Community Colleges

Carolane Williams has been "separated" from her position as president of Baltimore City Community College, the two-year-college's board announced Tuesday, The Baltimore Sun reported. Faculty members voted no confidence in Williams two years ago, and reports have criticized graduation rates at the college. In September, Governor Martin O'Malley, a Maryland Democrat, named five new members of the college's board. "The board strongly believes that the time is right for a leader who will bring new urgency to our urban educational mission," said a statement from the board chair, Rosemary Gillett-Karam.

Peter F. Burnham, former president of Brookdale Community College, in New Jersey, was sentenced Friday to five years in jail for using college funds to pay for $44,000 in personal expenses, and for accepting $20,000 in tuition reimbursement for his son to attend Monmouth University when his son's tuition was already covered by financial aid, The Daily Record reported. The prosecutor, Christopher Gramiccioni, said that Burnham was arrogant in thinking he could do whatever he wanted with college funds. "He was the king, and everyone else were his subjects,” he said. Burnham won one concession in sentencing: He will be allowed to have $36,000 that the college owes him for unused vacation days applied to the restitution of $44,497 that he was ordered to pay.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, on Monday called for community colleges -- many of which in his state already offer bachelor's degrees -- to do so for total student costs of $10,000, The Orlando Sentinel reported. Those community colleges with bachelor's programs generally cost more than that. Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, has championed the idea of the $10,000 degree and several such programs have launched in Texas. But close analysis of the programs suggests that students in other programs are subsidizing the $10,000 program students, and that the reforms have been more about pricing (for a small number) rather than college costs generally.

Governor Chris Gregoire, who is finishing her time leading Washington State, has appointed her daughter to the board of the Seattle Community Colleges, The Seattle Times reported. The appointment was made October 29, but was not announced until Tuesday. A spokesman for the governor said that Courtney Gregoire, a lawyer for Microsoft who has worked as a legislative director in the U.S. Senate and deputy chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Commerce, has "more than ample experience to serve on this community college board."

Why did Moorpark College oust Jon Foote as president of the student body? Foote is popular with fellow students and has emerged as a strong advocate for them, demanding more information about the California community college's budget, and questioning whether funds might be shifted from non-academic to academic areas, The Los Angeles Times reported. The college ousted him from his position after a series of altercations, all of which involved disputed incidents in which Foote's defenders -- including faculty members -- question the facts as stated by administrators.

Presidents of community colleges received annual raises of roughly 4 to 6 percent per year between 2006 and 2012, according to a newly-released survey of executive compensation from the American Association of Community Colleges. The presidents' median base salary was $167,000. The association's study also found that three-quarters of respondents plan to retire within the next decade.