1 1 2 ------------------------------------------X 3 4 5 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 6 SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 7 EASTERN CAMPUS 8 20 EAST MAIN STREET 9 RIVERHEAD, NEW YORK 10 11 THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010 12 9:00 a.m. 13 ------------------------------------------X 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2 1 2 A P P E A R A N C E S: 3 ERNESTO MATTACE Chairman 4 5 JERRY KANE Secretary 6 7 DR. SHAUN MCKAY President 8 9 WALTER HAZLITT 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 2 MR. MATTACE: Good afternoon, everybody. I 3 would like to start off by welcoming everybody 4 this morning and calling the Board of Trustees 5 meeting to order. 6 Walter, would you please begin with the 7 pledge. 8 (Whereupon, the recitation of the pledge of 9 allegiance commenced.) 10 MR. MATTACE: I would like to start off with 11 a presentation and ask Avette, please. 12 On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we 13 appreciate Avette D. Aware, Board of Trustee 14 member, December 2, '07 through 6/1 of '10. The 15 college is grateful for your expertise and 16 leadership as a valued member of the Board of 17 Trustees. 18 And I tell you from me, you will be missed. 19 Thank you. 20 MS. WARE: Can I say something? 21 MR. MATTACE: You can say whatever you like. 22 We have some time to fill. 23 MS. WARE: Thank you. This means so much to 24 me. I've had such a passion for the college, I 25 think everyone knows that. I may not be here in 4 1 2 physical form but I will be here in spirit and 3 wish you all the best moving forward. Thank you. 4 MR. MATTACE: Thank you. So as everybody 5 could see, we have the Executive Board here 6 today. We had some situations and personal 7 issues. It just steamrolled. I received two 8 notifications first thing this morning, one late 9 last night from some of the Trustees. We hope 10 all is well. There were some illnesses and 11 injuries. Hopefully everything will be fine. 12 Paul had left and went to visit the home of a 13 young man who had been murdered in the Patchogue 14 area. He left this morning. 15 What I will do today is we are going to be 16 discussing a few resolutions. When I had spoken 17 to Paul, I asked him what his feelings were and 18 he said I would like to put it in writing. I 19 will also make a statement to get it in the 20 record officially based on the Trustees and our 21 view of now Executive Vice President Gatta. I'll 22 read first Paul's statement and his letter 23 addressed to me. 24 Dear Mr. Chairman, because of an unexpected 25 trip to Ecuador from the 23rd to the 28th, I will 5 1 2 be unable to attend Suffolk County Community 3 College's 24th Board of Trustee meeting. 4 Therefore, I would like to comment on the agenda 5 Item 7, Resolution 2010.48. 6 Over the past several meetings, we have 7 heard from staff and others about the 8 post-contract to be tended to Executive Vice 9 President George Gatta. In all cases, there was 10 a negative in nature and sense of adversital 11 tone. At no time did they speak to the quality 12 of Mr. Gatta's or the fact he already had a 13 contract. 14 Quality of the work as an interm president, 15 he brought Suffolk Community College through one 16 of the most difficult times it has experienced 17 during its 50 years of educating the students of 18 Suffolk County. These include but not limited to 19 manage and oversaw the day-to-day operations of 20 the college during the interviews and selection 21 process of hiring a new president, negotiating 22 with Suffolk County in agreement that solidified 23 and clarified SCCC's relationship with the County 24 and satisfied Middle State's concerns about 25 relationship. Led the effort to ensure that the 6 1 2 college kept its Middle State association 3 accreditation. 4 Mr. Gatta clearly understood the impact and 5 downturn in the economy and how it would effect 6 the college. Increased student enrollment and 7 reduced the state and local aid and formulate a 8 plan to across them. Negotiated higher class 9 size as to help limit the financial impact and 10 reduce aid to the limited tuition increase. 11 Under Mr. Gatta's leadership, the college's 12 financial position is solid. 13 Under Mr. Gatta's leadership, there and all 14 other issues to the operation and supervision of 15 Suffolk County Community College during this past 16 year were handled in a professional manner and in 17 an exemplary fashion. 18 One must realize that Mr. Gatta has a 19 contract that must be honored. The statement 20 made that we were creating an institution with 21 two presidents is false. The provision is the 22 contract and is part of the Resolution 2010.48 is 23 clear. The executive vice president answers to 24 the president. 25 Whether you agree, you shouldn't have the 7 1 2 contract is irrelevant. The contract is in place 3 and is legal. The debate, otherwise, is a waste 4 of time in the Board and its devices. 5 I believe that the Board should vote yes on 6 Item 7 contractually requiring annual salary 7 increases and clarification to who Mr. Gatta 8 reports and move forward. 9 Well, it was read basically because we are 10 going to vote on a resolution. But I did promise 11 Trustee Pontieri that I would have it put into 12 the record so everybody understands. I would 13 like to give a brief summery of what the Trustees 14 felt when we reviewed Executive Vice President 15 Gatta's performance at the time. 16 The Board of Trustees reviewed the 17 performance as an interm president and find that 18 you have done an outstanding job in leading the 19 college through one of the most charging times in 20 its history. Your strong leadership abilities 21 and able view to effectively resolve a number of 22 serious issues facing the college and the process 23 you have advanced the image and reputation of 24 this institution. 25 And basically what else that I've written is 8 1 2 more or less a repeat of what Trustee Pontieri 3 had said so I'm not going to repeat it again. I 4 don't like revision of history. I want to set 5 the record straight and let's move forward from 6 here. We have a president that I know will do an 7 excellent job. Whatever's happened, it's over. 8 On all sides, I hope, okay, to the betterment of 9 our students. 10 I thank everybody for their input over this 11 past year and look forward to mushrooming 12 enrollment, taking care of our students and 13 letting the constituents that we serve, and 14 that's the residents of Suffolk County, know we 15 are here and we are their tool. 16 Any other statements? 17 MR. KANE: Excellent. 18 MR. HAZLITT: I concur. 19 MR. MATTACE: With that, everyone, we are 20 out of here. Can I ask for a motion? 21 MS. KREITZER: No, you don't. 22 (Whereupon, the meeting was continued on the 23 following page.) 24 25 9 1 2 MR. MATTACE: We are going to schedule a 3 meeting for July 19th, which is a Monday because 4 we have to take care of college business and we 5 cannot wait until August. I will notify 6 everybody where it will be held at the same time. 7 I thank you. Have a great day. 8 (Time noted: 9:24 a.m.) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 10 1 2 CERTIFICATION 3 4 5 I, NICOLE LIMONCELLI, a Notary Public in and 6 for the State of New York, do hereby certify: 7 THAT the foregoing is a true and accurate 8 transcript of my stenographic notes. 9 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 10 hand this day of , 2010. 11 12 13 14 NICOLE LIMONCELLI 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25