Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com January 11, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 11 Ojakian tries to rebuild CSCU system trust, finances By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com M ark Ojakian stepped into his role as president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) system on Sept. 28 facing myr- iad challenges, from funding constraints, to declining enroll- ment and a new faculty contract to negotiate. Discussing the issues he faces in 2016, the fourth president in the four-year-old, $1.2 billion CSCU sys- tem, which consolidated 17 colleges and universities under one umbrel- la, said he wants to bring stabil- ity and consistency to the system, leverage its strengths to make it work as intended and mend fences with various constituencies, includ- ing teachers, who haven't seen eye- to-eye with previous leadership. "The important first step is to re-establish the relationships that have been damaged — with the General Assembly, with the faculty, with the presidents, with the business community, with the Gilberto seeks smarter spending in leaner times By Keith Griffin kgriffin@HartfordBusiness.com A s a child of first-generation immigrants, Paula Gilber- to grew up in a New Brit- ain neighborhood where people watched out for each other. It was decidedly blue collar but the people took pride in giving back even while working long hours to provide for their families. Those childhood values helped guide Gilberto's career path, which culminates in March when she becomes president and CEO of the United Way of Central and North- eastern Connecticut. She replaces Susan B. Dunn, who announced her retirement in November. Gilberto, United Way's current senior vice president, sat for an hour-long interview at her Arbor Street office in Hartford's West End. She joined United Way in March 1998 as vice president of CT Children's Shmerling willing to take risks By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut Children's Medi- cal Center is the state's larg- est pediatric hospital out- side of Yale, but its new CEO James Shmerling knows that won't be enough to ensure financial viability. Hired in November after a nearly nine-year stint at Chil- dren's Hospital Colorado, Shmer- ling is arriving at a relatively young institution that has grown its footprint in recent years and won accolades for several of its specialties, but also run into financial challenges. "It's had some ups and downs financially, it's had some difficul- ties, but it's a strong hospital pro- viding terrific care," Shmerling, 61, said in a December interview. "What I see here is tremendous potential to be a highly ranked national children's hospital." He acknowledges many struc- tural and competitive hurdles stand in the way of long-term success. But the Nashville native, Paula Gilberto must deal with declining government aid and corporate mergers as she becomes head of the regional United Way in March. Mark Ojakian faces a tough task battling funding and enrollment constraints at the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system. CT Children's CEO James Shmerling said he must tackle both immediate fiscal challenges and insurance- contract design. H B J P H O T O | K E I T H G R I F F I N H B J P H O T O | M A T T P I L O N H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S Continued on page 12 Continued on page 14 Continued on page 14

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