Jim CatanzaroEmbattled Chattanooga State President Jim Catanzaro is taking his plea to the community.
Catanzaro is sending an email today to hundreds of community leaders giving his perspective on the college's recent controversy. His tome first starts out with a list of accomplishments over his 25-year tenure there.
"I have a passion for our college and our community," Catanzaro said. "I could tell you story after story of remarkable student achievement and college advancement."
He talks about partnerships with Volkswagen and Wacker Chemie, the college's innovative math program and its top-ranking performance on the state's performance funding measures.
But Catanzaro said some faculty members have fought his vision along the way.
"I could easily go on with innovations now seen as bold achievements. Yet, when first initiated, each of these highly acclaimed and even award winning initiatives received push-back by some faculty.
His email doesn't spend much time addressing faculty concern over the hiring of Chief Innovations Officer Lisa Haynes, who was hired in August 2013 without having earned a bachelor's degree as required under her job description.
Since news broke of Haynes' degree mixup, faculty members have twice voted no confidence in Catanzaro, who hired her. But Catanzaro said today that faculty members aren't really upset about the Haynes hiring. Instead, they're worried for their jobs and status in the changing environment of higher education.
"As time has passed and I've spoken with many faculty and staff as well as colleagues nationally, I've come to see that the strong emotion behind this current push-back stems from deeper concerns, indeed fears experienced by faculty far and wide, fears that are legitimate," he wrote. "It's fear that traditional teaching methods in wide use on our campus and across the nation will be replaced by self-paced, student-directed, project-based learning; and it's fear that faculty themselves will be replaced - by coaches, mentors and technology. Fear, of course, drives exaggeration and rumor, ultimately resistance."
"Change is disruptive and difficult for many to accept and adopt."
The president said he's committed to flattening the college's hierarchy to make it more transparent.
"And I'm working diligently to help our college family embrace the changes we must make to meet the threats and take full advantage of the opportunities coming at us so we can challenge our students to achieve subject mastery and deliver world class training with our corporate partners."
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