The Tennessee Board of Regent’s new chancellor, John Morgan, said one of his first orders of business will be to carve out a more efficient and cohesive community college system.
“We need to create (a community college system) as a higher education system that is attractive to students in a way that makes it a destination of choice,” said Morgan, 58, the current deputy governor for Tennessee and former state comptroller.
For too long, two-year schools have operated fairly independently from one another, he said. A new model for managing two-year schools will call for Regents to hire a vice chancellor for community colleges to oversee efforts to replicate best practices across campuses and eliminate duplicated services at some schools, Morgan said.
Centralizing some operations such as information technology or student services could save dollars that can be reinvested, he said.
“These are efficiency measures to try to save resources,” he said.
The system also will work on developing the first branding campaign for community colleges. The plan is to promote the state’s smaller schools as the cheapest way for Tennessee students to begin their college careers, an idea promoted by recent legislation which mandates that colleges improve transfer agreements between schools.
“I think we have missed opportunities for economies and efficiencies because of the isolated nature of these institutions,” said Morgan.
Chattanooga State Community College President Jim Catanzaro said he agrees that the state’s two-year schools need an aggressive marketing campaign.
“Branding the college system can help raise the reputation and recognition of colleges statewide and here, and I support that,” Catanzaro said.
But he said he would be concerned if a campaign pushes community colleges generically but encourages community colleges to “look alike” or minimizes schools’ distinctions.
Morgan admits there will be a learning curve coming into his role as the head of the Regent’s 13 community colleges and seven universities. An Austin Peay State University graduate, he has no formal higher education experience, a fact questioned by some lawmakers.
But he said he will rely heavily on the Regents staff, many of whom have extensive higher education backgrounds, to guide him in dealing with teaching faculty and academic issues.
Still, having worked more than 30 years in state government, he said he brings a lot of political and policy knowledge to the table.
“The thing that I can do differently is that I do have a pretty good understanding of the state budget,” he said. “I think I have some credibility with policymakers.”
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