On eve of higher ed merger, Meotti named interim president

Let's see -- in very recent history, a UConn President spent lavishly with no oversight and then fled the state; a CSUS Chancellor illegally fired a President, aggregating power and money to himself, his wife, and his cronies; and Herzog quit without telling his staff or board and double-dipped at the end of a long run when the community colleges graduate something like one out of ten students a year. Given the track record of these respected "leaders," the argument that the lifers in the state's colleges and universities can deliver the change we need just doesn't seem convincing. Give Meotti a chance -- he was at least able to get some change going, and clearly he can work with the legislature. The colleges and universities then need to step it up -- their success rests primarily on the accomplishments of their students and then secondarily on their faculty. More studying (yes, actual studying and maybe even writing a 20-page paper here and there), continued focus on improving teaching, and conducting cutting edge research don't take a strategic plan.

So Meotti's salary is remaining at $182K. Let's hope that the CSU and CC presidents fall into line and receive salaries lower than that. Shared sacrifice: Some of the folks earning over $150K can share some of that sacrifice. (Remember Carter jacked up his own pay to $400k?!!??? How on earth did that happen? Or did I just dream that up?)

No, I didn't dream it. From the CT Mirror, July 2010 (by Robert Frahm):

"Carter's base salary reached $400,009, and the salaries of presidents at CSU's Central, Eastern and Western campuses rose to $315,229. The salary for Battle, who took over as president of Southern Connecticut State University last month, was set at $310,229."

Un-bleeping believable!

If Meottie is earning $182K, the "suits" beneath him should be earning $175K or less.

And don't worry: there is plenty of talent willing to do those jobs for $125 - $150K. As we all know, Carter, Herzog, etc., etc., were no prize packages, but they certainly did know how to feather their own nests (at the expense of the CT taxpayer and at the expense of CT CSU and CC students).

This appointment, it seems to me, shortchanges public higher education in our state in at least two major ways: first, it creates something of a colloidal suspension of very different institutions of higher education, with fundamentally different goals and missions, in the name of "efficiency". They cannot be the same because they simply are not the same. And second, it puts that odd structure under the "leadership" of someone who has not had any relevant on-campus experience in education but who has spent a career as a politician, a lobbyist/lawyer for the insurance industry, followed by a short stint with the United Way. Universities and higher educational structures do not run "top down," as some would think. They are organic units, under the ultimate governance of the faculty. I can think of no one in public higher education who believes that this new "board of regents" will result in any educational efficiencies or cost savings. If we are to hope for such changes, then it will take the skill and understanding of a true educator and educational leader to encourage it and make it work. This interim appointment is not it.