Office of the Superintendent

Erroll B. Davis, Jr.

Superintendent
130 Trinity Ave., SW
Atlanta, GA

2/25/2013
To Whom It May Concern:
I have written this letter of recommendation to be included in the professional file of Dr. Anthony S. Tricoli.
Dr. Anthony Tricoli and I first met when he was identified as a finalist for the Georgia Perimeter College (GPC)
presidency in 2006. As the nationwide search narrowed, I learned firsthand about the leadership skills of this
California community college president. A team of University System of Georgia (USG) Board Members and I
travelled to a small town to visit an even smaller college in Central California. During our visit, we learned about the
excellent work being led by Dr. Tricoli as he was completing his fifth year as president at West Hills College
Coalinga.
What was most obvious to those of us visiting from Georgia was the respect and admiration this college president
had earned from the local community and board members, faculty, staff, administrators and students alike. He
clearly had personally led the development of a strategic planning process that was inclusive of all constituent
bodies from the campuses of the college to each of the outlaying migrant communities served by this small but
transformational college. His understanding of leadership and relationship building became increasingly more
evident with each person we interviewed. His successes in governance and collaboration, student recruiting,
teambuilding, and community outreach were the strengths we desired in the next president to lead metropolitanAtlantas five campus, Georgia Perimeter College. In addition, Campus Compact had honored Dr. Tricoli and his
college with five national best practices in Engagement and Leadership during his last year as the president of
West Hills College Coalinga.
Dr. Tricoli began his work at GPC with a major challenge, that of the closure of its largest campus, to make way for
the University System of Georgias newest four-year college in Gwinnett County. It was predicted that this closure
would result in a loss of 7,000 students, $30 million in revenue, and require a layoff of 350 college employees.
However, instead of taking the easy road and making the personnel reductions, Dr. Tricoli pulled the college team
together and developed a plan to prevent the loss of jobs and to instead increase enrollment. Nine months later, Dr.
Tricoli and his team had enrolled 10,000 new students. There was no loss in revenue, nor were there any layoffs.
This is a testament to the aggressive leadership of Dr. Tricoli. From a base of 6,000 students when he arrived,
enrollment at GPC continued to grow past 27,000 students this past year.
During the years that followed, trust was restored at the college, in large part due to Dr. Tricolis first action to save
350 jobs. It was upon this foundation that Dr. Tricoli built a model shared governance plan which in 2011 was
identified by the AAUP as the best in the nation. With Dr. Tricolis leadership, GPC was able to attract more dual
enrollment students, more military students, and more online students than at any of the other 34 institutions in the
USG. He and his college team also set the high mark in my customer service recognition program in 2009 and 2010
respectively winning Gold level awards for top leader and the top college in customer service for the entire
University System. In 2010, Dr. Tricoli was one of the Governors top three customer service leaders in Georgia.
Improving academic excellence, college-wide communication, the utilization of data in making good decisions,
strengthening the enrollment management process, and making transfer seamless into 4-year colleges, all became

part of the budget proposal I delivered to State Joint Appropriations Committee in 2009 as I shared highlights of
GPCs Lean Six Sigma teamwork and outcomes. In addition, Dr. Tricolis understanding of the value of applying
classroom theory to real world application was enhanced greatly with the development of the Atlanta Center for
Civic Engagement and Service Learning, and the Southern Institute for Sustainability.
Anthony Tricoli is a president who is not afraid to lead. Hes not one who requires any pushing into hard work. It is
this type of work ethic which has earned him a leadership spot at the front table with national organizations such as
ACE, AAC&U, and the AACC, on international boards, academic and workforce commissions, and LEAP & the select
Presidents Trust group.
The unfortunate reality is that leading a complex, multi-campus college in a politically active metropolitan area can
have its challenges. With five thriving campuses to lead, Dr. Tricoli, by definition, had to trust his direct reports to do
their jobs. He did so, but not blindly, following up with appropriate written verification. In particular, the situation
of GPCs budget must be put into perspective. It is clear that Dr. Tricoli did what he was supposed to do as a leader
and exercised the appropriate level of fiscal oversight and diligence. Sadly, in response to his legitimate queries, he
was given misleading and incorrect information. A few quotes from the final audit of this situation put the issue in
the correct perspective. GPCs former fiscal leadership team relied on inaccurate, internally generated
spreadsheets that did not correspond to the General Ledger. Specifically, it appears that members of GPCs
cabinet, to include the former President, and both the Presidents Council and the Strategic Budget Committee
were provided incomplete and inaccurate budget presentations made by the CBO and the Budget Director at
various group meetings. It is clear from our review that GPCs CBO did not provide GPCs President with timely
and reliable financial information for the Presidents use in managing the institution. We agree that he [CBO]
was responsible for the institutions fiscal operations in the overall context of his accountability to the former
President.
Of course leadership is ultimately accountable for anything that happens on its watch. However, in order to be an
effective leader, you must also learn to trust but verify. My understanding of this situation leads me to believe
that Dr. Tricoli did trust and he did seek ongoing and reasonable verification. He was failed in both areas by those
who were responsible for daily management of the college budget, and by those with budget oversight at the
system level. The June 5, 2012 complete rewrite of the University Systems budget oversight process and its
attachment to the final audit findings published on September 17, 2012 adds credence to the concerns expressed
that the Systems processes were not up to the standard they needed to be in order for GPCs situation to have
been avoided. And for that, I must accept some responsibility, as well. This is an unfortunate and certainly tragic
situation for a man who has always acted quickly, aggressively and transparently to eliminate any problem which
crossed his desk. Knowing Dr. Tricoli as I do, I have no question he would have addressed this issue had he been
informed by those who had the responsibility of doing so.
It was under Dr. Tricolis leadership that the image and culture of GPC positively changed. It was no longer seen as a
last chance college, but a college of first choice, a gateway into the University System of Georgia, transferring
thousands of students each year into the USGs senior institutions. In 2011, GPC enrolled over 15,000 freshman
students, a great change from the 6,000 freshmen that enrolled in 2006 prior to Dr. Tricolis arrival. In the five years
under his leadership, the image of the institution was unquestionably transformed for the better, locally, nationally,
and internationally. The colleges international composition has grown to nearly 160 different countries. It has
become one of, if not the, most diverse colleges in the University System, and it graduates more students of color
than any in the USG.
If I were given the opportunity to hire Anthony Tricoli to lead an institution of higher education or otherwise, I would
not hesitate for a moment to make that offer of employment again. Dr. Tricoli possesses the skills, abilities,

attributes and experience to lead at the highest level. He is a man of integrity, strong moral and ethical character
and behavior. I was pleased to have him as a member of the leadership team while I was the Chancellor of the
University System of Georgia.
I recommend Dr. Tricoli to you today, and I urge you to give him your highest consideration.
With warmest regards,

Erroll B. Davis, Jr.

Former Chancellor (2006-2011)
University System of Georgia