What follows is a collage — snippets from the public comments of individual faculty at the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees’ meetings on Sept 8 and Oct 13, 2026. The more recent comments are presented first. (With authors’ permission, a few editorial changes have been made in places.) Concerns are various: how scheduling policies hurt students’ ability to be full-time students, lower the College’s enrollment and revenue, and fall short of Nassau County needs for affordable, quality education that allows students to transfer into diverse degree programs; understaffed departments and offices; problems with imposed degree credit changes for workforce AAS degrees; critical building maintenance needs; contract violations; and arguments that Nassau deserves and needs programming in the arts and humanities at its community colleges.
On Eliminating All World Languages that are not Romance Languages
Silvia Albanese, “Humanities and Performing Arts,” Oct 13:
“. . . A few weeks ago my mega department was notified that Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Russian languages will be eliminated from the 2027 Spring semester schedule. This means that NCC will only be offering French, Italian and Spanish courses. Russian has been taught for decades at NCC, Japanese and Arabic since late 90’s, Korean was added 2017. . . These 4 languages run as 101 courses and at 80% fill capacity as requested by the current Administration. . . Queensborough Community College and Suffolk Community College, our “competition” for students, also offer a couple of these languages. . . Queensborough offers Arabic and Chinese and Suffolk offers: Chinese, German, Japanese. Out of the 64 SUNY colleges, NCC is the only campus that offers Russian 101 online. Within the SUNY community colleges, NCC is the only Community College that offers Korean.
Their choices are being reduced to 3 European Romance languages. Being aware of how diverse Long Island has become, our students deserve to have more choices than Spanish, French and Italian. (Furthermore,) World Languages is a SUNY GE requirement to graduate in certain degrees. . .
On a reduction in general liberal arts education courses, requiring more classes for the same amount of clinical work, and a newly required, unneeded NCC 101 class, in Associate of Applied Science Degrees
William O’Keefe, “Allied Health Sciences,” Oct 13:
I come to you to address three issues. . (facing these) Associate of Applied Sciences degrees: Medical Lab Technology, Physical Therapist Assistant, Radiation Therapy, Radiologic Technology, Radiation Therapy, Respiratory Care, and Surgical Technology. The issues come from:
1. The May 12, 2026 resolution for AAS programs to be 60 credits by Sept 2027
2. BOT Policy 4300 changing the student contact hour to credit ratio from 1:4 to 1:3
3. The new requirement to include NCC 101 (one credit) in all degrees
. . . When following all three policies in the Physical Therapist Assistant program, we will need to increase the degree by 71 credits and then decrease it to 60 credits to complete all mandates. (However,) The program, being 66 or 60 credits, is still completed in two years. The program is a terminal degree program and is not meant to be for transfer (to a four-year institution where the subsequent 2 years and additional 60 more credits of learning would occur). Decreasing to 60 credits will not improve academic pathways; their pathway is to have the student go into the work force. It will not reduce the number of transfer credits as we will have to decrease the number of general liberal arts course work. These discreet programs are equitable and have consistent success outcomes. All AHS AAS programs have been assessed and have above average employment and licensure exam pass rates. . .SUNY has already reviewed these degrees and gave them a waiver to be higher than 64 credits.
. . . Resolution 4300 asked to change the student contact hour to credit ratio from 1:4 to 1:3. This resolution requires programs to increase the credits to a program, which is in conflict with the 60-credit mandate, or decrease the hours a student is in clinical. In the Physical Therapist Assistant program, the outside accreditation body requires two six-week full-time clinicals and to be at a minimum of 520 to a maximum of 720 of clinical hours. There is a request to have a variety of settings. For the Physical Therapist Assistant program to comply, it will need to increase credits for clinical (portion of study) by 5 credits.
The third issue is NCC 101 is being required in all degrees and adds one credit. When comparing PTA programs in New York state, there is no program that requires an equivalent of NCC 101. No program is following any credit to contact hour ratio as resolution 4300. And no program is at 60 credits.
The programs have submitted proposals to improve efficiencies. These proposals have been reviewed and returned with comments. This is the summary of administration’s request to change the exemption proposal:
Before consideration of an exemption request, Academic Affairs will need a comprehensive curricular analysis demonstrating, with specificity, why a 60-credit curriculum cannot satisfy program competencies, accreditation requirements, licensure preparation, and student learning outcomes. The analysis should include a competency-to-course mapping, course-by-course justification of credits, review of alternative curricular models, contact-hour analysis, and a detailed explanation of why any remaining credits above 60 are academically necessary and cannot be achieved through curricular redesign.
This request is exorbitant.
Reinstate Africana Studies for Winterim
Ricardo Santos, English, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Oct. 13
Last Winterim, ENG 207/AFR 130 enrolled 25 students in a section capped at 28. The course is currently being offered asynchronously, with all 30 seats filled: 15 students registered through English and 15 through Africana Studies. Moreover, as I learned from a former student, in just a few days, students have gathered more than 60 signatures on a petition requesting that the course be reinstated. That petition is still circulating. Their reasons for taking the course are equally telling. Some need it for their degrees. Others want to understand African American history beyond what they have encountered in history classes. Students preparing for careers in early childhood education recognize the importance of becoming familiar with writers and experiences that will help them better understand the children and communities they will serve. Others are seeking perspectives they have not had sufficient opportunity to encounter in their education.
These are precisely the outcomes a strong college curriculum should encourage: intellectual curiosity, historical understanding, cultural literacy, and the ability to engage thoughtfully with experiences beyond one.
On Worsening Quality, Curricular Options, and Physical Infrastructure
Mary Lannon, English Department, Oct 13:
. . . you are cutting women and gender studies classes even though students (what the administration called “customers”) filled four classes last spring. . . Wealthy folks in Nassau County send their children to colleges with lots of course choices and well-paid faculty who teach small classes. Currently, we have hot, humid and mold-ridden classrooms, ever increasing class sizes, and cuts to class offerings. And we have nearly eliminated theater and honors classes. Many of our students have drawn unlucky straws in life: they have parents who have died or are absent; they don’t have enough money for the basics; they help support their families; they are veterans and so on. But they are here trying to better themselves. And I think we owe them a vision for better conditions for learning. . .
NCC Legacy for Affordable Acceleration through a SUNY 4-Year Degree
Kimberly Wells-Bernard, Social and Behavioral Sciences, NCCFT Vice President of Classroom Faculty, Oct 13:
. . . NCC’s legacy of being an invaluable community resource that has enabled students to earn required credits necessary to transfer to SUNY 4-year schools and other institutions at an affordable price point. Many of the students I speak of are working class, first generation, neurodivergent, socioeconomically challenged, returning adult learners, individuals who immigrated to this country, and some who are unhoused. What the administration characterizes as “credit waste” in the current degrees is to our families, students, and community a sacred and important mechanism that affords students the opportunity to accelerate credit attainment.. . .
Listen to Faculty Insight and Create Opportunities for Dialogue with Trustees
David Stern, Physical Sciences, NCCFT President, Oct 13:
. . .To truly advance our mission, we must move beyond listening once a month. It would be immensely beneficial for the Board to meet directly with the faculty to address ongoing issues regarding our students’ academic experience. Establishing a dedicated space for this dialogue will breakdown silos and promote a more collaborative environment where we solve problems together.
We all want NCC to remain a beacon of opportunity. To achieve that, the vision from the boardroom must align with the reality on the ground. Please truly hear our faculty speakers tonight, value their expertise, and let this be the start of a new, deeply collaborative partnership for the sake of our students.
A Glympse at the Value of Literature Classes
Christina Rau, English, Sept 8
(Letter from a former student:). . . “Good morning, I had you as my science fiction literature professor in the semester [redacted]. I distinctly remember us reading and talking about Ray Bradbury’s short story ‘There Will Come Soft Rains’ and you took a poll in the class of who thought the world would end in a nuclear war. Well good news: it is August 5th, 2026 and we are all very much alive and not scorched by nuclear fire! One of the few times where I’m very very glad to have been proven wrong. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday, August 5th, 2026.”
Two weeks before the start of the semester, all of my classes were about to be canceled, including science fiction. They, thankfully, were not canceled and in fact, are all now full, and I wonder what would have happened to all of these students had the classes been canceled. I also wonder about all the students whose classes were canceled, and how many of them are missing out on the chance to enjoy their education, how many students are missing out on reading and thinking and debating and dreaming.
Please let this former student serve as a reminder that literature does matter.
Vacant Faculty Lines Means Less Support for our Students
Virginia Sanchioli, NCCFT Vice President of Non-Classroom and PFU Faculty, Sept 8:
. . .Across campus, there are vacancies among faculty and staff that are affecting the services our students rely on every day. When positions stay open, the people who are here have to take on more, and eventually our students feel the impact. Students need to be able to reach their professors. They need advising, mentoring, academic support, and the services that help them stay on track and graduate. They shouldn’t have to deal with a system that is stretched too thin. This is bigger than one contract issue. It’s about the education our students are getting and the future we’re helping them build. We’re asking our leadership to recognize that supporting faculty and staff means supporting our students. We’re asking that the contract be respected. . .
On Contract Violations and Policies Hurting Full-time Student Status
Suzanne Kaebnick, NCCFT Secretary, English, Sept 8:
This summer, the College leadership pushed policies and procedures that were poorly planned, hurt students and violated the faculty contract. Their decision making is exactly why, last May, the faculty overwhelmingly passed a Vote of No Confidence in NCC leadership.
On July 22, the College rescheduled fall online courses as late start classes and stated that regardless of their experience, faculty would need to take two capstone training courses (before teaching asynchronous or remote classes). . . However, even if they passed these . . . full-time faculty would not be permitted to teach these online, late-start courses. The College’s decision was a disservice to our students, deeply unfair to our faculty, and a violation of the faculty contract.
. . . Students deserve flexibility of scheduling and open seats in classes they need. Although the College knows that historically large numbers of NCC students register during the last two weeks before the first day of classes, the administration cancelled classes that were less than 80% full. . .If the College cannot find enough adjunct instructors to teach its late start online classes, will that lead to more class cancellations?
Students deserve to be able to schedule a full-time load of classes, so that they can move swiftly through their studies and be eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship, which covers tuition at New York’s public colleges for family incomes of no more than $125,000.