Many of the players have stayed the same:
Blog
Help save NCC
Please send an email to SUNY that the presidential search was a farce and dismissed good talent, and that Maria Conzatti is not suited to be NCC’s next president. The more letters, the better.
Chancellor John King at john.king@suny.edu
SUNY trustees at trustees@suny.edu
Merryl Tisch at Merryl.Tisch@suny.edu
You can cc the following:
kapil.longani@suny.edu,
ian.rosenblum@suny.edu,
Cesar.Perales@suny.edu,
Joseph.Belluck@suny.edu,
Courtney.Burke@suny.edu,
Alexandria.Chun@suny.edu,
Eric.Corngold@suny.edu,
Marcos.Crespo@suny.edu,
James.Haddon@suny.edu,
Keith.Landa@suny.edu,
Eunice.Lewin@suny.edu,
Stanley.Litow@suny.edu,
Cary.Staller@suny.edu,
Camille.Varlack@suny.edu,
Christy.Woods@suny.edu
And you can bcc:
Alithia Rodriguez-Rolon <Alithia.Rodriguez-Rolon@nysut.org>,
Gregory Amorosi <Gregory.Amorosi@nysut.org
Links to the Reference Interviews
These were sent out yesterday by the Presidential Search firm along with Gardyn’s message that Maria Conzatti is the last one standing. These are Conzatti’s references.
[edit: It appears that the videos were deleted. The transcripts will be posted shortly]
Maria Conzatti
Preliminary Zoom Video Interview
Comprehensive Zoom Audio Reference Interviews
Preliminary Zoom Candidate Interview
Reference Interview Links
- Dr. Thomas Dolan / Retired former Interim President / Nassau Community College – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/fG7V11F4wDvxfcEYuN-03Y6emSyyZRN4awrwgtsIYZ0fe2F19eQPT3uMaPTOtuY9._U2oOHln1sySgPfM
*Please see PDF addendum for more responses by Dr. Dolan.
- Dr. Christine Riordan / President / Adelphi University – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/Tezw3uI-Ux62yYTGhrGlTZ-CjUG1nC-M8qL6onr7eRwfBFJQesk2pzr9q7LzMJ5L.IAoeLPwHzAgRI3vK
- Mr. Demetrius Watkins / Assistant Professor, Student Personnel Services / Nassau Community College – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/TWzp41BZmffAZ3g6Ba1KlbA1lLPQmXq1IUtA26CaNsvvhPwjrdS_hD36lmvFh46Z.J0MUJkHVCh3w72oc
- Dr. Kerri Ann McTiernan / Director of Athletics / Nassau Community College – *not from candidate’s provided reference list – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/Rs2cGBb90AAvHB-z2xE-bEojcLVljJfPyhJ19Hr41AE0ASDiUgT8f86e_XtdgoFh.dGn66z-9L6FCY8OW
- Mr. Jerry Kornbluth / Vice President, Community & Government Relations / Nassau Community College – *not from candidate’s provided list – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/IO6GAKmweGAUqsVYyzLC2QJfi26ElqPEHg-UkGmfK2Jqdc5EWIbzv7eCRxNzT6w0.3V-grEK0G5L24RwE
- Mr. Dave Follick / Assistant Vice President, Academic Student Services / Nassau Community College – *not from candidate’s provided list – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/a-0pcxfvzJH-E1xrqf4WEbUBTDcIjn8x3iJgi9KESOTu7T90607vBjqVZSyrFLT7.EeRuiibUaWx4R6Zw
- Ms. Adeline Mucci / Counselor, Student Personnel Services / Nassau Community College – *not from candidate’s provided list – https://rhperry.zoom.us/rec/share/yB5VUulTqfLXkm5KwV-C5c-ALrfY7oFDPJUw_Bm5eBlKaaYUH5gpXQxGNa3FDblA.KcMAh76bo8R9lVqR
Step 6 and on…?
I am trying to figure out how to complete all these steps but things are happening so fast and all at once. There will be puppet leaders, land giveaways, resource reallocation, and plenty of contractual spoils. But I will get to that another time. First, we have to address the purple elephant in the room, the main puppet leader, Queen Conzatti herself.
Imagine, conning your way from student aide, to TA, to Dean, to Vice President, to Acting President all without ever interviewing! Imagine that the only time you ever interviewed it was already seen as rigged search and you were rejected. Then imagine having the NCC board of trustees protect your position through a clause in the president’s contract that prevented your firing. Then you spend 3 years sabotaging the president so he packs up and leaves. Then you are appointed Interim President, but SUNY throws in a “whereas” that says you can not become the Permanent President. Then the board just renames you “Acting” President so they can reopen the application deadline just for you. You nearly die when you find out you are not a finalist. But then Jerry has a plan and gets his buddy John DeGrace to rejoin the board. Then none of the 5 highly qualified candidates garner 6 votes because the GOP contingent provide a nice block to anyone who isn’t you. Then conveniently, the board decides to ask for rank 6 and 7 of the applicant pool and #6 conveniently isn’t available, leaving you as the about-to-be-appointed president. Imagine that.
If this disgusts you and if you think that this is the wrong path for the college. If you think Maria is not qualified or does not have the integrity to be the president. If you want SUNY to honor their resolution barring Maria from becoming president. If you are worried that this obvious political intrusion jeopardizes our middle states accreditation. If you want SUNY to pick us a president from the 5 candidates. If you want the political intrusion to be stopped… For whatever the reason, please write. They will have to listen. If enough people write, they may be forced to act.
Here are the emails:
John.King@suny.edu
johanna.duncan-poitier@suny.edu
jennifer.miller@suny.edu
trustees@suny.edu
merryl.tisch@suny.edu
Christy.Woods@suny.edu
So, once again, what now?
You have to give the Maria Conzatti credit. She never gives up.
First, the May 2022 SUNY Board of Trustees resolution appointing her to interim president prohibited her from becoming the permanent president. Then in December, the NCC BOT changed her title to “acting”, somehow allowing her to apply for president. Suddenly, she had hope.
However, during the presidential search process, Maria suffered a series of setbacks. First, her inside man was removed for allegedly breaching the confidentiality agreement. Then, to the surprise of many on campus, Maria was not one of the 5 finalists. Was SUNY enforcing the prohibition of the May resolution, or, the more likely reason, were the 5 finalists that much more qualified and experienced than her?
With hope and positivity for the future, the college community came out to see all 5 candidates during their public sessions. Meanwhile at the county legislature, John DeGrace was making a less than triumphant return to the board. Why would DeGrace want to return a board he just left? Possibly he was asked to because an old friend needed to keep his job, and Conzatti was key to that.
So with a full slate of Nassau County GOP appointed trustees, not one of the 5 highly qualified and experienced candidates received the necessary 6 votes to become the next president of Nassau Community College. Jorge Gardyn, under pressure for a response from the NCCFT president, announced that they were continuing to interview. Everyone understood what this meant. It meant that this Board achieved yet another failed search. There was going to be no more interviews.
So, once again, what now?
It is obvious that the Nassau GOP, titillated by the prospect of casino money a stone’s throw away from the college, want Maria to stay. But do they have 6 votes now? And how will they get Maria to be president? What is the plan?
One plan, would be to simply get Durso on board (which he might be- he too loves the casino) and send a resolution to SUNY to appoint Maria the permanent president. That may backfire as SUNY does want the appointment to come from a representative search.
Another plan would be to just extend Maria as Acting president under the guise of “we have no one else” (because everyone who could have filled that role has left or been fired). Then the college could initiate another search and tailor the search committee to be pro-Maria. Remember that Maria (or Maria AND the Board, whoever you believe at this point) activated the 36-5 section of the contract, forcing the faculty to pay for the increase in healthcare premiums. This may have been done deliberately to influence the outcome of the NCCFT elections, not for contract reasons as some may think, but for presidential search committee reasons. A new NCCFT executive committee would be less likely than the current one to stand in the way of a Maria presidency. Another thing the faculty need to look out for is the Student Trustee election. Will a student Trustee candidate be hand picked by the Nassau County GOP, like Patrick Deegan and Jen Borzym were? If the new student trustee has been handpicked solely to support Maria, the County GOP 5 will not need to try to win over the Democratic State appointees. So with a search committee consisting of members favorable to Maria, and a board full of Casino-loving Republicans, this could be the game plan to subvert the wants and needs of the college, and to crown Maria Conzatti president dictator of Nassau Community College.
Finally, what now?
If this sounds like a terrible future, faculty need to voice their opposition. You can write to John King the SUNY Chancellor, you can speak at the SUNY BOT meeting, or you can convince your chair, the ASEC and the NCCFT to consider a vote of no confidence. The other option is to do nothing and wait until Middle States strips NCC of its accreditation for political intrusion and lack of financial solvency. Your choice.
What now?
Last week delivered a huge shock, and relief, to the NCC community. Maria Conzatti, the heir apparent who decorated the presidential office in purple even before being named interim/acting president (and the person who once fell in love with her own reflection) was not listed as a finalist for the NCC Presidential position. Conzatti’s failings are much too long to list here but without her, the college will finally have the ability to actually turn itself around. Unless…
… unless Jerry Kornbluth, who recently convinced his buddy and source of executive session summaries, John Degrace to return to the Board (thereby giving the Republicans enough votes to prevent a majority decision) orchestrates, somehow and some way, Maria’s return to her purple palace in the tower.
Stay tuned.
Step 5: Create Crises
Crumbling buildings. Declining enrollment. Accreditation.
These are all crises created by the legacy administration and the legacy Board of Trustees members. Yet you will hear more and more how it was the fault of the administrators who “retired” or were fired, and the fault the uncooperative faculty who resist “necessary change.” In reality, the college was a smooth functioning body when the administration were stakeholders in the Academic Senate. But with the Academic Senate gutted to the core, the cabinet has become the policy and decision making body of the college… and we all have seen how well that has worked. The moment the administration decided to end their participation in the Senate was the moment the college went into decline. That is fact. And that decline accelerated when Dr. Keen and Dr. Collins rewrote the Academic Senate bylaws to make it an [oft-ignored] “recommending” body. As a result, the college is currently run by a group of people who received their jobs as favors. That is another fact.
The Middle States Accreditation team will be visiting soon but, before that, the administration will tell the college community that the NCC lacks solvency. They will broadcast often and loud that there is an impending financial crisis- one made up in their creative calculations where they neglect reserve capital and the availability of increased contributions. The goal is to scare faculty and staff into accepting draconian measures for the sake of their jobs.
Don’t be fooled. Demand facts and demand action.
Step 4: torment the unions
With moral and competent leaders gone, the administration, under the influence of John Gross, Donna Haugen, and Laurie Pezzullo, pester, annoy, and waste the precious resources of the Unions.
Tactics include:
– unsubstantiated disciplinary actions
– illegal department mergers
– denial of reassigned time for the Academic Senate Executive Committee, CWCC Chair, and others
– targeting faculty and employees who are critical of the administration
– bad faith negotiations with the NCAA (and targeting its leaders)
– violations of union contracts
By tying up the unions with petty nonsense, the administration is deliberately castrating them. While the unions fight for their members, the administration continues its quest to destroy the college.
Step 3: Remove Competent Leaders
Allegedly, the Board of Trustees amended Dr. Jermaine Williams’ contract with the caveat that any changes to the president’s cabinet would require approval of the board. This handcuffed Dr. Williams’ ability to create a team of qualified administrators to enable him to discharge his duties effectively. Think about it, Dr. Williams was forced to keep the person who desperately wanted his job, and was so close to getting it, Maria Conzatti, on his cabinet. According to sources, Maria initiated battles and put up constant roadblocks to ensure his failure.
Maria, who began her career as a girlfriend of a chairperson/student aide, made a lot of enemies on her rise to the top as she was appointed to position after position at NCC. As the Conzatti Era became imminent, the administrators that had clashed with Maria in the past, wisely jumped ship knowing that they were most likely on her hit list. Even good ol’ Martin Roddini took the hint and took some subtle parting shots at her in his farewell email. Others who left included Kenya Beard, John Osae-Kwapong, Janet Caruso, Alla Brodsky, and even Julio Izquierdo. The saddest departure of all was Marc Lausch, the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Dr. Lausch wanted to stay and help guide NCC through Middle States, but, alas, he was on Maria’s hit list and was removed almost immediately. Now Maria is placing her “cohort” of Dolan EdD’s into positions of power.
So now without competent leadership, the next several steps can be initiated.
STEP 2: Ravage Enrollment
Decrease enrollment by:
-Little to no advertising
-Ineffective advertising
-Eliminating programs and areas of study
-Constant bad press/ no good press ever
-Absent/preoccupied/incompetent Student Services leadership
-Having unresponsive admissions
-Creating a difficult to navigate admissions process/ no online application
-Cancelling classes too early
-Dropping students who do not pay on time
Lower retention by:
-Eliminating student academic support (BEP/DCRAA)
-Having an unsafe campus
-Letting facilities run down
-Eliminating clubs on campus (whether due to financial support or lack of faculty)
-Lacking guidance opportunities for students
Step 1: Elimination of Resources
Eliminate Resources:
-Faculty Lines
-Budgets
-Support
-Building Maintenance
Achieve this by:
-Not hiring new faculty and/or replacing retirees
-Announcing fiscal stress
-Moving the academic technologists to ITS/ not replacing admissions and advisement faculty
-Simply letting buildings rot
Breaking News: NCC BOT appoints Maria Conzatti to Interim President, subject to SUNY approval.
Once again, hidden in a cloak of secrecy, the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees allegedly appointed Maria Conzatti to step in as Interim President at the end of the Spring Semester. Their referral is now in Albany awaiting approval (or disapproval) by the SUNY Board of Trustees at their May 3rd and 4th meetings.
It is postulated that the “text from Mr. Gross” that Kathy Weiss was waiting for [1:43], was a ruling on whether or not the Board had to announce their decision in the public session. Since the Board did not announce such a decision, we can continue that John Gross erroneously told Ms. Weiss that they weren’t required to do so.
Ms. Conzatti has noticeably been flying under the radar since the last presidential search didn’t go her way. Following that, she has led the NCC EdD cohort at the St. John’s University graduate school. Thomas Dolan, previous acting president and Conzatti fanboy, was the head of that program. It has been reported that just a week or two ago, Ms. Conzatti defended her dissertation and achieved the pseudo terminal degree required by SUNY to become Interim/Acting President and, ultimately, President.
How do you feel about this? Feel free to contact us or comment below.
NCC’s Organizational Chart
Message from a reader
People who have been back on campus have reported utterly atrocious conditions including water damage, mold, and broken bathrooms. Recently, we received the following message from a reader:
“Anyone ever tell you guys why the college looks like crap why the buildings are leaking, barely lit at times and just down right dated….lack of people
Current number of employees for a school with 50 buildings
3 plumbers
3 electricians (one is out on disability)
3 painters
3 carpenters
1 locksmith
2 maintenance mechanics
2 laborers
3 warehouse workers
2 mechanics
Do these numbers look like any thing close to properly managing a campus?”
That is certainly disheartening and can explain whey the campus appears to be in such shambles. The message continued:
“Oh and by the way this was all very intentional over the last 40 years by two very evil people Kevin O’Brian and William Sullivan both still employed as part time employees both still very much manipulating the administration into thinking all the employees in maintenance are dumb and are trouble makers.
This all goes back to John Cornachio being in charge of plant 30 years ago and his brother Anthony Cornachio being on the board of trustees“
Looks like some more cases of nepotism.
“Massive mistreatment by workers at the school for 40 years by Kevin and William have been well documented in the files of past and present employees but for a majority of those years swept under the rug by Alfonse D’Amato politician and friend of the Cornachios the human rights violations that went on at the physical plant by these men would blow your minds if there secrets were ever revealed”
We wish the writer would have revealed who the D’Amato/Cornachio friend/politician is.
The message continued and further into another email however, I do not want to give clues to the identity of the whistleblower. However, there seems to be some nepotism in the facilities area as William Sullivan’s son and son-in-law work for the college. We also have another case where a parent is supervising his son in the paint shop. This, of course, is illegal in Nassau County.
The writer also gave some examples of workplace violence and threats of violence that barely went punished. One perpetrator of a very serious gun violent threat against the college was put on paid suspension for the past 3 years and is about to return to campus. Another employee who pointed out that due to the hostile workplace, someone will inevitably go postal, was suspended for 4 months with pay. It is important to note that Donna Haugen is responsible for disciplinary action. She has clearly failed and is risking our safety.
It is a shame that the Physical Plant department is a den of fraud, nepotism, and mistreatment. We rely on these employees to keep our facilities heathy, useful, and welcoming. It is clear that this is another example that the college is not able to function under the current leadership at this college.
It runs Deep:
“What did law firm know about pay arrangement?
By EDEN LAIKIN AND SANDRA PEDDIEeden.laikin@newsday.com sandra.peddie@newsday.comFebruary 16, 2008
A small-town law firm founded in 1937, Ingerman Smith grew into a legal powerhouse, representing more than one-third of all the school districts on Long Island and racking up millions of dollars in fees.
“It’s a seller’s market for good legal services,” said former Brentwood superintendent Mike Cohen, who used the firm extensively. “They gave great advice, but the meter was always running.”
Cohen said that for a district like Brentwood, “going through the bill every month was a major task.
“On any given day, something happened where you had to talk to the attorneys and they billed for every phone call,” he said.
The law firm was thrust into the spotlight last week after Newsday reported that attorney Lawrence Reich was allowed to earn a $61,459 New York State pension and state health benefits after five school districts reported him as a full-time employee, even though he worked part time for the districts and was a partner at the firm. At the same time, the districts paid the law firm $2.5 million in fees, according to records.
Records show that Ingerman Smith was aware of the arrangement. On Aug. 29, 1995, firm partner Daniel Greenberg wrote a letter to Harborfields thanking the district for accommodating the arrangement.
Calls to the law firm for comment were not returned.
Former New York State Sen. Bernard Smith founded the firm with attorney Percy Ingerman. Starting out in Northport, it expanded to Westchester and Rockland counties in 1997; the firm moved to Hauppauge in 2005.
Today, there are 24 attorneys with the firm, according to its Web site. Its roster includes former prosecutors and village and town officials. One attorney, Peter Johnson, is also deputy Smithtown assessor, earning $89,120 a year there, records show.
Like many Long Island law firms, Ingerman Smith has contributed to political campaigns. State records show it has contributed $7,975 to local and state politicians since 1999.
The firm specializes in educational law and has enjoyed long relationships with school districts. Since 1999, 40 school districts have paid the firm nearly $14 million, according to district records.
And one former superintendent, Baldwin’s Kathy Weiss, went to work for the firm as an independent investigator, Cohen said.
Baldwin was one of the five school districts that reported Reich as a full-time employee. It also provided him with health benefits. The other districts were Bellmore-Merrick High School, Copiague, East Meadow and Harborfields.”
[Newsday, 2/16/2008]
more to come…
Timeline: Donna Haugen
2003: Graduated from Hofstra Law School
2004: Admitted to the Bar
2005: Employed by Ingerman Smith, LLC (the college’s outside counsel since at least 2002)
2007: Employed by Nassau Community College as the “Special Assistant to the President for College Legal Affairs”. No search was conducted for her position.
2009: Listed under “APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL” for Ingerman Smith, LLP. in the Matter of Barkan v Roslyn Union Free School Dist.
abt. 2007-abt. 2015: “Worked from home” with young children present. Continued to mainly work from home due to an undisclosed illness.
2015: Promoted to General Counsel upon the retirement of Chuck Cutolo
2016: Accused of Whistleblower retaliation with the firing of the college radio station’s news director, Ray Bertolino
2018: Violated the First Amendment by authoring Policy 3100
2021: Attempted to chill Free Speech as the alleged author of the December 14th BOT letter to faculty.
2022: Promoted to Officer In Charge
Note: If we are forgetting something, please contact us
Breaking: The bot appoints Donna Haugen as “officer in charge”
With Dr. Williams leaving, the Board appointed Donna Haugen as Officer-in-Charge. While this choice is shocking, does anything really shock us anymore? All it does show is that John Gross of Ingerman Smith controls the Board and runs the college. More to come.
Watch the meeting here. Start at 8:40. Pay attention to the administrators trying to hide their reactions.
no one at the Helm
Who’s in charge? Why are board members claiming no knowledge of the most recent letter before it came out? Where is Williams?
AnotherNCCBlog: “detract[ing] from the appeal of our college…”
What an absolutely absurd letter.
First of all, did the author Google “what do boards do?” because the first paragraph is completely plagiarized from this website:
Secondly, take this quote: “That means that the correspondence disparaging Dr. Williams and his leadership of the College must stop.” Really? Have you seen how bad the campus looks? Have you noticed our low enrollment? Have you gauged the morale of the faculty? No? Should we blame you instead? We think it is time for you all to take some responsibility for the rapid decline of our beloved NCC. Resign now.
“Spirited Debates”?!?!?!
In The Gardyn of Discontent
On December 14th, the elected faculty leaders sent the Board of Trustees a “Letter of Discontent”. Among the issues listed in the letter were the widespread mold, the low morale, the plan to take technologists out of academic departments, the weak marketing, and the misuse of pandemic funding. The letter also made a shocking revelation: that President Williams was a finalist for president at another college. The letter stated that if this was true, Williams should be removed.
On Thursday, the Board of Trustees responded:
Besides the nonsense that the Academic Senate was the cause of all of the Middle States woes (it wasn’t, the Board of Trustees was) and that they agreed with all his asinine decisions, there was a very interesting conclusion in the letter. It stated that the Board was negotiating a contract extension with Dr. Williams. So the college community was in for quite the surprise when this happened:
Talk about egg on your face! This is just another embarrassing moment for our Board Chairperson. Since this letter, it has been revealed by at least 2 other trustees that the Board was well aware of Dr. Williams finalist status and they had an agreement with him to stay on for 6 weeks to help with the transition. So why lie Jorge? What was the purpose?
Out of Retirement
With the resignation of Dr. Williams and a forthcoming presidential search, it looks like this blog is back. Stay tuned.
A Warning from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2680. Tel: 267-284-5000. www.msche.org
Political Intervention in Education
The interdependence of educational institutions and their academic freedom are essential to the quality and integrity of all education. Teaching and learning require free and full exposure to information and ideas, the right to question or dissent, and opportunities to study, research, and debate, free of political pressure. The academy requires that inquiry and analysis must be guided by evidence and ethics, unfettered by political intervention.
A college or university must be sensitive to the conditions of the society in which it exists, but it must also be free to determine how to be most responsive and responsible. Political interference in the affairs of an educational institution presents a threat to its freedom and effectiveness. Direct intervention by elected or appointed officials, political parties, or pressure groups in the selection of faculty, the determination of curricula, textbooks, course content, or in admissions or retention policies, injects factors which are often inimical to the fulfillment of an institution’s mission. In the matter of appointments, for example, political control at any level results in divided loyalty and weakened authority. To impose political considerations upon faculty selection and retention harms an institution intellectually and educationally, not only by reducing its options in the recruitment of talent, but also by creating pressures against dissent on important policy issues. When political considerations irrelevant to the functions of the office determine the selection of trustees or similar officers, they impose restrictions on choice. Moreover, appointments based on political grounds entail external liaisons which may contravene the educational purposes of the institution.
If the tenure of an educational administrator is subject to political partisanship, or if appointments to the board of trustees or the faculty are made only with regard to their political implications, the institution may be weakened and its prospects for excellence seriously diminished.
Version: 0904
The Operative in the Administration
No one else at the college makes these types of donations. [See for yourself]
Is it any wonder why Kornbluth, unqualified for his (now-permanent) position, is still here?
A pool party and a party swap?
This is just odd.
What is this about “Address Available Upon RSVP?” All you have to do is google “Jorge Gardyn address” and you know where it is. Unless he is living someone else now. If so, we hope he pays his taxes there.
But the big question is: Has Gardyn switched parties?
Another NCC Blog 