Connecticut community colleges would not merge for another five years under a plan being presented to the state’s Board of Regents for Higher Education on Thursday.
System President Mark Ojakian is not abandoning his proposal to create one accredited community college with 12 campuses — among them, Norwalk, Housatonic in Bridgeport, Gateway in New Haven and Naugatuck Valley — but said he is recommending the Students First timeline be extended to 2023.
“Our goal remains the same, to create a dynamic community college focused on helping students attain their individual educational goals, and responds to community and state needs,” Ojakian said. “We also recognize that more time is needed to get the foundation in place for a change as large as this.”
Providing a more gradually paced planning and transition process may satisfy the accrediting body that called the initial plan “unrealistic” but would also save less, Ojakian said.
The consolidation was supposed to save $23 million. Now it is $17 million.
The Board of Regents is set to meet Thursday to discuss revisions to the plan that has been loudly panned by a number of system faculty.
Last month, the Norwalk Community College Senate voted unanimously to ask the board to drop its consolidation plan.
