Faculty at four of the state’s public colleges have passed resolutions expressing no confidence in the system’s president, Gregory Gray — an unusual move that puts pressure on the system’s governing board just as the embattled president’s contract comes up for renewal. The contract decision will force the board to evaluate Gray and his plans for the 90,000-student system.
Higher Education
Posted inEducation, Politics
Malloy’s first veto protects Board of Regents’ authority
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s first veto of the 2015 session preserves the authority of the Board of Regents for Higher Education to make decisions about closing college campuses.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money
Budget panel would blow by spending cap to restore social service, education funds
The legislature’s budget-writing panel recommended adding $514 million in spending to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan — and embraced a radical new interpretation of the constitutional spending cap — primarily to bolster human services and education.
Posted inEducation
UConn graduate assistants reach first accord with university
The University of Connecticut and its graduate assistants’ union have reached a tentative first-ever agreement on a three-year contract that grants the assistants nine percent pay raises over the next three years.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Frustrated UConn graduate assistants want fair contract, lower fees
If the University of Connecticut can afford to pay more in administration costs than almost any other university, surely it can afford to reduce graduate student fees to a level comparable with peer universities. Graduate students at UConn want a fair contract, including a fee reduction, so they can afford the local cost of living and continue to provide the university with the quality education and research we’ve all come to expect.
Posted inEducation
CSCU president: Meriden campuses will stay open
Heeding pressure from the state Capitol, the community college programs in Meriden will remain open after all, the college system’s president announced Wednesday. But he said he’s depending on the state to fund the campuses.
Posted inEducation, Politics
House votes to strip Gray of power to close campus
In a clear show of displeasure with the leader of the state’s system of community colleges and regional state universities, the state House of Representatives voted 86 to 56 Tuesday to block the system from closing a campus without legislative approval.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Right fervor, wrong focus. More than Meriden campus at stake
The potential closing of Middlesex Community College’s Meriden Center is terrible news. Nevertheless, there is one very good thing that has come from the decision to close the campus: attention. Ultimately, the conversation that needs to happen is not about the Meriden Center; rather, it is about the necessity — and obligation — to properly manage and adequately fund Connecticut’s state colleges and universities.
Posted inEducation
House to vote on closing campuses without legislative okay
State lawmakers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to forbid closing community college campuses in Meriden — or any campus — without their approval.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
CSCU: An imperfect system searching for perfection
Perhaps the CSCU System is imperfect in the eyes of some. But the 17 colleges and universities have a perfect foundation in which to build upon. Imperfect on the road to perfection. It is not as complicated as many would think. I have provided five recommendations which, if implemented, would dramatically improve the CSCU System.
Posted inEducation
Faculty leaders pitch no-confidence vote in president
Faculty unrest at the state’s four regional universities and community colleges is once again rising, and faculty leaders are asking the staff at each institution to consider taking a vote of no-confidence in the system’s president, Gregory Gray.
Posted inEducation
For ‘nontraditional’ community college students, aid needs take many forms
Responding to job market demands for a college degree, nontraditional students often lead hectic lives and struggle to cobble together sources of aid to stay in school, including scholarships, grants, and services such as counseling, day care and food assistance.
Posted inEducation
Closing a campus: Who decides?
Closing a college campus is messy business, as affirmed this week by the public backlash after administrators decided to close Middlesex Community College’s satellite campuses in Meriden at the end of the semester. It wasn’t meant to be so disorderly.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Senate moves to rebuke Gray, stop Meriden campus closure
The Senate moved swiftly Wednesday to stop a surprise plan to close a community college satellite campus in a district represented by the co-chair of the legislature’s committee on higher education. On a unanimous vote, the Senate stripped administrators of the right to close any campus without legislative approval.
Posted inEducation
Closing a Meriden campus just the beginning of college cuts
As public protests mount against the unexpected announcement that Middlesex Community College’s Meriden campus will close this spring, students and the public can brace for many more sudden cuts at the state’s community colleges and four regional universities.