“But the cat came back…”

“…Just wouldn’t stay away.”

Jerry Kornbluth and Hubert Keen

Jerry, who was passed over for the Dean of Professional Studies in July, is somehow now the Dean of Professional Studies in September.

How did Jerry even get hired?

Curiously, under “requirements”, the ad for Dean of Professional studies read:

“Minimum qualifications include Master’s Degree required in a related discipline”

Jerry Kornbluth does not have a Masters Degree in a discipline related to Professional Studies. All of his degrees are in Mathematics. That means that Valerie Collins hired Kornbluth even though he did not qualify for the position.

Additionally, Jerry was the “Interim” Dean a distinction that meant that Jerry was ineligible to apply for the job because he was not technically qualified for it.

Finally, Jerry is a Felon. We can not stress that enough. He is a felon.

So what happened to Dr. Depoo?  How was this appointment compatible with Affirmative Action guidelines? What role did the “Mangano 5” play in the rehiring of Kornbluth? Was Collins and Williams pressured?

NCC is off to a terrible start for the 19-20 year. We were really hoping that things were going to turn around…

 

Farewell to Dr. Tilokie Depoo

Dean of Professional Studies 7/10/19 – 8/29/19

Thank you for your service, but you were in someone else’s seat.

More to come…

Jorge Gardyn Must Go

Dr. Gardyn not paying his taxes has been going on for several years.

Think about this: Dr. Gardyn has not paid his taxes. This, presumably, includes the county tax levy for Nassau Community College. That means that Dr. Gardyn, the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Nassau Community College, someone who is in charge of deciding how taxpayer money is spent, has neglected to pay his share.

For this reason alone, Dr. Gardyn needs to step down. His term has expired. There are no good excuses. He should go.

 

Keen’s Report Card

Last week saw the final day of Dr. W. Hubert Keen’s three year tenure at NCC. Dr. Keen was recruited by SUNY to save the college from it’s Board of Trustees and Administration. Some jokingly referred to Keen as “The Great White Hope” as he was essentially brought in to save the college by ending Kenneth Saunder’s reign.

When Dr. Keen arrived, the college had failed 7 of 14 Middle States Standards. With the exception of the assessment of learning standard, all of the failures were administrative. Keen immediately brought in a Vice President of Academic Affairs and put teams together to address the college’s shortcomings.

So how did he do during his 3 years?

Accessibility: B

Dr. Keen attended Senate meetings and was seen briefly at campus events but not much more. We have heard that he was responsive to emails (except to ours, of course).

Transparency: D

Did you find out why Dean Kevlin was fired here or from Dr. Keen? How many audits did NCC go through during his term? What happened with the Center for Excellence that the director was removed? Did Dr. Keen let us know that SUNY investigated the searches of Kate Murray, Deborah Spiro, and Shawn Novatt? What was the conclusion? What was the FBI allegedly doing on campus taking away boxes of files?

Personnel: D-

Had Dr. Keen not forced Ken Saunders to resign, he would have earned an F in this category. Dr. Keen left the same incompetent crew in place even after faculty members and other administrators pleaded with him to “clean house.” Dr. Keen was allegedly quoted as saying that he was sent to NCC to get us through Middle States, not make drastic changes. He stated that those actions were reserved for his successor.

Middle States: D+

While Dr. Keen did put teams together, he notoriously placed the same administrators who got us in trouble in the first place on the same committees, many times as the chairs. The good part was that he also placed very competent faculty members to those committees to act, intentionally or not, as a counter balance.

Luckily for Keen and NCC, however, was the changing political landscape after the election of Donald Trump. This was the real reason for NCC’s quick compliance. Under the Obama administration, accreditation agencies were essentially told to be hyper-critical or the federal government will take over accreditation. The Department of Education’s pressure ended immediately with the assignment of Betsey DeVos as the Secretary of Education. With the pressure off, accreditation was no longer in jeopardy. While the committees worked hard and did tremendous work improving NCC, it was ultimately a presidential election that saved NCC.

Shared Governance: F

The most destructive act by Dr. Keen was his apparent desire to remove our system of shared governance. He twisted Middle State’s references to the inadequacies in “governance”- meaning the Board of Trustees- by applying it to “shared governance” instead. This eventually led to the BOT nullifying the system. The college has been unable to function properly without the Senate. Just look at enrollment, the bookstore, the implementation of Quantway, and, of course, the many rigged searches.

Last Act: A

According to reliable sources, Dr. Keen communicated with SUNY leadership and the SUNY Board of Trustees about his concerns during the Presidential Search, . While we do not know the exact content of the communication, we do know that it was critical of the search and of Maria’s ability to lead. Dr. Keen’s letter, combined with the letter writing campaign organized here, led to SUNY’s rejection of Maria Conzatti as president of Nassau Community College. So Kudos to you, Dr. Keen, for showing a backbone and finally doing the right thing near the end!

 

 

 

Blow the whistle!

Corruption is killing Nassau Community College. From the Board of Trustees to the relative of the bigwig NC GOP leader who sleeps in the maintenance van, every dollar wasted is a dollar kept from a poor kid trying to get an education.

Last year, NCC finally put up a fraud reporting link on their website. The only problem? No one allegedly looked at them or reported them to SUNY. So, I am asking you to report directly to SUNY. Report Nepotism. Report Time Card fraud. Report all of the shell companies that are designed to divert college funds to individual pockets. Report everything!

Once, the corruption has been exposed, Dr. Williams and the few remaining honest leaders of the college can begin to restore NCC to its former glory. Below is the SUNY Fraud Reporting page.

 

SUNY System Fraud Policy

The SUNY Board of Trustees adopted a Fraud Policy at its March 2013 Board Meeting.  The Fraud policy helps to set the tone of the organization and communicate to all employees the requirement for honest behavior, ethical conduct, and fiduciary oversight with SUNY funds, resources, and property. At this meeting, the Board of Trustee’s also amended the existing Fraud Procedure. The impact of this new Fraud and Irregularities Policy and the Fraud Procedure changes are outlined below.

SUNY already maintains a System-wide Fraud Hotline to Report Suspected Fraud. Through the revised procedure, campuses will be required to report all frauds to the Office of University Audit so they may be tracked and monitored by the Fraud Committee using a standard form, and report to the Office of the University Auditor any contact from the New York State Attorney General, the Inspector General, or any other outside agency regarding any investigation. In addition, each campus is required to establish a mechanism (fraud hotline) such as a toll free number, e-mail address, or facsimile number that individuals can use to report suspected and detected fraud and irregularities.

SUNY Fraud Resources (including methods of reporting)

 

SUNY Fraud Policy and Procedure

• SUNY Policy on Fraud and Irregularities.
• SUNY Procedure on Reporting and Reviewing Fraud and Irregularities.

Notable Features of the Fraud & Irregularities Policy and Procedure

 

• NOTICE ON CONFIDENTIALITY
  Reports made to the hotline will be treated as confidential. However, this confidentiality is not absolute because of legal or other requirements (e.g., discovery in litigation, government investigations, etc.) and situations where the University would need to use the information to protect the University’s interests. SUNY will do everything it can to protect a reporter’s identity during the investigation and handling of a matter, but in some limited situations the person being investigated may be able to ascertain who the reporter is just by the nature of the facts or the contextual situation that gave rise to the report.
• CAMPUS MUST HAVE REPORTING MECHANISM AND MUST REPORT FRAUDS TO SYSTEM:
  As part of the revised fraud procedure, System Administration and each campus is required to identify an individual to whom suspected or detected fraud and irregularities must be reported. In addition, System Administration and each campus is required to establish an easily accessible mechanism (fraud hotline) such as a toll free number, e-mail address, or facsimile number that individuals can use to report suspected or detected fraud and irregularities. Furthermore, campuses are required to report any suspected or detected fraud to the Office of the University Auditor at System Administration.  “Campuses and System Administration are further required to report any suspected or detected fraud to the Office of the University Auditor at System Administration using Form A”
• FRAUD IS DEFINED BROADLY:
  The procedure addresses that “for the purpose of these procedures, fraud and irregularities includes activities that are:
  1. a misappropriation of assets;
  2. in violation of or non-compliant with any SUNY, New York State, or federal law, regulation, policy or procedure;
  3. economically wasteful;
  4. an indication of gross misconduct or incompetency; or
  5. an unethical, improper, or dishonest act.”

   

SUNY Fraud Resources

SUNY Compliance Webpage on the SUNY Systemwide Fraud Hotline, which includes information on how to report fraud

SUNY Compliance Webpage with the Campus Fraud Hotlines – the campus-specific fraud hotlines are listed on this website in one place.  Campus-specific fraud reports can also be reported to the SUNY Systen-wide Fraud hotline.

Methods of Reporting

If you suspect fraud, waste, abuse, or irregular activities within the University, you may report these allegations anonymously to the University Auditor in the methods listed below.

You can use the Fraud Incident Report Form when reporting a suspected fraud.
Voice Mail:	(518) 320-1539
Fax:	(518) 320-1564
Write to:	State University of New York Office of the University Auditor State University Plaza, Room N120 Albany, New York 12246
E-mail:	University Audit

Raising the specter of rigged searches

Every reader of this blog is familiar with the history of rigged searches at NCC. Most recently, SUNY had to step in to prevent the Board of Trustees from rigging the presidential search in favor of Maria Conzatti. Today, that history continues with the following announcement from outgoing President, President Hubert Keen:

To the College Community:

I am pleased to announce that Genette Alvarez-Ortiz has been appointed Dean of General Education and Social Sciences.  She assumes the position immediately.  Her appointment follows an extensive open search from which Genette received the strong support of the search committee and of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. 

Genette has served for two years as the Acting Dean of General Education and Social Sciences.  This unit and Deanship was established to support students not enrolled in major programs, comprising those pursuing the Associate of Arts degree.  This group makes up a majority of the College’s enrollment.  Genette has demonstrated strong dedication to serving students in the development of their personal, interpersonal and academic skills to enable success.  Her interests and dedication to student success are an excellent fit with this Dean position.

Genette joined Nassau Community College in 1994 as a Financial Aid Counselor, and served from 2011 to 2017 as Chair of the Student Personnel Services Department.  She has also taught the courses NCC 101 and SPS 093 as Instructor.   She earned B.A. and M.A. Degrees from New York University and is a candidate for the Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership at St. John’s University.

Join me in congratulating and in wishing Genette success in her continuing role as Dean.

Thank you.

Hubert Keen

 

There is nothing to say that “Genette” isn’t qualified or deserving of the position. After all she was Dr. Collin’s hand-picked choice when she created the Dean position in the first place. But was the search really done fairly? Did the other candidates have a choice, or were they just ultimately wasting their time? This is also someone who is very close to Maria Conzatti, the rumored next, next president of the college.

There are currently two more Dean searches in progress. The first one is for the Dean of Math and Sciences. Acting (for 8 years) Dean Thomas Fernandez is applying for the position and, if history is an indicator, will probably get the position. A recent tip sent in to us revealed that Fernandez’s family business, Fire Island Beer Co., has gone under and he allegedly needs the money now more than ever. His son Robert (referred to as Bert on in the above linked article) was recently hired to work for the college in the Design and Construction department. More blatant Nepotism.  But hey, welcome back.

The final search is for the Dean of Professional Studies. That position is currently occupied by the felon Jerry Kornbluth. Jerry Kornbluth is a frequent target of this blog for the simple fact that it boggles our minds that this man is still employed at the college (or anywhere) considering all of the problems he has caused and continues to cause. Jerry’s friendship with BOT members gives him more power and influence at NCC than the president. Many of our Middle States woes can be traced back to his constant meddling. Even with that being said, Jerry will still most likely be chosen as Dean of Professional Studies. Why? Because Kornbluth has been very good to his chairs and a disproportional amount of new faculty lines have been to his area. Jerry is so powerful that all of a sudden, the college has “forgotten” about his interim status and how that status  meant that he was ineligible to seek the position permanently. We guess Gardyn and DeGrace just can’t let him go.

Rigged searches are unfair to everyone involved and really stifle the progress of the institution. Furthermore, perhaps it is time for the President to reevaluate the Deans and what they mean or what they do for the institution. The college survived many decades with only one Dean of Instruction. In fact, many of our problems began with the initiation of the area deans. Perhaps the old adage of “too many chefs…” is applicable.

 

For Sale: Casa de Gardyn

For a cool 3.75 million, you can own Jorge’s broken home.
Hurry up and get it before the government does!

To view the listing, click here: https://www.berkshirehathawayhs.com/homes-for-sale/395-Stewart-Ave-Garden-City-NY-11530-274775265

Why we do, what we do

Name : Student

Email (optional):

Comment: This is incredible. Happened upon this blog completely accidentally. The term “NCC politics” was heard but not fully understood until now. Wish more students knew about this too. Thank you for bringing these injustices to light. Will continue to support and read.

To whoever (individual or individuals) runs this blog- you are a hero to for us (the students). Thank you.

 

 

More to come. More news to share. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we always welcome new information and guest blog posts.

Who’s next on the list? Ed Powers and Paul Schmidt? Kate Murray and Donna Tuman?

The Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre is at it again. This time our favorite felon Dean Jerry Kornbluth and alleged voter-suppressor turned NCC Trustee John DeGrace were honored.

We are not sure if this is sad, desperate, or laughable. Or maybe it is all of that.

Presidential Search Committee member/ NCC Foundation Treasurer Under Investigation by NC DA

According to Newsday:

“Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas is reviewing $350,000 in termination payments made to five employees of the county’s Industrial Development Agency while all were still employed there in early 2018, according to the district attorney’s office.

Other staff members and their payments are: administrative director Colleen Pereira, $73,324; chief financial officer Joseph Foarile, $66,123; business development director Nicholas Terzulli, $60,923, and secretary Cecelia J. Muscarella, $12,898.

…Terzulli joined a law firm in March 2018 and represents IDA clients. He declined to comment…”

https://www.newsday.com/business/nassau-da-singas-ida-termination-pay-1.30291114

“You scratch my back, and…

I’ll scratch yours.”

As previously noted, Jerry Kornbluth, NCC’s resident tax cheat and apparent cultural appropriator, is a board member of the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre.  We initially learned of this connection trying to find out more about our new trustee George Siberon (who turned out to be an independent thinker. How refreshing!). Recently we discovered that Jorge Gardyn, NCC’s resident tax delinquent, was also honored by the Hispanic Brotherhood less than a year after his appointment of Jerry’s pal Tom Dolan to the NCC Presidency. How convenient.

A Reminder

3 years ago, Gardyn, DeGrace, and Powers demonstrated true dysfunction. Here is a trip down memory lane most would like to forget:

https://www.ncc.edu/aboutncc/ourpeople/board_of_trustees/pdfs/2016_bot_pdfs/02_2016_February_09_MINUTES.pdf

More Trouble in Gardyn City

Nassau Community College Board of Trustee Chairperson Jorge Gardyn is in deeper financial trouble than we were aware of. Last week, when we reported to you that Gardyn was unable to pay his village taxes for his mansion in Garden City and as a result, his debt was being auctioned, we didn’t understand the extent of his predicament… until now. It appears that Gardyn has also failed to pay his federal taxes:

 

That is a truly whopping sum- $243,648.20!

It gets worse.

While these may appear to be personal matters, Dr. Gardyn is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Nassau Community College: the largest single campus community college in the state of New York. It is a college that has been extremely troubled under his many years of leadership. The college nearly shut down after failing 7 or 14 Middle States standards. The college weathered multiple failed presidential searches, all which suffered the stench of political encroachment. During his time as chair, enrollment went from over 20,000 students to less than 15,000 students. Tuition has increased dramatically while the numbers of full time professors and services to the students have gone down. When someone can not get their own life and finances in order, they should not be trusted with the college’s.

It is time for Dr. Gardyn to step down. Besides his history of failure as a leader, he obviously can not dedicate the time or energy to the college while dealing with his own personal collapse.

 

More to come.

 

 

(These posts will be removed and Gardyn’s right to privacy will return, when he is no longer a member of the Board)

A New Era Begins!

Our New President. Welcome Dr. Williams!

Thank you all who helped break the cycle of corrupt presidential searches. Your tips to us and emails and letters to SUNY really made the difference. The Mangano 5 and Durso did send up Maria Conzatti and SUNY outright rejected her. They were warned not to and still did so anyway.

In one year from now, we will share the entire story with you. It is good, we promise.

Congratulations Dr. Williams. You were the #1 choice of the search committee, the faculty, and people not named Gardyn, Tuman, DeGrace, Green, Powers, and Durso. This is a great college and we welcome your success.

Now what to do about the Trustees? We have let them abuse this college for far too long. It is time to replace DeGrace now, and Gardyn when his term is up this summer. No more political intrusion at NCC. Enough is enough. Time is up!

More to come. Stay tuned.

Today is the day

Who will it be? Who will be the new president of Nassau Community College?

Trouble in Gardyn City

Source: Garden City News, March 15, 2019, page 42.

Before the Chair of NCC’s Board of Trustees is allowed to make any more budgetary decisions for the college, perhaps he should get his own house in order.

In the meantime, if you want to help Dr. Gardyn, please donate to his GoFundMe page.

When it rains…

You can see Laura Curran’s response here (at about 5 minutes):

http://longisland.news12.com/clip/14780445/qa-with-nassau-county-executive-laura-curran

What are they hiding?

According to the:

PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW, ARTICLE 7
AKA, The
OPEN MEETINGS LAW
[emphasis added below]

§106. Minutes.
1. Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings of a public body which shall consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon.
2. Minutes shall be taken at executive sessions of any action that is taken by formal vote which shall consist of a record or summary of the final determination of such action, and the date and vote thereon; provided, however, that such summary need not include any matter which is not required to be made public by the freedom of information law as added by article six of this chapter.
3. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies shall be available to the public in accordance with the provisions of the freedom of information law within two weeks from the date of such meeting except that minutes taken pursuant to subdivision two hereof shall be available to the public within one week from the date of the executive session.

It’s March 16th. Where are the minutes from March 8th?

 

Even when the Mangano 5 and their student trustee voted for Ken Saunders, they released the minutes a week later.

Hire my wife!

 

Although Jorge and Catherine have allegedly split up, they would have been still together at the time of her hiring.

 

Sources:

https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2583
https://projects.newsday.com/databases/long-island/nassau-payroll-2016/?where=name*gardyn&offset=0

The Current Rumor Mill

We have no idea who the NCC Board of Trustees chose to recommend to SUNY. As it stands right now, we may only first find out on March 19th, when the SUNY Board of Trustees have their scheduled meeting.

However, there are rumors.

Rumor #1: The Vice Chancellor attended the Board of Trustees meeting on March 4th and warned that if they choose Maria Conzatti, the Chancellor and/or the SUNY BOT may reject her.

Supporting Evidence: People witnessed the Vice Chancellor in the Tower. Later, Gardyn posted an email stating that no candidate was chosen. Based on the minutes from that meeting, it appears that Linda Green left at some point and therefore Conzatti was short 1 vote.

Rumor #2: On March 8th, the Mangano 5 and John Durso  approved Maria Conzatti as the finalist to be sent to SUNY.

Supporting Evidence: none

Rumor #3: On March 8th, John Durso and the Mangano 5 wised up and heeded the warning and chose one of the other two candidates.

Supporting Evidence: Reports from the public session of the board meeting state that Weiss and Jackson were in relatively good moods after the meeting while DeGrace appeared angry and Gardyn appeared defeated.

Rumor #4: Related to Rumor #2, on Monday March 11th, the SUNY BOT called an ad-hoc personnel meeting. The rumor continues that SUNY rejected Conzatti and asked the NCC Board to choose another candidate or redo the search.

Supporting Evidence: The meeting was quite long. Other than that, none. Also, would the Mangano 5 be so vindictive as to cancel the March 12th meeting in protest?

Rumor #5: Relating to #2 and #4, the ad-hoc personnel committee took no action relating to the NCC BOT’s choice of Maria Conzatti.

Rumor #6: The ad-hoc personnel committee took no action relating to the NCC BOT’s choice of one of the other candidates.

Update: The SUNY ad-hoc personnel committee met AGAIN today (March 15th) making rumors 1, 2, and 4 seem more feasible. 

So what do you think happened? Let us know by commenting below.

 

Call to Action!

Tired of the continued corruption and sham presidential searches? Do something! Make your voice heard.

The NCC BOT does not have the final say. SUNY does.

Q: What can you do?
A: Simple. Write an email.

Are you alarmed about the search itself? Are you worried that we are missing out on another talented, qualified candidate because of a “preferred insider?” Do you question Ms. Conzatti’s qualifications for the position? Do you have concerns about ethics? Are you fearful for the direction of the college?

Here are the leaders who need to hear your voice:

H. Carl McCall, Chairman
Carl.McCall@suny.edu

Merryl Tisch, Vice Chairman

Merryl.Tisch@suny.edu

Kristina Johnson, Chancellor

Kristina.Johnson@suny.edu

Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Vice Chancellor for Community Colleges
Johanna.Duncan-Poitier@suny.edu

Nina Tamrowski, Faculty Council of Community Colleges President

Nina.Tamrowski@suny.edu

Additional SUNY BOT members can be found here:

https://www.suny.edu/about/leadership/board-of-trustees/meet-the-trustees/

Your voice is important. Your voice can lead to change.

Mangano Found Guilty! And what it means to NCC

Excerpts from Newsday:

“Jurors convicted Edward Mangano of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and honest services wire fraud.

The panel found him not guilty of another honest services wire fraud charge and an extortion charge.

The jury convicted both husband and wife of conspiracy to obstruct justice.

The panel also found Linda Mangano guilty of obstruction of justice, and two counts of lying to the FBI.”

Why is this relevant to Nassau Community College?

Jorge Gardyn, John DeGrace, Ed Powers, Linda Green, and Donna Tuman are all Mangano appointees to the Board. These 5 Trustees have voted as a block to further an agenda that is not in line with the college as a whole. They voted for Ken Saunders during the previous two Presidential Searches even after votes of no confidence, Middle States accreditation issues, and accusations of fraudulent actions.

 

Today, the so-called “Mangano 5” have a choice: They can  continue their pigheaded, insolent actions and, once again, hold up the appointment of a qualified president or they can choose to break free of their political masters to finally serve the “community” in Nassau Community College. The choice is theirs.  

 

Jorge Gardyn and Ed Mangano during happier times

What we know

We know that:

• The Vice Chancellor attended Monday’s Board Meeting
• Dr. Gardyn announced that a candidate had not been selected, meaning that none of the 3 candidates received a majority of the votes.
• Dr. Gardyn announced a BOT meeting for Friday to interview and recommend a president.

What we want to know:

• What did the Vice Chancellor say to the BOT?
• Which Board Members were in attendance Monday?
• What were the vote totals Monday?
• Are all 3 finalists still in consideration?

Do you have any information? You can submit a message (anonymously if you would like) by using the contact form.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board of Trustees/ GOP Machine

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Source: https://nassaucountygop.com/local-clubs-1

The Candidates

And sadly,

 

Source: NCC.edu/Finalists