Presidential Retirement or Dismissal? No One’s Saying at Southern Connecticut State U.

Cheryl J. Norton, president of Southern Connecticut State University, will step down at the end of this month. But while the university says that she is retiring, The Connecticut Mirror, a local newspaper, reports that she has been dismissed.

Ms. Norton, the university’s first female president, announced her retirement in February, with plans to work on reform of elementary and secondary education. But The Connecticut Mirror revealed that David G. Carter, the Connecticut State University system’s chancellor, had dismissed Ms. Norton in a letter dated November 17.

The reasons for Ms. Norton’s dismissal remain unclear. A separation agreement obtained by the Mirror says that her dismissal “is not related in any way to her work performance or for disciplinary reasons.”

A policy change adopted by the system’s Board of Trustees last October allows Mr. Carter to dismiss campus presidents without the approval of the board and “without cause or explanation.” Some faculty members have said the new policy puts too much power in one person’s hands, the Mirror reports.

Ms. Norton and Mr. Carter have declined to talk about the circumstances of her departure.