At Broome Community College, Unfinished Projects and a President on the Job Market

Controversy over building projects may lead to the departure of a president at Broome Community College, in upstate New York, according to the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin. Laurence D. Spraggs, the college president, tussled with county officials over a communication-arts building; he believed money from a tobacco settlement should be used for its construction, while county officials said the money should go toward renovating a crumbling building in Broome. County officials also doubted whether Mr. Spraggs had a plan for supporting the building.

Mr. Spraggs arrived at the college four years ago with a plan to build dormitories at the college, but they have not been built. The new master plan at the college calls for a $30-million science building. County officials have supported that plan.

The Press & Sun Bulletin quotes those who say that Mr. Spraggs has gotten the college moving in the right direction, having raised enrollment and resolved a contract dispute. But he may be leaving nevertheless. Mr. Spraggs has already started interviewing for presidents’ jobs in Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and New York.

The newspaper does not mention another controversial episode in Mr. Spraggs’s tenure: Last year, the college clashed with preservationists over a 140-year-old building that was once part of the county’s poor farm. The community college’s master plan called for its demolition.