King Jon officially fired six (correct me if I'm wrong) full-time faculty members who were up for tenure this year. Maria Flynn is, perhaps, the only one who is fighting this dismissal. The others were bullied into resigning.
Rumors abound, one of which is that Larson's henchmen are preparing a "dementia defense" when the NJ State Comptroller's report and the Riley memos are released to the public. dick and his minions will begin to claim that Larson is suffering from dementia as a defense to the fiscal malfeasance, it is alleged. dick, it is also alleged, has been giddy with the prospect of being anointed President of OCC.
Ocean County College has become the laughing-stock of community colleges. "Buildings Before People" is its mantra and money over everything else rules. The students at OCC are losing superior professors to bogus reasons designed to keep the faculty scared. The administration has encouraged the leader of the adjunct union to publicly criticize the full-time faculty.
It's coming to a head, though, this oozing pustule of toxicity needs sanitizing. Larson, the members of the Board of Trustees who have allowed his reign of terror, dick and all of the upper-level administrators must leave OCC. We must clean our house. We must keep up the public pressure and truly be a union.
For his fraud, fire the pharaoh of Feign University.
Posted by: Bebop | February 21, 2012 at 08:53 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/nyregion/kean-universitys-trustees-back-its-president.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=ethics
Interesting read from NY Times on Farahi mess.
Posted by: BlueStateBlues | February 18, 2012 at 09:48 PM
Erik Larsen's APP article is truncated and incomplete, neglecting mention of the immediate context giving rise to the charges of systematic unlawful contracting and procurement practices at OCC.
The "documents" the NJEA is turning over to the regional FBI office come from Joseph Reilly's CEPA lawsuit against the college. In his Conscientious Employee Protection Act suit against the college (aka, Whistleblower suit), Reilly details numerous kinds of noncompetitive contracts, involving at least twelve specific violations, with e-mail communications alerting college officials of the unlawful practices that produced investigatory harassment rather than corrective compliance.
Had the APP piece included reference to Reilly's lawsuit and a sample of the contracts (say, $75,000 to Bray Barnes for "security services," after Larson eliminated his job as assistant to the president), readers would have a clue to the MOA behind the contracts. (What valued "security services" could a former human resources assistant to the president deliver under such an obscure contract?)
With the addition of this crucial context in the APP article, the college prepared perfunctory statement dismissing the charges as "hogwash" might have drawn the appropriate belly laughs from readers that it deserves.
(If only those harboring an animus toward faculty--in print, cartoons, and prepared press statements--could get hogs off their minds!)
Posted by: Bebop | February 16, 2012 at 06:53 PM
The 5 or 6 (?) faculty who just got tenured will have it officially in effect in September 2012. "The next wave" will begin the process next year and be effective September of 2013. But who knows? Maybe this year's group is the last group to get tenure as I'm not sure what the current faculty count is and how it fits into the new 85% max that was passed by the BOT. I think there are aabout 6 up next? I'd be worried if I were them.
Posted by: Dazed and Confused in Toms River | February 16, 2012 at 04:41 PM
http://www.app.com/article/20120216/NJNEWS/302150102/Faculty-union-calls-probe-resignation?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Say it ain't so Jon! The camera does love Kathy. If a resignation occurs, I hope it will happen after the final wave of faculty receive their tenure at the end of this year. I think one or two are banking on Jon being here. I'm sure even these faculty members will throw him under the bus afterwards. It's every man for himself!
Posted by: Shocked | February 16, 2012 at 11:01 AM
The Kean Board has more to lose in releasing Farahi than in keeping him.
All it risks in keeping him is the academic integrity of the school, the welfare of its students, the reputation of its scholarship.
Who can now think of Kean with a straight face? The president's resume fabrications were due to "carelessness," concludes the Board of Feign University.
Only outside scrutiny, perhaps with the teeth of depositions and the bite of a Grand Jury, can begin to uncover the high stakes the Board faces in cutting Farahi loose.
Posted by: Bebop | February 16, 2012 at 01:50 AM
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/kean_university_president_deci.html
Do we have any chance getting rid of Larson?
Posted by: BlueStateBlues | February 15, 2012 at 10:58 PM
Lucky lady, Tara, taking a position at Rutgers before The Fall.
Wolfe should be next, had he any sense.
Posted by: Bebop | February 14, 2012 at 05:21 PM
Heard through the grapevine that Tara Kelly was forced to resign today.
Posted by: BlueStateBlues | February 13, 2012 at 10:24 PM
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/university_presidents_resume_c.html
Farahi & Larson are buddies, no?
Posted by: BlueStateBlues | February 12, 2012 at 02:18 PM
Only the half-thinker defines the problem without imagining a solution.
There are two ways, conjoined, out of this darkness. The first follows the best in human nature, principled and incessant resistance.
The second, ignoble yet necessary, consists of the converse, the hollow core of power: "There is no gratitude in politics" (to quote a world-wise English novelist).
Posted by: Bebop | February 07, 2012 at 11:50 PM
Sorry to burst your collective bubble but I don't see that happening any time soon. We've had small wins but that's about all. FT faculty get disciplinary actions on a whim and those in cahoots with admin get tenure and other favors. Others get a slap on the wrist for bullying and name calling and other breaches of collegiality. Probably over a drink.Do you really believe KJ and friends will get the boot, leave on their own, or have a change of heart?
Posted by: Dazed and Confused in TR | February 07, 2012 at 09:01 PM
Thank you. It's time that we return to our core beliefs. We are educators. The word is derived from the Latin verb, ducere, to lead and the Latin preposition, e or ex, out from, to guide. It's time we lead our college community out of the darkness of tyranny.
Posted by: Barbara Lynn McKee | February 07, 2012 at 10:30 AM
Poetry to my ears, BHDT!
Posted by: Bebop | February 06, 2012 at 07:55 PM
You have to be kidding! You don't know what the prize is? How about collegiality? Loyalty? Honesty? Me (sic.) thinks: out with the old (tyrants), in with the new (lovers of intellectual and moral integrity) is a mighty fine place to start.
Posted by: Been Here, Done This | February 06, 2012 at 02:55 PM
BeBop I hear ya but despite your good points and optimism,it still is a bit upsetting. Maybe that's their strategy. One step foward, three steps back. Admin seems to get around the charges or turn them against the full time faculty who filed them. Hope the FAOCC can prevail though I'm not sure what hte prize is!!
Posted by: Dazed and Confused in Toms River | February 06, 2012 at 07:37 AM
Scheduling of classes falls within managerial prerogative. However nonsensical the teaching qualifications form or the administrative scheduling, faculty must live with it.
The FAOCC is in full command of issues that matter: Strada's use of Article X absent "just cause," Strada's collusion with the Adjunct Association in defaming and bullying faculty, Joe Reilly's e-mails implicating Larson in unlawful contracting practices.
Keep your eyes on the prize, people.
Posted by: Bebop | February 05, 2012 at 09:59 PM
Maybe it's me but what is going on with the faculty qualification forms?? Were we not hired because we had related experience and appropriate educational background to teach what we do? What we were told at the Wed.school meeting was it was just for Middle States reasons and nothing else and not even a priority at this time.In yet another "Oops I was wrong" Friday memo from the bumbling Dean, now it's due this Friday. Do we have to also include PROOF of actual courses taken in our discipline? What if I'm teaching American History and my MA is in European history? If I have nine or twelve credits in American History, am I banned from teaching it??? Is this an attempt to now get rid of tenured faculty? Can we ask the same of administration? How about Acting Deanlets that do not have any knowledge of the disciplines under his or her jurisdiction? This is cause for concern unless I'm totally off base here. This is something the FAOCC needs to clarify.
Posted by: Dazed and Confused in Toms River | February 05, 2012 at 12:19 PM
Unfortunately loyalty, hard-work, and honesty are a character flaw @ OCC.
Posted by: chimimbanan | February 03, 2012 at 05:33 PM
Chimi, Just sell out your fellow faculty members and the FAOCC and tenure is yours. Feel free to pick any of these lines.
"These phony PhD's, where did they come from? They were given to me from a guy on the corner and I didn't know they were phony. What do you mean I can't use them. Here is my receipt and they are fully paid for",
"Let me give you the real scoop on these faculty members",
"It was the union trying to sabbotage me and get to you Jon"
"I've got some information for you in exchange for my job here"
"It was the secretary's fault"
Posted by: Poppin in | February 03, 2012 at 03:59 PM
I hear dick is a pushover for boxes of chocolate and jon loves bottles of scotch. And who says these honoable men can't be bought! If only those who where denied tenure or didn't have their contracts renewed knew this was the secret to success @ OCC!
Posted by: chimibanana | February 03, 2012 at 08:48 AM
Unless the women that were denied tenure are concealing their sex organs, no men were denied tenure in the past two years. The decision for a male this year was rescinded and tenure restored . Yes, no males were denied tenure. But dick is very fond of the ladies.
I hear he frequently visits a gal with some purchased degrees in science. Phony degrees are known aphrodisiacs. Is there a fling here? Pray tell. Maybe a sex change or a wheelchair will ensure that tenure is given this coming year. It will also help if you cry to anyone willing to listen about how your dog died, your aunt had 50 operations while climbed up Mt. Everest to find the antivenom to help your dying iguana.
Posted by: Poppin in | February 03, 2012 at 07:21 AM
Re: "no men have been denied tenure" - I beg to differ. :) (Hello, all)
Posted by: Patrick Mitchell | February 03, 2012 at 02:02 AM
I was not referring to the dean of e-learning although I agree wholeheartedly that she is a sneak! I am referring to a faculty member who has their tenure already. They devoured the brown stuff to get it and I believe made some type of deal...two faced vermin. Some of us are just trying to get by and make a living for our families.
Posted by: give me a break | February 02, 2012 at 07:03 AM
Not sure that I understand the last post. The dean of e-learning is not a faculty member. Many of our colleagues, all of whom are, or have been, women have been denied tenure. People are being hired to teach Biology and many other subjects who only have Master's degrees in Education. OCC is a toxic dump thanks to King Jon and his minions. I don't see any faculty "rising" against any other faculty.
Posted by: BlueStateBlues | February 01, 2012 at 08:29 PM