Public Meeting of the NJIT Board of Trustees
April 5, 2012
On April 5, 2012, about 50 faculty and students attended the public
session of the NJIT Board of Trustees meeting. Our purpose in doing so
was to voice our serious concern over several recent actions taken by
the Board and the Senior Administration that we believe have negatively
impacted NJIT and will have the potential for continuted harm. These
include the denial of research-related sabbaticals to 9 faculty
members, the implementation of a faculty hiring process that limits the
ability of the Departments to meet their identified needs and the
implementation of a Presidential Search process that deprived the
Institute a chance to hire a high-quality candidate. Four faculty
members spoke at the meeting; one to present a Faculty approved motion,
the other three to voice specific concerns. Each speech was greeted
with applause and approval from the Faculty but dead silence from
the Board.
- Professor Dale Gary presented a motion
asking the Board to reconsider its concurrence with the Provost and
President's decision in awarding only 8 out of 17 sabbatical
leaves for AY 2012-2013. The Faculty Sabbatical committee
had recommended all 17 (15 strongly) for sabbatical.
- Professor Mill Jonakait spoke about the Board's handling of the
Presidential Search process and the Board's subsequent inaccurate
public statements that unfairly impugn the Faculty.
- Professor Horacio Rotstein spoke about the negative impact that the denial of his sabbatical leave would have on his career.
- Professor Amitabha Bose called for the Board to either take action on issues of faculty concern or resign.
On April 09, 2012, Board Chair Kathy Wielkopolski reaffirmed the Board's stance regarding the denial of sabbaticals.
In short, the Board's inaction on the sabbatical issue further reflects
their inability to make decisions that are in the best interest
of the Institute.
The student-run newspaper, The Vector, covered the story with two articles: "Faculty Speaks" and "Sabbaticals Denied".