Saturday, June 28, 2008

Art. #166, Frustration and other anomalies at HCC

William Jerez NYC 06/28/08
www.dominicanissues.com www.wjerez.blogspot.com

Issues that have to be investigated by Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor

Dr. Matthew Golstein is the Chancellor of The City University of New York (CUNY). CUNY has 23 universities and colleges. All these educational centers are strictly administered and supervised by Dr. Golstein.

I graduated from Columbia University with a MS degree in chemical engineering. However, in two years and a summer working for HCC, my clean record can be checked and it can speak by itself. Among others it can be considered that:

a) I have never taken one single day off at HCC.
b) I have never been late to my classrooms and to my laboratory.
c) I have given to HCC; at least, 2 hours daily of administrative work from Monday to Friday.
d) I always received good evaluation from the students and my colleagues.
e) My file is totally clean.
f) I have given all my experience to the students and the Natural Sciences Department.
g) Due to my record, during the fall 2006, I was promoted and appointed as a Full Time Substitute Instructor.

Based on my merits I was appointed Full Time Substitute in the Natural Sciences Department on August 30, 2006 and I was fired on November 28, 2008? Why such a sudden change? This means that in only 3 months I went from being one of the best and experienced professors in the Natural Sciences Department to the worst professor in the referred Department. What about my three years of merits that I spent at HCC?

Then, at the end of the fall 2006, I was surprised when I was removed from the faculty schedule of the Natural Sciences Department for the semester of spring 2007 without one single explanation.

In the Department of Natural Sciences, Hostos Community College (HCC), there have been several acts of frustrations and some other injustices or anomalies that have to be investigated by Dr. Golstein, the Chancellor, on behalf of the students, the members of the staff/faculty, the administration, and the whole Bronx community.

Among these frustrations and anomalies we have:

1. Frustrating attitudes of Ms. Daysi Cocco De Fillipis and Ms. Bernal-Carlo against Dominican, Puerto Rican and Afro-American professors. This situation has been creating a lot of anxiety among these ethnic groups and has the support of Ms. Daysi Cocco de Fillipis, Provost of HCC. How many professors, coming from these mentioned minorities groups, do we have in the Natural Sciences Department? How many students do we have coming from these mentioned minorities groups?

2. In the spring 2007, in the staff/faculty class schedule presented by the Natural Sciences Department, there were three adjunct professors with less seniority than I. In addition, the last day before the semester spring 2007 start, the Natural Sciences Department was still giving interviews to hire other adjunct professors. Neither of these candidates were Dominicans nor Puerto Ricans nor Afro-Americans. In my particular case, what have I done to deserve this maltreatment?

3. Ms. Amanda Bernal-Carlo has the tendency to drop in the classrooms to harass minority professors in front of the students and in front of the secretaries. She uses to prepare this and other scenarios as a preamble to get rid of minority professors. She did this to me during the fall 2006. And this is not the only case. There are separated reports of these issues.

4. After I had been assigned classes, and my name had been put in the class catalog for the spring of 2007, I was left out of the Natural Sciences Department. When the students dropped in the classroom, the first day of class, they discovered that the professor for who they had registered for was no longer in the Natural Sciences Department. That situation happened to me during the fall 2006 and for the semester starting in spring 2007.

5. In the fall 2006, there were professors, who were not minorities, who the students rejected to evaluate and returned the evaluation form as a sign of protest. They said a lot of negative things about these professors. What happened with these professors? What had happened if these professors had been minorities?

6. In October, 2006, secretly and mal intentionally, my desk was “taken away” and changed for a very old table. They put all my papers and other belongings on an old table. For the rest of the fall 2006 I kept asking myself,
“where did my desk go and who took it?”

7. On Monday 12/15, the label that I posted in front of the door of my office to let my students know about my office hours was maliciously “taken away”. Since this situation happened to me, I had a lot of difficulty in seeing my students. I had to solve the problems making personal appointments with my students for tutoring.

8. On December 22, 2006, and being a full time professor at HCC, I was prohibited by Ms. Suzette Quintana, assistant to Ms. Daysi Cocco-De Fillipis, the Provost, to enter the HCC cafeteria to attend a meeting with Ligia Amada Melo, Secretary of Estate of Higher Education of the Dominican Republic. About one hour later, only with the intervention of some students, I was allowed to enter the cafeteria. In this meeting, cash money was distributed among 88 students. Is the distribution of cash money a legal activity? Is this activity legal in public or in an educational center?

Why didn’t these people want me to be in the public cafeteria? Is this a way of discriminating against a staff/faculty?

9. On 12/14/06, my computer was maliciously damaged. I had been using other computers because I had been afraid of informing Ms. Bernal-Carlo.

10. Ms. Amanda Bernal-Carlo has three jobs at Hostos Community College (HCC). These jobs are:

A. Chairperson, Natural Sciences Department.
B. Director, Center for Teaching and Learning.
C. Coordinator, Curriculum Development Resource.


Where is the time to comply with the duties and responsibilities of these three jobs, when the day only has 24 hours?

All of these positions have the approval of the Provost, Daysi Cocco De Fillipis.

11. In only one semester that Ms. Bernal-Carlo has been in the position of Chairperson of the Natural Sciences Department, she has had serious problems with 6 minority professors. What does this mean?

12. In November 2006, the provost, Ms. Daysi Cocco – De Fillipis, went to the Dominican Republic. After she arrived from the Dominican Republic, she invited to HCC two of the most important figures of the reelection team of the President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez. These two invited and prominent figures were: Alenjandrina Guzman, Secretary of Estate of Education. And Ligia Amada Melo, Secretary of Estate of Higher Education. Both ladies are prominent figures of the reelection team of Mr. Fernandez. After this situation, I was left without job for the spring 2007. All of this is very strange.

13. The 18 books written by Daysi Cocco De Fillipis don’t exist. Ms. Daysi Cocco has gotten her position telling CUNY that she has written 18 books. In several trips that some of us have taken to Santo Domingo, RD, we have only seen one single book and two booklets written by the Provost, Daysi Cocco De Fillipis. Is it not strange that this lady is always saying the she has written 18 books? Where are these books?

What’s happening in the Department of Natural Sciences of HCC?

What are the intentions of Ms. Bernal-Carlo, Chairperson of the Natural Sciences Department and Daysi Cocco De Fillipis, the Provost at Hostos community College?

What do these two ladies have in their minds? These two ladies are evil persons and should no be at HCC. Where ever there are they only think about themselves. They never think about a good quality education for the students.

See:
William Jerez’ resume: Art. #22, Opinion, www.dominicanissues.com



William Jerez, Ex-Full Time Substitute Instructor
Natural Sciences Unit, Hostos community College (HCC), CUNY

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