Finally, the board would create new guidelines for hiring presidents and review the leaders’ performance each year.
The governor’s proposal includes a $10 million systemwide funding increase, a challenge to the business community to match the amount, and a provision that would funnel some federal workforce development grants to the schools.
Patrick made his first public pitch to business leaders in a speech yesterday at Suffolk Construction in Boston.
“Think about what we could do if we had a real unified system,’’ he said. “We have absolutely no illusions about how heavy a lift this will be. Change is rarely easy. Sometimes it feels uniquely difficult on Beacon Hill. But we have shown, all of us, that when we pull together, we can make even the most difficult or challenging or elusive change happen.’’
Mayor Thomas M. Menino also spoke at the event, praising the governor’s proposal as a way to better align the colleges’s academic offerings with employment opportunities.
For instance, Roxbury Community College is “in the shadow of some of the greatest health care institutions in the world,’’ Menino said. “Why shouldn’t they be training people for those jobs?’’
Roxbury students said they were surprised at Menino’s assessment. Three of them noted later on campus that the college’s nursing program is already widely respected, with high passing rates on board exams, but they agreed that the school needs more resources.
“The labs are very much underequipped,’’ said Margarette Casimir, a nursing student. “The microscopes are defective or missing pieces. And slides break easily, but it takes a long time to get them replaced. We need more money, yes, and also someone who knows how to distribute the money wisely.’’
Presidents of the colleges received the proposed changes more tentatively yesterday.
Many said they were delighted to have the spotlight after years of feeling overshadowed by four-year colleges and universities.
