I attended a concert at SCCC and met with one of my professor friends there and she says the faculty is quite upset about the departure of pres. Quentin Bullock and the leadership of the board of directors chair person Denise MCGraw. They feel that this woman is a problem, unqualified, and is out for herself and makes many questionable decisions. She lead the wonderful president around like a dog on a leash and no wonder he kept looking for a new job. my friend said she is universally hated at the college. Where do we find these people in Schenectady?

The City doesn't get a pick of the litter.....who would want to live here anyway...

This isn't uncommon in colleges, I'm afraid. Community colleges will be worse than private schools, because you have people with political connections fighting to get control of free government money. They control the media. It's too bad.

I know that, X, but it is disheartening because a community college is supposed to be an inexpensive gateway to a four year school. But it is separate but unequal because the system allows for political hacks to rule not by what is best for our young students but for their own gain... or in this case glory. God bless Dr. Bullock for escaping!!

Quoted from Jaystreet

I know that, X, but it is disheartening because a community college is supposed to be an inexpensive gateway to a four year school. But it is separate but unequal because the system allows for political hacks to rule not by what is best for our young students but for their own gain... or in this case glory. God bless Dr. Bullock for escaping!!

the community colleges are grand podium pucks so as not to 'disturb' the status quo of the more expensive state
and private schools and the elbow rubbers....

True but there is a flaw in the system ...... If the president can be manipulated like a puppet by a board of directors who polices these people? You are right it is not the newspapers. These people can take whatever they want from the cookie jar and seem not shy to do so!

I worry about cronyism and conflicts of interest at the local level. A college should be above that....at this level it is about getting students credit and practical training, at taxpayer expense.

SCCC was the other crown jewel of downtown....

arts/education.....

college town with bars/food/entertainment......

GE and the rest have dumped Schenectady

I guess this issue is coming to a head as the faculty are quite irate over their treatment by the board. It is Venus and Marsas the low paid professors just don't like the shady ways of the board chairperson whose motives are less than educational. Get me some popcorn.  

I heard the faculty voted out the presidential group from its academic meetings and they also are going to the bd. of directors meetings in force. They are fighting back but it is too bad that they do not feel heard by the movers. The college could be a real gem if education is put first, not blind political ambition.

It's really difficult, college is "good", and SCCC is "good for Schenectady", people see kids going to classes, shiny new buildings, and will not believe there is anything wrong.
Maybe the faculty could start up a thread on the issue on this site, or another. Just to vent and let in some daylight. You don't know if it will have any effect, but what do they lose by trying? They'd have to be very careful not to get too explicit though. These tiny tyrant types can get pretty vicious guarding their turf.
I do believe that this site had an effect on getting a closer look at exactly what is going on down at Proctor's. Nobody ever questioned that money pit, they took it at face value that it was "good for" downtown, and that downtown is "good for" Schenectady. Now we see what the main budget problem is,why there is never enough money. Whether it does any good or not remains to be seen, but it is never a bad thing to remove some of the secrecy, when so much money is floating around.

I agree about the value of such sites. They may only be read by 1% of the people who are involved in the issue and maybe half of them just scoff and laugh off the claims. Some of the claims on the various posts come off as just cranky..... but the posts on such a site as this create conversations in the community and maybe at the newspaper. I am glad to see the faculty fighting back against these little tyrants as you call them but the ones I know do seem cautious  .... maybe they are just paranoid. Whoever the next president is would be wise to patch up any issues with the faculty and get away from the money grabbers.

Quoted from Jaystreet

I worry about cronyism and conflicts of interest at the local level. A college should be above that....at this level it is about getting students credit and practical
training, at taxpayer expense.

Denise is a town board member in Nisky. Death Ray is also on the SCCC bored. Dr Bullock has been trying to get out of SCCC for years and finally found a great position.
SCCC has been underfunded by the County for years. Can't blame Denise for Dr Bullocks departure. Huge pay increase. This is happening on all County boards including the Library where non-DEMS have been forced out and replaced by DEM machine hacks.

Quoted from benny salami

Denise is a town board member in Nisky. Death Ray is also on the SCCC bored. Dr Bullock has been trying to get out of SCCC for years and finally found a great position.
SCCC has been underfunded by the County for years. Can't blame Denise for Dr Bullocks departure. Huge pay increase. This is happening on all County boards including the Library where non-DEMS have been forced out and replaced by DEM machine hacks.

Bullock was looking for a new job just after a year or so into his tenure at SCCC but I guess he is leaving so it is all water under the bridge... But politics should not be at play at all at the library or the college or anywhere. Then what happens is an institution becomes a culture of fear and retribution, which is no way to live. How about have a board of directors with some actual PhDs and other educators? I just hope that all of the public funded institutions learned something from the Raucci years.