Retiring Ojakian wants issues resolved before he goes

— Mark Ojakian decided in January he would retire as president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system by the calendar’s end.

It was a decision he would not share publicly until several things happened.

First, there was Students First, a controversial initiative to merge the state’s 12 community colleges into one.

Something Ojakian has marshaled since April 2017, the proposed new entity now has a name — Connecticut State Community College — an interim president — former Norwalk Community College PresiWEST dent David Levinson — and in June cleared a crucial review before the New England Higher Education Commission.

“It went as good as I could have hoped for,” said Ojakian, speaking from the backyard of his West Hartford home.

He left the virtual accreditation meeting with reassurance that the merger plan is on track and expects that the singly accredited college with 12 campuses could begin accepting students for the fall of 2023. But there was more. After the session, a statement, co-drafted by outgoing NECHE President Barbara Brittingham, praised the system’s commitment to helping more students succeed. She added that the commission voted to take no further action on sharp criticisms leveled at the plan by faculty who oppose the merger.

Then there is COVID-19, which closed campuses and forced all learning virtual in March.

This spring, Ojakian was asked by Gov. Ned Lamont to co-chair a reopening task force for higher education. The phased-in reentry plan is still underway. Most campuses are physically reopening with many courses remaining online.

“I hope this is not the new normal forever,” Ojakian said. “I think we have been able to understand the value of online learning opportunities. By providing more of those opportunities we are going to be able to reach more adult learners.”

Students and staff returning to campus are being tested for the virus. Despite a flutter of positive cases showing up as students move onto campus, Ojakian remains cautiously optimistic that local colleges and universities will be able to get through this semes

ter. For the universities, that means making it through Thanksgiving.

“We have worked extremely hard to put in place public health protocols to keep everyone safe,” Ojakian said. “I think our students understand.”

If they don’t, Ojakian said, he fully supports the actions the University of Connecticut took last week in booting students off campus who decided to break social distancing guidelines with a large party.

With reopening plans underway and the fall semester about to begin, Ojakian said it was the time to make public what he has been discussing privately with the Board of Regents for some time.

“It is not that I am moving on to another position,” said Ojakian, who is about to turn 66.

After nearly 42 years in state government, Ojakian said it’s time to pass the baton.

A chance to lead

It was supposed to be for two years.

Ojakian had already decided to leave the Malloy administration where he spent four years as chief of staff and one year as deputy budget director when he was asked in 2015 to become acting president of the still new and unpopular Connecticut State College and University system.

It was Gov. Dan Malloy’s idea to have a single system to oversee not only the state’s 12 community colleges, but four regional universities and online degree program — about 90,000 students altogether. Everything but UConn.

The first two leaders of the CSCU “system” both had academic backgrounds but were new to Connecticut’s political landscape. Neither lasted long. Ojakian did.

He had a good reputation on both sides of the political aisle. He said he knew who to pay attention to in order to make things happen.

“I always prided myself in listening to points of view,” Ojakian said.

Ojakian said he saw the new role as a chance to lead an organization on his own after having served as a self-described air traffic controller of sorts in most of his government roles.

His marching orders for this task were to stabilize a system not performing as advertised.

Faculty, staff and students were not pleased. The business community didn’t understand the value of the system in terms of economic development. It wasn’t making the path easier for students trying to navigate between the two- and fouryear systems.

“We have done that,” Ojakian said of his tenure. “We have put (the system) on a trajectory to be successful, programmatically and financially.”

Along the way, he enjoyed interacting with students.

“I never understood to the extent I do now, the challenges our students have in just getting through each and every day,” Ojakian said.

It was on one of his first visits to Gateway Community College in New Haven that students told him one of their biggest obstacles was the $63-a-month bus pass it took to get to the downtown campus. Many couldn’t afford it.

Ojakian got on the phone with the state Department of Transportation commissioner, and a $20 a semester U-Pass was developed that gives colleges student across the state unlimited access to local buses and trains.

Challenges

One thing Ojakian failed to get past was opposition by faculty unions. It surprised him.

“I have spent my career working with labor organizations on behalf of working families,” Ojakian said. “It was my strength. What I brought to every position I held was to sit with people from opposing view points and figure it out . ... With the (American Association of University Presidents), out of the box, there was an unwillingness to be part of the conversation.”

“What an odd thing to say,” said Patricia O’Neill, a psychology professor at Western Connecticut State University who is also president of Connecticut State University-AAUP.

She described the faculty relations with Ojakian as cordial and, at times, contentious.

“We invited President Ojakian to meet with senate presidents and chapter presidents to discuss the future direction of CSCU when he first became president,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill said many faculty participated in Students First work groups.

“The fact that our participation resulted in no apparent changes left many feeling that we were being used as window dressing,” O’Neill said.

On multiple occasions Ojakian asked the university professors why they cared so much about the community college merger.

“We care because community college students become our students,” O’Neill said. “We care because anything that threatens accreditation of an individual institution threatens the entire system.”

In 2019, faculty at five community colleges and two state universities took votes of no confidence in Ojakian, the Board of Regents, and the Students First plan.

In June, the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents sent NECHE a strongly-worded communication calling the community college merger plan “a unique mess” that will put the state’s existing two-year colleges at risk.

Two other faculty leaders, Lois Aime, a Norwalk Community College professor, and Stephen Adair, a Central Connecticut State University professor, suggested that if the merger effort is allowed to continue, the commission will be faced with either accrediting “a dysfunctional and ineffective structure” or denying accreditation, leaving thousands of Connecticut students without access to federal financial aid.

The future

Ojakian is convinced pieces are in place for NECHE to grant a substantive change request that will lead to accreditation of Connecticut State Community College.

Lamont is behind the effort, as is the Board of Regents, which he appoints.

NECHE’s June marching orders were for the system to provide more specifics on budget, enrollment counts and the governance model.

Ojakian said there are committees working on that, including some faculty.

Matt Fleury, chair of the Board of Regents, said the board is committed to seeing Students First through to fruition.

“President Ojakian brought a new and necessary approach to the system during a time of change here in Connecticut and for higher education generally,” Fleury said. “He has been steadfast and courageous in fighting for students from all walks of life, and he has brought bold thinking to the persistent structural problems that threaten public higher education.”

Fleury said a search committee for a new system president will be convened this fall, as well as an advisory committee representing constituencies across the system.

“It’s safe to say that we will seek strong organizational leadership skills, a deep commitment to public higher education and a full appreciation for how it works,” Fleury said. “We will prioritize the ability to manage in a forward-looking way that is consistent with the Board’s strategic approach to date.”

Fleury called Ojakian a very effective leader, who will be missed. At the same time, he and Ojakian say the system office remains in very good hands.

Ojakian expects his position to be an attractive one, worthy of a national search.

“I think because we have made such significant progress in terms of the (community college) consolidation that the position is now viewed as one that will continue the changes I have started,” Ojakian said.

Ojakian