New London — As Connecticut State Colleges & Universities President Mark Ojakian sees it, the plan to consolidate the system's 12 community colleges is in a chicken-and-egg situation.

Opponents of the plan question why the Board of Regents is hiring three regional presidents when the colleges' accrediting agency, the New England Commission of Higher Education, hasn't approved the plan.

But after NECHE declined to approve the plan last year, Ojakian recalls the commission saying, "If you want to come back and be considered one institution for accreditation purposes, then you need to start to operate and act like one institution. We need evidence that you have the pieces in place."

And so ahead Ojakian trudges.

Seeking to drum up support for the controversial plan, Ojakian talked to The Day Editorial Board on Wednesday, a day ahead of a scheduled meeting with NECHE in which he will go over a progress report and address questions.

He has sought to dispel misinformation he sees around campuses: that the plan would cause students to lose financial aid, that individual colleges will lose more than $2 million, that credits won't transfer.

The consolidation plan — part of a larger initiative called Students First — is the result of the system's financial woes and the consequent fear of individual colleges losing their accreditation.

Ojakian said that under Gov. Ned Lamont's flat-funded budget but with 2 percent tuition increases, he is projecting a $28 million deficit for the community colleges next year; the system has $39 million in reserves.

He estimates the consolidation plan would save $23 million per year through eliminating 160 administrative positions. For example, human resources and information technology would be centralized, and at each campus, the position of president instead would become a lesser-paid CEO.

CSCU spokesperson Leigh Appleby said there are 5,961 administrators, faculty and staff across the system, including 815 in student and academic affairs, and 750 in administrative functions.

"I continue to believe, in a state the size of Connecticut, we don't need to replicate 12 separate administrations at 12 different campuses," Ojakian said.

He said the money saved on administrators would be spent on advisers to help the system's problem with retention; the average completion rate is only 16 percent.

Last month, students and professors delivered an anti-consolidation petition with more than 1,300 signatures to the governor's office, the Connecticut Mirror reported.

Between them and legislators, reasons for opposition include fears of extra red tape, worries about the impact on individual school identities, past problems with the Board of Regents, and the speed of the changes.

A bill that would require both houses of the General Assembly to approve a recommended merger or closure passed unanimously out of the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee.

Ojakian testified against the bill, telling The Day he believes it blurs the line between executive and legislative authority, and that "injecting politics into the mix would do not only the process but the students a disservice."

The fiscal note on the bill from the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis said that the bill "may prevent or delay for up to 12 to 16 months any savings or costs anticipated to result from any college or university merger approved by the Board of Regents."

e.moser@theday.com