President Mark Ojakian Appoints CSCU Chief of Staff

Mark Ojakian, President of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system (CSCU), announced today the appointment of Dr. Alice Pritchard as Chief of Staff to the CSCU president. The appointment is effective on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015.

“I am honored that Dr. Pritchard has agreed to accept the offer to become CSCU chief of staff.  Her experience, vision and temperament will be very helpful to me in refining and realizing the goals I and the executive team have begun to set for the future. Dr. Pritchard will be critical to our success,” said President Ojakian.

In her new role, Dr. Pritchard will be a senior member of the President’s staff, and will report directly to President Ojakian. She will help manage and direct key functions within the CSCU System Office, working in collaboration with other members of the executive staff, as well as in collaboration with the CSCU institutions’ presidents and staffs. She will also supervise CSCU support and technical staff at the System Office as assigned by President Ojakian.

Dr. Pritchard is currently serving as the executive director of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF), located in Hartford, Conn.  As executive director, she has been responsible for managing all aspects of the agency, including financial planning and administration, working with the CWEALF board of directors, providing input to and implementing strategic plans for the organization, and overseeing all of CWEALF’s programs and special projects.

In addition, Dr. Pritchard has acted as the principal representative to the press and the public at large for CWEALF, has prepared and presented testimony to the Connecticut General Assembly, and has advocated before legislators at both the state and the national levels on behalf of CWEALF and its issues. Finally, while at CWEALF, Dr. Pritchard has provided consulting services for a variety of organizations, including the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, the Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford, and the Connecticut Workforce Development Council. Dr. Pritchard has been with CWEALF since 1991. 

President Ojakian found her experience in these areas especially compelling: “Dr. Pritchard’s experience in workforce development and employment and training will be extremely valuable to the CSCU system at this time, as we expand our efforts to prepare more students for the workplace, and seek to provide Connecticut employers with the highly skilled workforce they need.”

In addition to her recent work experience at CWEALF, Dr. Pritchard has served as a member of numerous boards, including the Universal Health Care Foundation and Connecticut Health Advancement and Research Trust; the United Way of Connecticut; Career Resources, Inc.; Greater Hartford Legal Aid; Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame (Board of Advisors); the Hartford Area Training Center: Isaiah Ministries, Covenant Soup Kitchen; and on the Board of the National Skills Coalition. She has been published in numerous academic publications, and has produced an extensive list of research reports for CWEALF. She holds a Ph. D. in sociology and an M. A. in sociology, both from the University of Connecticut, and a B. A. in sociology from Millsaps College in
Jackson, Miss.

Dr. Pritchard’s salary as chief of staff will be $131, 700 per year. She will also be entitled to the standard benefits package received by state employees.