By Matt Clyburn

Governor Dannel Malloy announced a comprehensive plan Wednesday that will reform the way Connecticut’s higher education system is managed.

The restructuring will create a new Board of Regents for Higher Education that will govern the Connecticut State University System, Charter Oak State College and the Connecticut Community College System.

A press release issued Wednesday said that the reforms will “provide more resources for classroom teaching and instruction to help increase the number of students receiving degrees.”  The statement estimates that the plan will save taxpayers and students tens of million dollars over time.

“There are a lot of people…who believe things are fine just the way they are,” said Malloy in the press release.  “I disagree, and that’s why I’m proposing this overhaul to help put more money toward teaching, and less toward central office and board hierarchy. We need to adapt to a broad and changing economy and this will help us do that.”

The University of Connecticut will be unaffected by the plan and remain under normal operations and no schools will be closed or combined.  Campuses will still operate under the leadership of their respective presidents and existing leadership structures.

Malloy called for an annual report from the Board of Regents that identifies retention and graduation rates, resource allocation figures, cost-benefit analyses and an “affordability index” tied to Connecticut’s average family household income.  The report is expected to include information related to enrollment and completion figures sorted by program of study, credit transferability across institutions, and employment outcome data provided by the Department of Labor.

“The students who attend one of our CSU campuses, community colleges or Charter Oak State College are most in need of a student-friendly pathway to overcome the challenges that prevent them from graduating,” said Malloy in the press release. “The lack of college readiness demands stronger partnerships with local high schools, the mobility of students demands the efficient transfer of credits, and the interest in career-oriented programs demands responsiveness to employers.”

The plan will consolidate the state university and community college central offices, the Department of Higher Education management and Charter Oak State College into one office, reporting to one chief executive.  The CEO and Board of Regents were tasked with developing a plan for directing taxpayer support to campuses based on enrollment figures and the achievement of identified policy goals.

The plan has gained bipartisan support in Hartford.

“Governor Malloy is to be applauded for taking much needed steps to downsize our bloated state government systems and to eliminate unnecessary, unsustainable bureaucratic functions,” Republican House Minority Leader Rep. Lawrence Cafero told NBC Connecticut Wednesday.

Malloy’s plan is based on the state university system model used in Minnesota.  The University of Minnesota acts as an independent entity while the state universities and community colleges operate under a single board of governance.

A hearing has been set for March 10 with the higher education committee to review the governor’s proposal.