Just when we thought we were making progress with our discussions concerning SUNY Seamless, the empty threats emanating from our Administration have taken a turn to desperation. In an act of utter contempt for the concerns of the faculty, students and community we serve, our Administration has asked the BOT to disregard our history of shared governance and give dictatorial powers to the Administration.
At the NCCFT General Faculty meeting yesterday, I spoke to you on the topic of SUNY Seamless. I reiterated the position of the NCCFT Executive Committee. We believe that SUNY Seamless is problematic in many ways, as previously posted on this website. The Faculty on this campus have risen to the challenges and were able to push back the implementation date by one year. This has given us time to reevaluate the consequences of the SUNY mandate and has allowed us to engage is honest and meaningful discussions. Of course, we recognize the authority of the Academic Senate and support the will of that body. President Debbie DeSanto also reminded us that the main concern of the NCCFT with respect to the implementation of this mandate is the effect on Full Time employment.
We received word that the BOT scheduled an Academic Affairs sub-committee meeting for Tuesday evening. The rumor was that the BOT was going to assume the responsibility for implementing SUNY Seamless. At the General Faculty meeting I quipped, “if you have never been to a BOT meeting, you might think this will work”.
Never did I imagine what was about to occur. At the BOT Academic Affairs meeting, the Administration presented to the BOT an outline discussing how the Academic Senate has been stonewalling any discussions on SUNY Seamless and how this has led to a crisis in meeting the timeline established by SUNY and the arbitrary timeline established by the Administration to program Banner, etc. At these BOT committee meetings, the faculty are guests and sit in the audience. We do not have any right to speak. In order to speak, we must get the attention of the Committee Chair (whose back is to us) and ask for permission. Permission is not always granted. Debbie, Lynn Mazzola and I finally brought enough attention to Dr. Gardyn to recognize us and he allowed us to speak. The discussion became quite robust. The Administration asked the BOT to give the Academic Senate a deadline to create a resolution bringing the campus into compliance this semester or, if the Senate does not comply, grant that authority to the Acting Executive Vice President.
And, the Board complied.
Frank Frisenda, NCCFT Vice President