Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 19, 2022 19 5 WE WATCHED CSCU President Terrence Cheng in his Hartford office. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED CSCU leader Cheng moves community college consolidation forward, inks tough union contracts in 2022 By Robert Storace rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com A t the helm of the Connecticut State Colleges and Univer- sities (CSCU) system since July 2021, President Terrence Cheng oversaw change and new initiatives in 2022, from finalizing contracts with six bargaining units to intensifying efforts to retain students and boost enrollment. He also worked to move the planned — and somewhat contro- versial — merger of the state's 12 community colleges to its final stages. The process, which has been opposed by some faculty members, is expected to be completed by July. Cheng — who oversees a $1.5- billion budget and 64,585 full- and part-time students — discussed his last year and what's ahead for the state's public college system in a recent sit-down interview with the Hartford Business Journal. The 50-year-old Cheng, who previ- ously served as director of the UConn Stamford campus from 2016 to 2021, said finalizing the half-dozen union contracts was tense and somewhat heated, especially while the merger efforts continue. "When I took this position, the waters (with all six unions) were very choppy," he said. "There was significant controversy, many bruised feelings and a lot of emotions. But, this agreement is a significant step forward." The unions represent a wide array of employees ranging from faculty members and support staff to IT workers. The new contracts provided a special $2,500 lump-sum bonus payment for full-time employees and a 2.5% salary increase plus step increases in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24. In addition, for the first time, a telework provision was added to all contacts. It allows employees to perform work from a remote site if mutually agreed upon by a manager. Also, in October 2022, the Board of Regents approved a 3% tuition hike for the state universities for the 2023-24 academic year. Amid the additional revenues and higher costs, the CSCU system continued to battle budget deficits. This past year, Cheng noted, the CSCU system received an additional $275 million from the state, funding primarily used to balance the budget. CSCU officials told lawmakers earlier this year that the system was projecting a more than $250 million fiscal 2022 budget shortfall because of the higher staffing costs and a decrease in enrollment coming out of the pandemic. "I speak to the governor and folks in the governor's office and those in the legislature all the time, probably more than they want us to," Cheng said. "We continue to make the case that the CSCU system and all of its constituent units are more than a worthy investment." Stemming enrollment declines The community college merger – a process five years in the making – is almost complete. The effort was moved forward in 2022 with several significant moves, including the appointment of John Maduko as the new community college system president. Early on, Maduko, who reports to Cheng, scrapped the regional community college president model he inherited and re-assigned those leaders to new systemwide executive roles. Meanwhile, the first of three merger progress reports CSCU must file with the New England Commission for Higher Education, a key accrediting body, was approved. The last two reports will be filed in the early spring of 2023, and by July 1, 2023. "We see no concerns at all with the path forward," as it relates to the merger, Cheng said. Another 2022 focus area was trying to stem declining enrollment, an issue impacting many colleges around the country. From fall 2008 to fall 2021, CSCU enrollment declined across the board: down 27.4% (to 37,116 students) at community colleges; down 23.2% (to 27,564 students) at the four state universities, including Eastern, Central, Western and Southern; and down 18.6% (to 1,618 students) at Charter Oak State College, which offers online-degree programs. Cheng said stabilizing enrollment, which peaked in 2010, remains a top priority. Some progress has been made to address the issue. For example, there has been increased marketing, particularly around PACT, the state's tuition- and fee-free community college program. There has also been increased outreach to traditionally underserved communities, Cheng said. There is also a concerted effort — through enhanced academic, career and mental health counseling — to increase transfer enrollment, which means getting community college students to eventually move on to one of CSCU's four-year universities or Charter Oak State College. Cheng said the CSCU system this year also "began to aggressively transition with more online programs," including a new bachelor's degree in social work at Charter Oak, which launched in the fall 2022 semester. "We expect additional announce- ments on online programs in the coming months," Cheng said. TERRENCE CHENG President Connecticut State Colleges and Universities Education: Master's degree in fine arts, University of Miami Age: 50

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