1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
8 SUFFOLKCOUNTYCOMMUNITY COLLEGE
9 BROOKHAVEN GYMNASIUM, ALUMNI ROOM
10 SELDEN, NEW YORK
11
12 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2005
13 8:30 A.M.
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
2
1
2 A P P E A R A N C E S:
3
4 William D. Moore, Director/Chair
5 Walter C. Hazlitt, Director/Vice Chair
6 John L. Kominicki, Director
7 Ernesto Mattace, Jr., Director
8 Dennis McCarthy, Director
9 David Ochoa, Director
10 Jennifer D. Elsmore, Student Trustee
11 Dr. Shirley Pippins, President
12 Jerry Kane
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
3
1
2 MR. MOORE: First let's stand for
3 the pledge of allegiance.
4 (Whereupon, the pledge of
5 allegiance was recited.)
6 Ground rules. If anyone gets to
7 speak, give your name clearly. If you
8 sit back down and get back up twenty
9 minutes later, give your name again so
10 the stenographer keeps a good verbatim
11 record and she needs to have people
12 identified by name, not by voices.
13 I'm very bad about the recognition
14 of guests. Those that are here, we
15 thank you for being with us. I thank
16 you for that. I go to some political
17 events where you spend the first twenty
18 minutes thanking everyone that is
19 there. Two days later, eighteen of the
20 same people are there. You spend
21 another twenty minutes all over again.
22 I appreciate your support and
23 interest in what we're doing here, so
24 thank you all.
25 At this time we've got a
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
4
1
2 presentation from Steve Shrier.
3 MR. SHRIER: Those of you who have
4 been on the Board before I left my
5 previous position, I'm not back here
6 because I miss it so much. We'd like to
7 have a brief review on the work I've
8 been doing since then.
9 Just to give you a brief time line
10 here, about four years ago the College
11 was the recipient of a very significant
12 collection of Holocaust materials from
13 someone named Andrew Liput. Then about
14 two-and-a-half years ago, the Board
15 adopted a resolution which authorized us
16 to incorporate a not for profit
17 organization with the Board as the
18 sponsor and retaining certain oversight
19 responsibilities and the organization
20 was, in fact, incorporated two years ago
21 and the first board started meeting
22 about a year-and-a-half ago.
23 Dr. Waxman, who was a member of
24 the Board and was very involved in
25 having the contribution made to the
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
5
1
2 collection, is our chair and actively
3 involved in the organization even though
4 she now resides in Florida. As you
5 could see, Bill Moore, your chair, is a
6 member of the board executive office
7 voting by virtue of the bylaws of the
8 organization, as is Dr. Pippins.
9 Other members are people you have
10 chosen to be on the board, and it's up
11 to you to choose new members of the
12 board as you see fit. Mr. Liput is on
13 the board by virtue of the gift and is
14 named in the bylaws as a permanent
15 member of the board.
16 We've established a permanent
17 gallery for the collection on the second
18 floor of the library consisting of about
19 a thousand square feet of space in three
20 interconnected rooms. We currently have
21 about eighty-three items on display
22 covering various topics related to the
23 Holocaust.
24 As we'll get to in a moment, we're
25 going to be doing a formal dedication
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
6
1
2 ceremony in a few weeks for the center.
3 This is a photo taken inside the
4 facility during the president's
5 inaugural week. That was the week we
6 also opened the facility, and we can see
7 a steady stream of students through
8 there since then.
9 We have a draft of a mission
10 statement which has been circulating for
11 the last several weeks. They pretty
12 much all come to the same general theme
13 as to what we're about, and it all goes
14 back to the certificate of incorporation
15 and that we are here to maintain a
16 presence that will educate primarily
17 students, college students, high school
18 students in such a way that we will help
19 to ward off further acts of genocide,
20 acts of prejudice and discrimination and
21 raise a sensitivity to these issues.
22 Our first activity occurred last
23 April on Y-O-M-H-A-S-H-O-A-H. We did
24 that with a temporary exhibit in the
25 western campus in the lobby of the
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
7
1
2 Sagtikos building. We had presentations
3 at that time. We followed up with a
4 workshop for business leaders the
5 following day, and we also had a program
6 for high school students in which we had
7 a Holocaust survivor speaker along with
8 a Nuremberg interrogator, Rudolph Pins.
9 That is something we would like to
10 continue which is to run programs for
11 the high school community. The tenth
12 grade curriculum provides for required
13 education in genocide and Holocaust.
14 School districts had to send students to
15 the Holocaust center in Glen Cove when
16 they wanted to do that which is not that
17 convenient for districts in Suffolk
18 County, and we're finding that they were
19 very bad in bringing students there.
20 This is an activity that we had
21 back in October. We took a portion of
22 our exhibit to the annual conference of
23 the Council for Prejudice Reduction in
24 Huntington. We selected some items in
25 order to get some exposure for the
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
8
1
2 center at that time. We've got some
3 things in the works right now.
4 You'll be getting invitations
5 shortly for a program on March ninth for
6 the formal dedication of the center at
7 eleven o'clock in the library, and on
8 that same day we are also opening an
9 exhibit that will be on tour from Israel
10 which is on the theme of women in the
11 resistance. That will be located the
12 first few days in the lobby of the Islip
13 Arts building and it will then move over
14 to the lobby of the Sagtikos building on
15 the Grant campus and during that period
16 of time, we will have some speakers
17 here.
18 We will again have a program for
19 the high schools. We've already got
20 three hundred sixty high school students
21 signed up for a program on March
22 twenty-second. Congressman Israel will
23 speak that day, as well as a Holocaust
24 survivor and a representative of the
25 collection that is touring.
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
9
1
2 On March ninth, if you're coming
3 to the dedication ceremony, there will
4 also be just preceding it at nine thirty
5 a program related to the exhibit over in
6 the Islip arts building. We're also
7 starting work -- there is a planning
8 meeting next week on a breakfast which
9 we hope to schedule in April on the
10 theme of pursuit of freedom from the
11 perspectives of various faiths and
12 cultures.
13 We'll be sponsoring that with the
14 College multi cultural affairs program
15 as well as a number of community groups
16 including the Long Island Council of
17 Churches, he Board of Rabbis, Muslim
18 Association, the American Jewish
19 Committee and a number of other groups.
20 We're also going to start work on
21 a program for the fall which will be a
22 symposium on the immigrant experience.
23 There are a couple of other programs
24 going on. We've made arrangements for
25 the eastern campus to have an exhibit on
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
10
1
2 Veterans Day this coming year on
3 liberation, and we will try to bring a
4 speaker in who was a veteran to speak on
5 that subject as well.
6 We have a number of on going
7 activities that go on. We have college
8 classes that come in. We have -- the
9 college offers a humanities course in
10 the Holocaust which has four hundred
11 students a year. Those classes are
12 coming to meet in the facility and
13 students are coming over to do research
14 projects there.
15 Also we have students from high
16 school twelve studies. They've been
17 coming in, freshman seminar classes
18 coming in. We have a few communications
19 classes that are scheduled, so the fact
20 is that we're starting to see this as a
21 resource for the student learning.
22 If you could just click on the
23 calendar. That is a project that we're
24 doing jointly with the Council for
25 Prejudice Reduction in which the public
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
11
1
2 can visit this calendar and see all of
3 the events on Long Island that relate to
4 programs sponsored through the diversity
5 community.
6 We've been announcing to various
7 organizations that we will post their
8 listings on in and they, in turn, can
9 come to the College site to see this
10 calendar and get some exposure to the
11 College as well as to our organization.
12 We have a website still under
13 development, but to give you an idea of
14 what we're trying to do on the site,
15 there will be information about the
16 College's collection of materials
17 related to the Holocaust and genocide
18 studies, research links to other
19 locations, materials on the history and
20 materials on our collection as well.
21 That will be -- it is live now but
22 it is not all fully implemented.
23 MR. KOMINICKI: Is the calendar at
24 that site?
25 MR. SHRIER: It's reachable
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
12
1
2 through that site, yes. You can click
3 on the events there, but there will also
4 be a link put up in the right hand
5 corner that will say Long Island
6 Diversity calendar. That is one of the
7 primary ways of getting to it. The
8 collection itself is over two hundred
9 items.
10 It has been growing since the
11 original donation by Mr. Liput. People
12 are aware of the collection and received
13 a number of additional items including a
14 full set of Nuremberg transcripts,
15 evidence and materials are continuing to
16 come in. We started getting people's
17 memoirs. People want to be sure there
18 is a place that will preserve these
19 materials.
20 Some have written their own
21 typewritten documents on what they
22 experienced. These are just a few items
23 in the collection. To give you a sample
24 of the uniform that was used in
25 concentration camps, the sentences
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
13
1
2 imposed by the Nuremberg tribunal. The
3 devastation of -- a poster on
4 anti-Semetism and some pictures taken at
5 liberation and the Nuremberg trial and a
6 gas canister.
7 We have quite a number of things.
8 It is fairly striking so I hope you'll
9 come over, and if you have any ideas,
10 we'll be glad to follow through and we
11 look forward to having some impact on
12 the community.
13 Thank you.
14 DR. PIPPINS: We join Steve in
15 encouraging all to visit. It has a very
16 powerful impact given the small amount
17 of space that he had to work with. It
18 is just another example of powerful
19 things going on here at this campus.
20 MR. MOORE: We'll move on down the
21 agenda. We've got budget and audit
22 committee discussion led by Chuck.
23 MR. STEIN: There was a question
24 last month on some changes to
25 Sarbanes-Oxley, and it is in your
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
14
1
2 packet. It reflects the views of board
3 members and tidies it up there for your
4 approval.
5 While I'm up here, do you want me
6 to go through the finance report?
7 In your packet also is a copy of
8 the revenues and projected expenditures
9 for through the end of January, and
10 you'll find that on the expenditure
11 side, we're projecting about a million
12 dollars positive in terms of
13 expenditures.
14 On the revenue side, we're up
15 about two hundred thousand projected,
16 but I want to caution that that was at
17 the end of January. The enrollment
18 numbers for the spring semester have --
19 are still strong but not as strong as we
20 anticipated, so that would probably
21 bring those revenues down a bit.
22 So at the moment, I would say
23 we're about even on revenues for
24 projection at this point. We are also
25 reviewing our budget. I might as well
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
15
1
2 talk about that. We've had meetings.
3 The budget and audit committee
4 meets with the various departments and
5 we're reviewing their requests at this
6 point, and we will be preparing that for
7 presentation. As you know, the Board
8 votes on the budget to be submitted at
9 the April meeting, and we'll be
10 presenting you with the process as we go
11 along.
12 Where we stand in terms of the
13 budget, certain things that we should
14 keep in mind is the State of New York,
15 the governor's proposed budget has kept
16 the FTE aid at twenty-two thirty-five
17 per FTE which, as you may recall, is a
18 reduction from prior periods.
19 State FTE aid at twenty-two
20 thirty-five is below where it was in
21 2001, 2002. Back then it was twenty-two
22 fifty so that is a challenge to us.
23 It's something we're going to have to
24 deal with.
25 Rental aid also is still at the
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
16
1
2 lower level, about twenty percent from
3 its previous level of about fifty
4 percent. That is another challenge to
5 us. We'll be dealing with those
6 situations as we compile the budget
7 presentation for next year. If you have
8 any questions.
9 MR. MCCARTHY: Have we looked at
10 the College's whistle blower policy in
11 relationship to Sarbanes-Oxley?
12 MR. STEIN: That is what was
13 approved by the Board and we --
14 MR. MCCARTHY: Was that in that?
15 MR. MOORE: There is two policies
16 there.
17 MR. MCCARTHY: Did we change it?
18 MR. STEIN: No. That is still the
19 same. What we amended was a section
20 dealing with Sarbanes-Oxley that
21 pertains to public colleges. As you
22 know -- let me step back.
23 Sarbanes-Oxley is an act that was
24 put together mainly for publicly traded
25 corporations. Not for profits and
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
17
1
2 governmental entities are really not
3 part of it. But in the spirit of
4 Sarbanes-Oxley, the budget and audit
5 committee asked that we put together a
6 number of things.
7 Number one, a policy on
8 Sarbanes-Oxley; number two, a whistle
9 blower policy; number three, a code of
10 professional ethics and the Board
11 adopted these three things, and the
12 auditors, Ernst and Young, took a look
13 at what we had and they were fine with
14 everything.
15 What they suggested, however, was
16 some modification on the policy
17 statement regarding Sarbanes-Oxley
18 because what is happening is the
19 industry is reviewing it now, and
20 they're making adjustments and changes
21 in it, so we're doing the same along
22 with the industry and that is what is in
23 there at this point.
24 MR. MCCARTHY: I realize that, but
25 what I meant when I was referring to the
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
18
1
2 with the whistle blower section and the
3 policy was, one of the major things in
4 Sarbanes-Oxley was the reporting
5 process, to go directly to the Board as
6 opposed to going through the channels to
7 the president or to the chief financial
8 officer where it would go to the chair
9 of finance committee and I didn't see
10 any changes.
11 We didn't address that, did we?
12 MR. STEIN: That is the same.
13 Nothing there has changed as a matter of
14 fact.
15 MR. MCCARTHY: Is that a
16 consideration?
17 MR. STEIN: No.
18 MR. MCCARTHY: The auditors didn't
19 bring it up? That is something that is
20 now on going. People are taking a very
21 strong look at that section as far as
22 not for profits and for the public
23 sector.
24 MR. STEIN: The whistle blower
25 policy adopted by this Board is
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
19
1
2 published on the web site. It is
3 available to all employees and to the
4 general public.
5 It actually points to the chair of
6 the budget and audit committee as the
7 person to report to.
8 MR. MCCARTHY: It does? I stand
9 corrected.
10 MR. STEIN: So it is a very strong
11 policy that was adopted by you.
12 MR. HAZLITT: We're in the process
13 of reviewing RFPs for an audit?
14 MR. STEIN: I think you're going
15 to get to that in a few minutes. That
16 has to do with the association, not the
17 College.
18 MR. HAZLITT: The other thing is
19 in the private sector, they're starting
20 to review this Sarbanes-Oxley. They
21 found out as it stands, like, the
22 millions and millions of dollars it is
23 going to cost them to adhere to it and
24 conform with all the requests.
25 So they're looking for some
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
20
1
2 adjustments on it. It wouldn't affect
3 us here.
4 MR. STEIN: Absolutely. That is
5 what is going on. They are adjusting it
6 at this point.
7 MR. KANE: I think one thing,
8 Sarbanes-Oxley is different for private
9 organizations rather than for the
10 College, for instance.
11 MR. STEIN: Doesn't have to file a
12 quarterly 404. As a matter of fact, our
13 accountants have dropped seventy clients
14 this year, sixty last year because
15 Sarbanes-Oxley has tightened up for
16 those people who have to appear before
17 the SEC.
18 We don't have to, so we're under a
19 different set of rules.
20 MR. HAZLITT: This is just another
21 section of an activity -- we're reviewed
22 by the County, Joe Sawicki.
23 MR. STEIN: We fall under review
24 processes also. We have the County, we
25 have SUNY where we have to submit
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054
21
1
2 reports, SUNY audit. There is a whole
3 series of reviews of the College.
4 MR. KANE: Can I ask one
5 question? On your statement here,
6 policies concerning Sarbanes-Oxley some
7 of the functions of the president. I
8 see here on one of the bullets college
9 president shall develop and enforce a
10 code of ethics that addresses the
11 financial integrity of financial
12 disclosures of the College.
13 MR. STEIN: Which has been done
14 and it was approved by this Board and on
15 the website.
16 MR. KANE: Good. Good.
17 MR. HAZLITT: That just places a
18 greater responsibility on the president.
19 MR. KANE: She's good.
20 MR. MOORE: She's got broad
21 shoulders. She can handle it.
22 Any other questions for Chuck?
23 Thank you.
24 We have our resolutions 2005.
25 MR. KANE: Can I ask one more
TRI-STAR REPORTING, INC., EAST 631-224-5054