Dr. Rose Bellanca was hired as the president of Washtenaw Community College in 2011. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, university presidents, on average, stay in their jobs 8.5 years. With a total compensation package that tops $250,000 per year, she is the sixth highest paid community college president in the state of Michigan. The three-year completion rate from WCC is 15 percent, one of the lowest in the state.
Bellanca earned her Ph.D. in Administration and Organizational Leadership Studies from Wayne State University. For three years she was the University Campus President and Provost at Northwood University. Between 2002 and 2008, she was the president of St. Clair Community College. Her CV lists a wide variety of accomplishments at her previous jobs, including “increased student enrollment and increased student retention,” “successfully led two county wide millages in a period of time with the highest unemployment in the county” and “earned NCA reaccreditation.”
On paper, she appears capable and competent. However, her tenure at WCC has been marred by a nasty fight with the college’s tenured faculty, resulting in a vote of no confidence, the first in recent memory. Faculty alleged the school’s president is “damaging” the institution through a variety of misguided managerial decisions, including employing eight vice presidents.
In Nov., three new trustees were elected to the WCC Board of Trustees. All three chose to run for office in response to the conflicts between Dr. Bellanca, her faculty and the faculty union, as well as media reports of Dr. Bellanca’s spending. Her use of public money included a $1,100 birthday party for Trustee Diana McKnight Morton, as well as a $2,800 meal at Vinology.
The college’s president now faces a Board of Trustees populated by members who have openly questioned her spending, salary increases, hiring decisions, strategic plan and initiatives.
Records revealed that the WCC Foundation reimbursed the college for the cost of the Vinology meal. WCC officials subsequently said the cost of the meal was paid for by a donor. Records turned over in response to a Freedom of Information Act request showed that a donor did, indeed, make a donation to offset a portion of the Vinology meal, $500. The rest, then, was paid for by the WCC Foundation, a charity which exists to fund student scholarships.
The three new trustees, Ruth Hatcher, Christina Fleming and David DeVarti, are all interested in increasing transparency and making sure that Dr. Bellanca’s strategic plan aligns with the mission of the college. This next year will be a critical one for both WCC and its president. The college faces shrinking enrollment from historic highs and rising fixed costs, including the cost of faculty and staff. In order to make ends meet, funding for student services has been slashed and tuition increased. If Dr. Bellanca can’t find a way to work harmoniously with her own faculty, she may find herself out of a job.
