The board of trustees of Nassau Community College is preparing to file a lawsuit after the State University of New York Board of Trustees rejected its candidate for president.
At a special meeting Sunday, the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to allow the board president to file a lawsuit challenging the SUNY Board of Regents’ decision, but one board member was absent, news daily the report said. Earlier this month, the SUNY Board of Trustees voted unanimously in the absence of three members to oust Maria Conzatti, who has served as the college’s interim or acting president for nearly four years. An official from the State University of New York told news daily It’s the first time the system’s board of directors has rejected a presidential nominee.
The resolution voted on calls for Conzatti’s appointment to be “vetoed” by the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees without further explanation.
“SUNY is committed to excellence in leadership and student success at all of our campuses, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against any frivolous lawsuit,” a spokesman for the system said in a statement. Inside higher education.
The college’s student government also passed a measure Monday to express “gratitude and appreciation” to Conzatti, while also acknowledging the SUNY Board of Trustees’ vote and encouraging the college to conduct a “fair, transparent and expeditious search for a new permanent president.”
The conflict comes amid tensions between the college’s teaching unions and the government over issues including the merger of academic departments and the expiration of union contracts in August. The union sued the college last year, saying the elimination of 15 department chairs violated state rules, but a judge dismissed the case. The union subsequently appealed.
In recent years, Nassau’s student performance has also been disappointing. Among community colleges in the SUNY system, it has the lowest two-year graduation rate and the second-lowest three-year graduation rate, at 9.4% and 23.6%, respectively.
