The reorganization of Connecticut’s community colleges approved recently by the Board of Regents for Higher Education is a smart approach that serves the public interest on two levels.

The plan, which preserves all 12 local campuses throughout the state, merges the individual colleges into one accredited institution. Each community college would have a CEO who would report to one of three regional college presidents. The new system would eliminate 117 administrative jobs by 2023 for savings of $17 million.

The reorganization also is a testimonial to the public-spirited perseverance of Mark Ojakian, the president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) system.

Ojakian first advocated the community college merger in 2011 when he worked as an aide to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. In 2015, Malloy named Ojakian president of CSCU. He took the reins of a system in chronic financial peril. After assuming the job Ojakian observed, “The current structure of our system is not viable in the long term.”

The situation Ojakian confronted warranted this pessimistic outlook. State funding to CSCU had fallen 12.5 percent since 2015 as the legislature struggled with its own persistent financial crisis. Meanwhile, the contractual obligations of benefits and pension costs consume ever larger shares of the total higher education budget. Bleaker still, Connecticut experienced a 6 percent decline, some 36,000 students, enrolled in public elementary and high schools in the last decade. From here, things get worse. Connecticut is facing the second highest decline of public-school student enrollment in the country; an estimated 14.2 percent, or 77,500, drop in student population over the next decade.

To staunch the bleeding, Ojakian introduced his proposal, dubbed “Students First,” in April. The proposal called for the elimination of both department chair and faculty positions at each campus and the return of those professors to the classroom. That plan would have eliminated 163 jobs and saved $23 million.

The proposal met with ridicule from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), a multi-state organization that accredits higher education. NEASC rejected Ojakian’s proposal and its two-year timeline for implementation as unrealistic.

Faculty unions from the 12 community colleges, including Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, likewise condemned the proposal. Ojakian faced catcalls from the unions and from some state legislators in Hartford urging him to resign.

Ojakian opted for a better course. He met with leaders from the NEASC to review their criticism and incorporate some of their suggestions. Ojakian then met with the college faculty, staff and Faculty Advisory Committee to address their concerns.

From those meetings came the compromise plan approved last week. Ojakian’s new Students First plan extended the merger timeline to 2023. He developed a more gradual academic planning and transition process. Ojakian agreed to maintain the current department chair structure. An analysis shows the plan saving $17 million when fully implemented versus the $23 million originally proposed.

“At the heart of this is the state’s need to stabilize financially our community college position into the future,” Ojakian told The Connecticut Mirror. “We also recognize that we need more time to get the foundation in place for a change of this magnitude."

Is the Students First initiative a magic wand that solves all financial problems for Connecticut’s community colleges? No. Finding adequate state funding will continue to be an issue, while pension and benefits payments pose an ever-mounting challenge. The decline of college-age students in the state is a problem that goes far deeper than community college enrollment levels.

But in all that world of woe, Mark Ojakian took up the challenge and persevered to find one solution to a multi-faceted problem. It took him seven years to get to the outcome the Board of Regents approved last week. He got there with grit, determination, and, ultimately, compromise.

Political leadership is about so much more than talking points, pep rallies and bully pulpits. Leadership requires vision, engagement, persuasion, flexibility and stamina. Mark Ojakian demonstrated leadership qualities in achieving his long-pursued Students First agenda.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.