CEOs named for 5 community colleges in CT

Chief executive officers were named Thursday to five community colleges in the state and retired Norwalk Community College President David Levinson was made acting president over all 12 of them.

System President Mark Ojakian called it another significant milestone in his plan to make the dozen two-year colleges a single accredited institution by 2023.

Several of the CEOs, chosen unanimously during a virtual meeting of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, have ties to the system having served at one or more of the colleges. All take the new jobs in July and earn salaries of $155,250.

Levinson will earn $288,354 in his new role, which started Thursday. Levinson retired last summer from Norwalk, but Ojakian said Wednesday he has worked behind the scenes as the process to gain accreditation as a single community college continues.

“He has put us in a much better position,” Ojakian said.

More than 320 people called into the virtual meeting.

If the college — slated to be called Connecticut State Community College — is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, it would make it among the largest such institutions in the nation at 80,000 students. A major selling point of the plan is that all 12 campuses would be kept.

William “Terry” Brown,

who spent a decade at Housatonic, Norwalk and Naugatuck community colleges, will be the CEO at Gateway Community College in New Haven. He is currently a special assistant to the president at Nashville State Community College in Tennessee. Brown was also a finalist for the CEO at Housatonic.

At Housatonic, Dwayne Smith got the CEO job. He has more than 40 years of higher education leadership and teaching experience, all in Missouri. He is interim president of Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Mo., which mainly serves first-generation, underrepresented students. Smith was also a finalist for the job at Middlesex Community College.

The Middlesex CEO job went to Steven Minkler, who has held the job on an interim basis for the past three years. Minkler has 30 years of experience within the Connecticut community college system, working at three of the colleges: Middlesex, Northwestern and Capital.

G. Duncan Harris will become campus CEO of Capital Community College in Hartford. He, too, currently serves as that college’s interim campus CEO. Harris has been in the Connecticut State College and University System for 24 years and previously was dean at Manchester Community College.

Nicole Esposito will become campus CEO at Manchester Community College. She is currently assistant dean of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Mass.

Ojakian said the job of the CEOs will be to be lead administrator of each campus. They will work with faculty and staff on operational issues, connect with the local workforce and foundation boards but report to the system’s regional presidents. There are three regional presidents, include Tom Coley, who is in charge of the “Shoreline West” region that includes Norwalk, Housatonic and Gateway.

The CEO selection process involved campus input, but largely on a virtual basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. There were 92 applicants for the five positions and eight finalists All finalists held virtual campus interviews with staff and students.

“Notably, each of them has a deep commitment to equity, student success, and the goals outlined under ‘Students First,’ ” Ojakian said. “Make no mistake; today’s action is a real step forward. We are closer than ever to accreditation as a single institution.”

The plan remains controversial in the minds of many faculty who worry about losing the identity and local community support the 12 colleges enjoy.

Ojakian said the move is necessary to help more students succeed and keep costs down.

Brown called Gateway a vibrant and innovative academic community. During his campus interview he called Connecticut home and pledged to be an advocate to make sure campus needs are met. He will be the fourth person in charge at Gateway in four years, after a retirement and two interim presidents.

“I am humbled to follow in the footsteps of Presidents (Dorsey) Kendrick and (Paul) Broadie, and excited to join Dr. Coley and Gateway’s students, faculty, staff, administrators and community and industry partners in fulfilling our mission of education, training and service,” Brown said.

Smith said he is excited to serve as head of Housatonic during what he called an unprecedented time period.

“My vision for education is about access and opportunity, and I believe that HCC is the perfect institution for this to occur,” Smith said.

He said his goal is to get more students to the finish line — meaning leaving with a degree or certificate.

Before Harris-Stowe, Smith also worked at Avila University, Park University and Truman State University, all in Missouri. He also served as chair of the Board of Higher Education Consortium in Missouri and was a Fulbright scholar.

Both Brown and Smith spent time during their interviews assuring faculty they would balance system and campus needs. They also offered ideas on how to increase enrollment and retention of students.

At Middlesex, Minkler said he was honored by the vote of confidence to continue as CEO in a permanent basis.

“I pledge to continuing placing students at the center of our institution, especially during this extraordinarily challenging time with a public health crisis and economic dislocation,” he said.