A year ago, Maryland's largest community college system was bruised and reeling from the report of a blue-ribbon panel that found the schools in pandemonium, suffering from weak management and outdated technology.
A miffed Baltimore County Council slashed $2.5 million in 1997 because the schools lacked direction. The system's top official was later fired, trustees quarreled and faculty members on the Catonsville, Essex and Dundalk campuses were in a state of rebellion.
But this spring, as the Community College of Baltimore County submits a $106.7 million budget for next fiscal year, a welcome peace has settled over the college. The critics have quieted.
Officials say Irving Pressley McPhail, the system's chancellor, has restored stability during his first year at the helm, with a clear direction evident to educators and the public.
Others credit the restructured governing board and its linkage with the General Assembly and county council.
"There has been tremendous improvement," said County Council Chairman Kevin B. Kamenetz, an early critic who pushed for the system's consolidation. "There is a better mind-set that ultimately should provide for greater tax dollar savings."
McPhail, a veteran educator and administrator, realizes the critics can quickly reappear. And a small group of professors continue to remind McPhail about nagging problems.
"We're not standing still," the chancellor said. Among his priorities is finding new presidents at the system's three campuses.
Changes bring hope
McPhail and other system leaders cite several changes that have given new hope to the system that teaches more than 62,000 students, up 5 percent this semester. Among them:
Introduction of the Learning First strategy, popular at several campuses nationally, which stresses making students more active partners in the learning process with state-of-the-art technology. McPhail is pushing "virtual" classrooms with distance learning labs and course offerings on the World Wide Web.
The opening of a $6 million Applied Technology Center at the Catonsville campus and a proposed increase in the technology fee that will be used to purchase more than 1,200 new computers and more than 300 printers. Both are steps to improve lagging technology.
Exporting CCBC's ideas and programs to other campuses and urging faculty and administrators to interact nationally on ideas of mutual learning and networking.
Early missteps
Changes have not come easily. McPhail stumbled early with the more than 1,000 full- and part-time faculty and administrators.
"The days of standing in front of a class lecturing for 90 minutes have long gone, and we accept that," said veteran Catonsville professor Larry Aaronson. "But this administration seems to be marginalizing the work of faculty. Tenure for new instructors is gone, [and] there's been no real pay increase for us over the last several years.
"The greater question should be, 'Are we becoming obsolete?' "
Added Aaronson: "There are classrooms that haven't been updated in 30 years. Some of the physical plants are crumbling before our eyes. Things are not all that great."
Others who work closely with McPhail say the chancellor can occasionally be huffy and impatient.
But there is no doubt about McPhail's ability to effectively push his vision -- from local chambers of commerce to professional conferences where he has chatted with educators from Australia and Canada.
With his booming voice and articulate presentation, the Harlem native gets people's attention.
In January, McPhail headed a CCBC delegation that participated in a national higher education seminar in San Diego.
"At dinner, in the hallways, people were talking about Baltimore County," McPhail said. "To me, that's very rewarding -- participating instead of just attending. It shows we have quality people here in this system."
Lawmakers pleased
A visit to lawmakers in Annapolis this month "was like a love-in," said Del. Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick, a Dundalk Democrat and the county House delegation chairman.
"When McPhail came in a year ago, there was a real skepticism among the delegation that there would simply be more of the same misdirected spending," said Minnick. "But he came in with a difficult task, good support from the board and has made us proud. He's the best thing to happen to the colleges in a long, long time."
McPhail had to weather some early missteps.
In September, for example, he distributed a seemingly innocuous "thank-you" letter to a group of black faculty and staff, which urged those who attended a welcome dinner to "watch their backs" at the colleges. That prompted allegations of racial divisiveness from some nonblack staff members. While County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger called the note "poor judgment," he maintained his support for McPhail.
The chancellor continues to stress diversity and support campus mentoring programs and outreach services to minority students. Recently, student mentors from the Dundalk college honored children from Dundalk Elementary School who wrote essays.
Other projects include an alliance with the University of Baltimore, and college officials are seeking partnerships with area private schools.
One measure of how attitudes toward the college have changed: the mild reaction to a proposed increase in the technology fee, from $4.25 to $8.25 per credit hour.
The fee will mean a jump of $127 a year for each student, said Stephen L. Kirchner, vice chancellor for finance and administration. The money will be used to purchase 1,200 new computers and 313 printers, Kirchner said.
While some critics interpret the fee as a hidden tuition increase, Councilman Vincent J. Gardina -- a Perry Hall Democrat and watchdog of the college's spending -- supports it.
"The increase will hike technology fee revenue nearly $2 million," Gardina said. "It's not spending just to spend, as happened in the past with the colleges."
But another proposal is likely to run into trouble if it clears Ruppersberger's desk: a funding increase of 48 percent to pay for sending staff to conferences and meetings. The proposed limit would be $721,000, up from $508,163.
Kirchner said faculty and administrators need training and development for McPhail's Learning First plan. He said such trips would range from "a few hundred dollars to about $1,500."
Gardina, however, said such a request "will never get my approval."
Overall, however, changes at the college please Francis X. Kelly, chairman of the college's board of trustees, who coaxed McPhail to accept the chancellor's position.
Kelly says neighbors sometimes approach him at the supermarket near his Hunt Valley home to praise the college. "They grab me by the sleeve at the produce counter and say how grateful they are that the colleges are being straightened out," said Kelly.
Kelly said community colleges remain critical, less expensive educational gateways for four-year institutions.
"People just don't know how far-reaching these schools can be, how important they are," Kelly said.
Pub Date: 3/21/99