Lisa Haynes and Jim CatanzaroSTATEMENT FROM JIM CATANZARO
“I love this college and our community. We’ve made extraordinary strides over the past 24 years so that Chattanooga State stands out as one of the very best community colleges in the nation. We have heard this from the national community college leaders who visited us: John Roueche, Terry O’Banion, and the American Association of Community Colleges CEO Walter Bumphus. Certainly these men know community colleges. The THEC outcomes Report positioned us as the highest achieving public college or university in the state. It has been a college-wide effort with strong System support. We can all be proud to be ‘Chattanooga Staters’. I’m immensely proud to have been part of such a distinguished campus community. Hopefully, new leadership will take Chattanooga State even further. I am announcing my retirement effective December 31. Rhonda and I wish you all the very best.”
After 24 years at the helm of Chattanooga State Community College, President Jim Catanzaro announced his retirement today.
Catanzaro, who faces two state investigations, has become a magnet for controversy on campus in recent months since he hired Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes in 2013. It was later revealed that Haynes, who he met while on vacation in Barbados, was hired without a required bachelor’s degree.
The Tennessee Board of Regents met behind closed doors last week to discuss an ongoing audit of Chatt State and Catanzaro’s hiring practices. The board was expected to release its audit findings by the end of November. The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury has also opened an investigation into Catanzaro.
Catanzaro told members of his executive staff this morning that he would retire effective Dec. 31.
In a statement today, TBR Chancellor John Morgan lauded Catanzaro’s accomplishments, including years of growth and development of unique workforce programs to serve the Chattanooga community.
“President Catanzaro has made substantial contributions to Chattanooga State, its students, and the community it serves,” Morgan said. “I appreciate his recognition that now is the appropriate time for new leadership to step in and allow the college to continue moving forward.”
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