The faculty at Central Connecticut State University is fighting back against a plan to consolidate services in the state’s college system.
The faculty senate plan to take a “no confidence” vote on both the board of regents and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Mark Ojakian at 3 p.m. Monday, in response to a plan that increases tuition, cuts staffing, and centralizes certain services such as IT.
The “Students First” plan pledges to save $41 million across the system, but both students and teachers are not happy about where those savings are coming from.
Ojakian says a tuition hike and the budget cuts are both needed to deal with a big budget shortfall: $38 million next year, $55 million for the following year and $70 million the year after that.
State funding to the system has declined 12.4 percent in recent years.
The tuition hike is expected to bring in $16.5 million, but that’s not enough.
In Ojakian’s “Students First” plan, which the board of regents has endorsed, administrative positions would be cut, and IT support and human resources would be centralized.
Local
But, the staff at CCSU says removing needed staff from campus will reduce their ability to carry out teaching, research and community tasks. They say they should have been consulted before the plan was developed and that there has not been enough explanation about how the plan will be implemented.
Many other details of the plan have not been released, which is another problem faculty members voiced concerns with.
In voting today, they’ll pledge not to participate in the implementation of the plan.
