Catanzaro should consider transition

photo Chattanooga State Technical Community College President Jim Catanzaro

Dr. Jim Catanzaro is never without a thought, a plan, a strategy. Where most people his age and with his longevity in their fields have hung up their spurs and received their gold watches, he is active, moving, seeking, listening and looking ahead.

Before his arrival at Chattanooga State as president, the school was a solid, local alternative for high school graduates -- and returning nontraditional students -- to typical four-year universities. It didn't have -- or seek -- much fanfare. It carried the semi-derisive nickname of UCLA -- University of Chattanooga at Lower Amnicola.

Since Catanzaro's arrival, the school has grown, become known for its innovation and joined forces with automaker Volkswagen for training. He has talked about the school offering bachelor's degrees, suggested dorms and recently unveiled plans for a medieval chapel.

He is no wallflower, either. While leaders of some higher education institutions spurn the spotlight, the CSCC president seeks it.

Catanzaro is delighted to promote his school and his ideas. He has taught classes there, he has hosted local television shows, he has written books. He has sat on national and numerous local boards. He has received a variety of honors.

To be out front is to be sure of yourself, and he is. Certainly, good college presidents must have some of that to stay on top.

Indeed, Catanzaro has a way of crinkling his eyes, smiling and making you believe what he's telling you is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

When you're sure of yourself, though, you can begin to believe your ideas are tantamount to gospel, that you can do things the way you want, that you can talk your way out of problems.

Those traits usually rub people the wrong way, and that's where Catanzaro is today. On Thursday, 79 percent of Chattanooga State faculty members voted no-confidence in his capacity as president. It's at least the third time in his career as a college president that such a vote has been made or suggested could be made against him.

On one of those occasions, at CSCC in 2003, a vote was not taken and a conflict manager was hired to smooth over relations.

The last straw that led to Thursday's vote was Catanzaro's 2013 hiring at a high salary ($90,000) a senior executive assistant, then promoting her (with a bump to $108,000) to chief innovations officer when -- against job description requirements -- she had not earned her degree from Duquesne University as her resume stated.

Then, with at least one call from the CSCC president along the way, Duquesne agreed to issue her a marketing degree in December, changed to offer the degree on Sept. 22, then said her original degree in communications could be retroactive to 2005.

The matter, which Catanzaro surely would have handled differently if he had to do it over again, has become the subject of investigations from the Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.

The hiring, faculty members said, undermines the credibility of the college.

But they also have pointed over time to too-low salaries for some and too-high salaries for others, retaliatory actions and other decisions made by the president.

Nobody wants to be knocked off their pedestal, especially when they're active and involved and have something to offer. And Catanzaro, whip-smart, trim and appearing younger than his years, can probably offer a lot.

But the time may have come for him to sunset on his terms his long and effective tenure -- nearly two and a half decades -- at Chattanooga State. Perhaps he could let the dust settle on Thursday's vote, announce his retirement and agree to stay until a successor is hired. Or he could agree to be an unpaid consultant, an idea man for the school.

Without a doubt, the school has changed for the better since Catanzaro arrived. At one point, it was ranked in the top 25 of some 1,100 community colleges in the country, he has said. Certainly, nobody's calling it the University of Chattanooga at Lower Amnicola anymore. He has helped put it on the map. And he can help keep it there by helping pass the mantle of leadership to someone with his enthusiasm and passion for the crucial role these colleges play in a community.

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