Patrick names 5 UMass trustees

Governor Deval Patrick yesterday named five new members to the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees, among them former chairman James Karam, in a broad shift that could realign the balance of power on the panel and lead to the ouster of the current chairman, Stephen Tocco.

The Patrick administration is seeking to put its stamp on the board to help advance the governor's education reform plans. The revamped board meets tomorrow morning at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and the trustees may try to elect a new chairman.

In a controversial move, Governor Mitt Romney appointed Tocco, a longtime Republican operative, last September and lobbied successfully for him to be elected chairman. Some trustees criticized the move as political payback because Karam had opposed Romney's attempts to remove former UMass president William M. Bulger and supported a plan to establish a new public law school in the face of Romney's opposition.

Tocco said yesterday in a statement that he has "worked hard with the governor to advance his higher education agenda and looks forward to working with the governor and his appointees in the future."

The shake-up on the board, which governs the five-campus UMass system, follows a tumultuous spring for the system.

UMass faculty, lawmakers, and other trustees lashed out at Tocco and UMass president Jack M. Wilson over Wilson's plans to revamp the system's leadership team. The plans, which coincided with John Lombardi's announcement that he would be stepping down as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, sparked upheaval throughout the system and a no-confidence vote in Wilson and the trustees by the Amherst faculty.

In addition to the new five appointees, the 19-member committee includes 12 members appointed by Republican gover nors and two voting student representatives. While governors appoint the trustees, the board chooses its own chairman.

"These changes are not about any one individual, but simply a continuance of the governor's efforts to further his vision for the future of public education in Massachusetts," an administration official said on condition of anonymity.

The appointments represent the latest in a series of moves by Patrick to overhaul the state's education leadership.

Last month, he named Paul Reville chairman of the Board of Education, replacing Romney appointee Christopher Anderson, who said his dismissal was politically motivated.

He also named Fred C. Clark chairman of the Board of Higher Education, filling the position vacated by Tocco in January.

Patrick said in a statement announcing the appointments that the new members would help "carry forward his vision for a comprehensive, coordinated education system.

To be a world leader in education, we have to continually strengthen our leadership."

Tocco, a former aide to Governors William F. Weld and Paul Cellucci, was chairman of the Board of Higher Education from 1999 until last January. He heads a lobbying firm, ML Strategies.

Patrick also named Philip Johnston, who stepped down as chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party earlier this year; Kerri Osterhaus, a Hudson physician who received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Henry Thomas III, president and CEO of the Urban League of Springfield who last month completed a six-year stint on the Board of Education; and Ed Collins of Springfield, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The move ends the tenures of former chairman Karl White, vice chairman Robert Sheridan, and Bob McCarthy, president of Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, whose terms are expiring.

Two other trustees, Christine Cassel and John Armstrong, had previously resigned - Armstrong in protest of Wilson's restructuring plans.

Andrea Estes of the Globe staff contributed to this report.