HARTFORD -- Tough talk Thursday morning for the president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities.
The room was packed at CSCU headquarters in Hartford where educators turned out to sound off on the current state of the system and its president, Mark Ojakian.
The public comment periods comes weeks after Ojakian’s pitch to consolidate state colleges and universities was turned down by a national accrediting group.
“The board should be clear the problem is not a NEASC, your problem is that for faculty, students, staff and administrators this board has no credibility your expiration date has come and gone,” said Central Connecticut State University psychology professor, John O’Connor.
Ojakian had hoped the original proposal would have helped address an expected $100 million debt.
“I am not resigning, this is not the first time that this group of individuals has called for my resignation or the resignation of previous presidents of the system or of campuses, so while I respect their opinion to speak freely about what their concerns are I don’t think it’s a protect particularly good use of anyone’s time.”
Ojakian’s working with his team to explore new cost-saving options and hopes to have suggestions this summer.
