michael Meotti, far right, with Gov. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Wyman
Michael Meotti, far right, with Gov. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Wyman

Michael Meotti, a former higher education leader in Connecticut who resigned in 2012 amid a furor over large pay raises for his subordinates, has landed a new job in Washington state.

Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday appointed Meotti the executive director of the Washington Student Achievement Council, an advisory panel that  aims to coordinate the state’s higher-education system with workforce and educational needs.

“Washington is well positioned to be a national leader in demonstrating the essential contribution that higher education programs provide to both individual and community success. I’m honored to be a part of the state’s team in realizing these important goals,” Meotti said in a press release announcing his appointment.

Meotti riled the education community in Connecticut by pushing through an unpopular merger of the four Connecticut state universities and the 12 state community colleges to form the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system.

Over the last several years, Meotti has been a consultant for higher education issues. Before that he was a state senator, commissioner of the Department of Higher Education and leader of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, which oversees the CSCU system.

He resigned his post at CSCU after details of double-digit percentage pay raises to his inner circle emerged.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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