Malloy, Ojakian Seek to Make One Higher Ed Institution From Many - in Maine and Connecticut

Public colleges and universities are certain to see cuts in aid from financially strapped states, the publication Governing recently predicted. “States will miss hundreds of billions, if not more, in revenue that will never be recovered,” said Dan Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System and the former Connecticut Governor. “This is the downturn of 2008 on steroids.”

Malloy, who was selected to serve as Chancellor of the Maine system last year, told Governing that he hopes states won’t automatically cut higher education as severely as they did during the Great Recession, with 20 percent reductions in aid between 2008 and 2012. Adjusted for inflation, state higher ed spending still hasn’t recovered, particularly on a per-student basis, the publication reported.

In Maine, Malloy has a plan to deal with the need to reduce spending in the 30,000 student system.  It should sound familiar to Connecticut residents.

The University of Maine has seven campuses. To cut costs, Malloy wants them to collaborate more, combining programs and sharing administrative overhead, Governing reported. Accrediting agencies generally won’t bless campuses that don’t have their own enrollment managers or deans of students. That’s why Malloy wants his system to receive a single, unified accreditation, so they can share positions and instruction.

The single, unified accreditation pitch is one that Mark Ojakian, Malloy’s hand-picked leader of Connecticut’s state colleges, has been advocating for years, almost from the moment Malloy appointed his then-Chief of Staff to be President of the just-created and combined Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system. 

It is a plan that has received near-unwavering and vocal opposition across the state’s 12 community college campuses, been rejected by the New England Commission of Higher Education in 2018, and engendered a vote of no confidence in Ojakian’s leadership and his plan, but remains Ojakian’s unrelenting priority.

Apparently, it is an approach that Ojakian and his former boss share. In fact, the Connecticut effort towards merging and combining began shortly after Malloy took office nearly a decade ago.  The single accreditation has yet to happen in Connecticut, or Maine.

As far back as 2011, after Malloy’s inauguration as Governor, Connecticut state legislators agreed to create a Board of Regents for Higher Education, merging the boards and system offices of Connecticut’s 12 community colleges, Connecticut four state universities (Central, Southern, Eastern and Western) and Charter Oak State College, an online institution.  Some have described that as Step One.  The consolidation of the 12 community colleges into a single accredited institution, first proposed in 2017, is seen as Step Two.

“We hope to have our unified accreditation recognized in time for it being one of our tools for dealing with the environment we find ourselves facing now,” Malloy told Governing, referring to the effort in Maine to merge that state’s universities into a single institution.    

Malloy told the Portland Phoenix in January that the details of system accreditation may take about two years, but the “cultural aspect” of widely separated campuses working together may take longer.

The “culture” has proven to be an obstacle in The Land of Steady Habits as well.  In Connecticut, Ojakian has been pushing forward the still-controversial idea of merging the state’s 12 community colleges into a single accredited institution for three years in the face of consistent opposition.

An opinion article published in January by three dozen community college advocates critical of Ojakian’s and the Board’s plan said that “The collective wisdom of those with the most expertise, demonstrated commitment to students and local communities, and long-term commitment to the system and the state strongly indicates that we cannot continue to travel down this path.”

Ojakian, a former Deputy State Comptroller, disagrees. He has emphasized that the merger is vital to ensuring the financial stability of the 55,000 student community college system.  The stated goal is be to keep all campuses but make student transfers seamless, streamline administrative functions and save money.

The initial proposal submitted to NECHE was deemed unrealistic and was sent back for work based on guidance from the accrediting body, the Connecticut Post reported in May.  Others described it as dead on arrival.  Last month, the Board of Regents came up with a name for the slightly retooled plan for the prospective institution: Connecticut State Community College.

“Branding is going to be critical,” Ojakian told the regents last month.  The latest plan is to be submitted for accreditation this month, and if approved, there would be one statewide college institution in Connecticut, beginning in the 2023-24 academic year.

Neither Malloy or Ojakian had experience leading higher education institutions prior to being appointed to their current positions.