Connecticut’s public college and university system may need to seek additional state funding next year to maintain the programs it currently offers students, administrators warned Wednesday. At the same meeting, administrators explored potential new tuition and fee policies in an effort to incentivize students to complete their degrees.
Mark Ojakian
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
Ben Barnes under consideration for higher-education post
Ben Barnes, who has overseen Connecticut’s budget as the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management from the first days of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration, is on a short list of candidates interviewed for the vacant post of chief financial officer at the state’s system of community colleges and regional universities.
Posted inEducation
Opposition softens toward revised community college merger
As the governing board of the state’s 12 community colleges meets on Thursday to vote on a revised version of a plan intended to merge the schools into a single accredited institution, some faculty and former officials remain opposed — while slightly softening their disapproval.
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Regents: Extra state funds not a cure-all for a system in crisis
A last-minute boost in state funding won’t stave off a looming fiscal crisis for Connecticut’s public colleges and universities, the Board of Regents for Higher Education reported Thursday.
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Merging CT’s community colleges is controversial. Here’s why.
In pursuit of cost savings, a merger of all the state’s community colleges is being proposed. But some are skeptical those savings can be achieved without impacting students’ education. The Mirror explores the controversy and the experiences of other states that have tried college mergers.
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Regents to consider plan for consolidating community colleges
A controversial plan to consolidate Connecticut’s 12 community colleges into a single accredited institution would shed nearly 190 people in top administrative positions by 2021.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
House panel cuts education budget, but not nearly as much as Trump
WASHINGTON — House appropriators rejected many of President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to education, but trimmed some programs and eliminated others – including one that provides the state and local school districts with $25 million in teacher training grants each year. House appropriators also failed to adjust this year’s Pell grant awards for inflation, a move state officials say will cost Connecticut students $6 million in college financial aid next year.
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3 community college presidents get stipends to take on dual roles
Amid consolidation in Connecticut’s largest public college system, three community college presidents who assume dual roles will receive temporary stipends starting July 1 for the additional work.
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Another day, another flare-up between Ojakian, CSCU faculty
After completing a whirlwind town-hall tour of all 17 campuses in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, Mark Ojakian, the system’s president, was greeted by unwelcoming faculty in Hartford Thursday when he returned to meet with his governing board.
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CSCU regents adopt tuition hikes, consolidation framework
Updated at 8:13 p.m.
The Board of Regents for Higher Education adopted tuition increases that will eliminate more than half the $35-million budget deficit the state’s largest public college system is facing in the next fiscal year. The board also adopted the framework of a plan to dramatically consolidate the administrative and operational structures of many of the system’s colleges.
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Ojakian pitches sweeping consolidations to keep CSCU ‘viable’
The Board of Regents for Higher Education will be asked Thursday to endorse a framework for saving at least $41 million annually through the administrative and operational consolidations of institutions that have remained autonomous since the merger in 2011 of the state’s 12 community colleges, four regional state universities and the online college, Charter Oak. The system’s president, Mark Ojakian, said the present structure no longer is viable.
Posted inEducation
Tuition hikes blunt CSCU budget gap
The president of the state’s largest public college system said tuition increases spread over the next two years are necessary to help close a budget gap of at least $70 million over that time while still giving students the ability to handle and plan for future costs.
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College leaders warn proposed cuts would have big consequences
The president of the state’s largest public college system offered a particularly dismal outlook, warning the cuts could lead his system to declare its equivalent of bankruptcy.
Posted inEducation
For third straight year, state college system freezes hiring
Connecticut State Colleges & Universities President Mark Ojakian is issuing an immediate hiring freeze for the system’s 17 schools and its central office, a spokeswoman said. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget would cut the state’s block grant to the college system by $25 million.
Posted inEducation
Higher ed board gives Ojakian 3-year extension as president
Mark Ojakian, who took over as the leader of the state’s largest public college system amid turmoil last year, has won something his predecessors were unable to achieve – a contract extension from the system’s governing board. The extension brings no raise in his $335,000 salary.