‘Stifled’ by State, Says Community Colleges’ Smith

The outgoing chancellor of California’s 106 community colleges blasted state bureaucrats Thursday, saying administrative hurdles before him had “stifled creativity” and “excessively delayed” efforts to reform the troubled educational system.

Chancellor Joshua L. Smith officially announced his resignation at a Capitol press conference, a day after trustees of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, N.J., appointed him president of their 35,000-student school. Smith, 52, assumed the California post a little more than two years ago, after 25 years in educational administration on the East Coast.

As he has throughout his tenure, Smith spoke during the press conference of frustration at the pace of educational reform and complained of the unwieldy method by which the community colleges are governed.

‘I’ve Been Surprised’

Smith has sought more authority for the statewide chancellor, who shares responsibility with the Legislature, the governor’s Administration, the state Board of Governors and 70 locally elected boards of trustees.

“As one who came to California seeing it as a state known for experimentation, known for serving its people, I must say I’ve been surprised that it seemingly takes longer to make changes here than it did in those hidebound, tradition-bound places where I used to be,” said Smith, a graduate of Boston and Harvard universities.

California’s two-year schools have recently received larger budget allocations from the Legislature, and several reports have recommended a greater role for the community colleges in the state’s three-tier Master Plan for Higher Education.

The community colleges occupy the lowest level of the state’s higher educational system, offering vocational programs and lower division undergraduate courses for students seeking a two-year degree or transfer to four-year schools.

The 19 campuses of the California State University grant bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and the nine-campus University of California offers more prestigious undergraduate diplomas as well as graduate and professional programs in the arts and sciences, law, medicine and other fields.

The regents of the University of California and the state university trustees, however, have considerably more authority in managing their systems than do the 15 community college governors, who are appointed by the governor.

And although UC and CSU receive a large part of their budgets directly from the Legislature, the community colleges collect their state funding through a complex formula based on classroom attendance.

A bill introduced by Assemblyman John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), which includes many of the changes sought by Smith, has passed the Assembly and awaits action by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

‘The Key Ingredient’

Smith said, however, that his frustration results from an inability to convince legislators “that the key ingredient to making reform work is a restructuring of governance” of the colleges, especially the placement of more authority in the hands of the chancellor and governors.

Smith thanked legislators and Gov. George Deukmejian for their support, leveling his ire at the state bureaucracy.

The hierarchy “has caused me to include in my daily lexicon words that were alien to me before I came to California . . . ‘regulation minimum standard’ and ‘compliance’--words that encourage routine and stifle creativity,” Smith said.

“Education simply does not lend itself to regulations similar to those used by a department of water resources or a department of motor vehicles. I do say that the necessity for an educational board constantly to submit itself to the purview of non-educational agencies is dysfunctional and causes excessive delays.”

Asked which agencies have hampered efforts, Smith identified the Office of Administrative Law and the Department of Finance, both of which are under Deukmejian’s control.

Lois Wallace, an assistant director of the Department of Finance, defended the Administration’s handling of the community college programs, saying of Smith, “That’s his opinion, but that’s the way it is right now.”

‘He Understands’

Wallace said Deukmejian’s officials have had a “very agreeable working relationship with Josh. And I think he understands we have to say ‘no’ quite a bit.”

In a statement released by his office, Deukmejian praised Smith as “a scholar in the truest sense of the word.” He also indicated that he is disappointed that Smith is leaving without completing his agenda.

“I would have hoped he would have remained to provide leadership in effectuating greater coordination between the individual colleges and the state board,” Deukmejian said.

Assemblywoman Teresa P. Hughes (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the Assembly Education Committee, said Smith’s abrupt departure is symptomatic of the inability of California’s higher education system to retain good people.