The Washtenaw Community College Board of Trustees unanimously approved the appointment of new president Rose Bellanca at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Bellanca will begin her 3-year contract August 15. She will be paid $180,000 a year with $15,000 in deferred compensation and $7,000 in expenses. The contract will be renegotiated each year.

Coming to WCC from Northwood University’s Florida campus, Bellanca said in her remarks at the meeting that the college “has always been the center of attention for me, because you have always been a step ahead of everyone else, and for the right reason.”

Bellanca elaborated afterward that moving forward must be done carefully.

“What I admire about WCC is that they are always trying something new, something innovative, and something good,” she said. “Not change for change’s sake, because that’s not good.”

Bellanca added that she is excited to return to a community college from the university world. Before her time as chief operating officer at Northwood, she was president of St. Clair Community College for six years.

“I think what makes a community college unique is that it is a teaching and learning college,” she said. “Our faculty do not spend their time on research, they are spending time on their subject area and their students.”

Bellanca replaces Larry Whitworth, who is retiring. Whitworth earns $206,308 in base pay.

During meeting discussion, the board also showed support for a proposal to increase wages, shifting the ranges for staff up by 2.5 percent. Adjunct professors under collective bargaining would see their pay increased 2.5 percent, while non-adjunct part-time professors would receive a 2 percent pay raise. The board will vote on the proposal June 28.

Douglas Kruzel, associate vice president for Human Resources Management, also proposed a plan for hourly employees to take unpaid days off during the summer as a cost-cutting measure.

The new plan, in a pilot phase this year, would allow employees to choose dates to take off and would not change their employment status, benefits or paid days off schedule. All dates would have to be approved by supervisors.

Ben Freed is a summer intern at AnnArbor.com. You can reach him by email at benfreed@annarbor.com or by phone at (734)-623-4674. Follow him on Twitter @BFreedInA2.