SUNY move could block interim Nassau Community College leader from staying interim — but school says no way
A Nassau Community College spokesman said the board is "150% behind the leadership of Maria Conzatti and her team." Credit: Nassau Community College
ALBANY — The long-running battle over leadership at Nassau Community College escalated Tuesday when the State University of New York Board of Trustees took action that could result in preventing Maria Conzatti from continuing to serve as the school’s leader.
And when the college’s leadership responded by making clear it has no intention of following SUNY’s directive.
At issue is the tenure of Conzatti, who has been leading the Uniondale school in an interim or acting capacity since January 2022 — even though SUNY guidelines say temporary appointments should last no more than six months. Over that period, her title has been changed to "administrator-in-charge" by SUNY, an NCC official said, though she remains the top executive.
The issue also involves a long-running, increasingly bitter fight with NCC’s faculty union, which includes the eliminating of department chairs, consolidating of departments, alleged blocking of tenure appointments and renewing a faculty union contract.
The situation took a new turn Tuesday when the SUNY trustees approved a new state regulation — which could take effect in about 60 days — limiting appointments of an administrator-in-charge to one year and essentially preventing what's happened in Nassau.
Per state law, the regulation must go out for public comment, meaning it cannot become effective till later this summer. SUNY, in a news release, said the regulation provides transparency and accountability in the search process for community college presidents.
An NCC spokesman said the college is sticking by Conzatti.
"Our board is not looking to make any change in the leadership of this college," Jerry Kornbluth, the college's vice president for community and governmental relations, told Newsday in an interview.
"Our board is 150% behind the leadership of Maria Conzatti and her team," Kornbluth said. "There is no reason for SUNY to do what it is doing and it’s going to backfire."
Kornbluth sought to blame SUNY for failing to accept the NCC board’s decision to install Conzatti. He said the NCC board voted in 2023 to give her an "ironclad," five-year contract but SUNY took no action to approve.
"We’re still waiting for the SUNY board and chancellor to call her," Kornbluth said. SUNY records show Conzatti’s contract lists a $240,000 annual salary.
The head of NCC’s faculty union applauded the action.
"Nassau Community College has been without a permanent president since January 2022. This prolonged instability has not only harmed morale and mismanaged the college resources, but most importantly, it has undermined the academic and institutional progress our students rely on," David Stern, president of the NCC faculty union, said in a statement to Newsday.
"SUNY’s new rule appropriately asserts its oversight role and puts reasonable guardrails in place to ensure that temporary leadership remains truly temporary," Stern added.
But it wasn’t immediately clear how the state actually could force NCC’s governing board to heed the rule.
The NCC board features five local appointees, four state appointees and a student trustee. That’s a typical composition for community colleges because funding is split between county and state money.
The feud between the college’s administration and faculty has been ramping up steadily.
The union sued the college a year ago, claiming the eliminating of 15 academic department chairpersons violated state regulations. A local judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the union failed to show the college violated state procedures when it shrank the total number of departments from 21 to six. The union has appealed to the Appellate Division, New York’s midlevel court.
The union also has asked for a state investigation of NCC’s finances, alleging fiscal mismanagement. The issues include use of public grants, proper staff levels and cuts to student extracurriculars.
The college’s enrollment this spring is about 11,300 full- and part-time students, according to data provided by NCC, Newsday previously reported. That’s increased about 3% over 2024 but is just about half what enrollment was a decade ago.
The college’s labor contract with the union, which numbers about 375 full-time faculty, expires Aug. 31.
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