I’m writing in response to your story, “Over 20 Professors Let Go Of Two Weeks Before the Spring Semester,” with reporting contributed by Sammy Ali, that appeared online in the Knight News on January 19, 2024.
I know that as editor of the paper, you value accuracy and so I’d like to bring the following matters to your attention. Throughout your story you refer to the faculty who were not reappointed as “professors.” The more accurate term would be faculty since not everyone among them held the title of professor.
You state in your story that, “While that notification in the form of an email went out on the 10th, the professors that were let go of were not officially notified of their termination until the 16th, some of those professors told The Knight News.” According to Patricia Price, interim provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, the circumstances were extraordinary. The dual notification was to ensure impacted substitutes were notified as quickly as possible and were also given critical Human Resources-related information.
In a series of emails on Friday, January 19, at 4:14 pm and 7:04 pm, I informed you that 24 is the correct number of faculty who were not reappointed. Yet you state in your story that, “We are awaiting comment from the college over the debated two professors, as it’s unclear which figure is correct.”
It is also important to note for your statement, “However, 10 of these professors that were not reappointed will return this upcoming semester — but in an adjunct positioning — Interim Provost Price told The Knight News,” that the faculty in question already had underlying three-year adjunct appointments.
You state that, “The college would not provide The Knight News with a list of the professors that were laid off…” The faculty names could not be made available because, as Interim Provost Price pointed out in her response to you, “This is a confidential Human Resources matter…” The context of the college’s response is another important point to note.
As President Frank H. Wu has communicated to the college community, “The Queens College administration acknowledges the personal and professional hardship that resulted when 24 substitute faculty were not appointed for Spring 2024 due to significant budget challenges. We recognize that every faculty member contributes important value to the college, which had to be balanced with the severity of the cuts we were required to make.” Your use of the word “browsing” in the statement, “As for what was considered when browsing through the 39 names to pick out who would be appointed or not, Interim Provost Price told The Knight News the following…,” mischaracterizes a carefully considered and extremely difficult process; your phrasing is highly objectionable.
As Price stated in her response to you, “In conjunction with academic deans, and consistent with recommendations made to the president, we focused on moving forward with those substitutes who the deans identified as absolutely critical to maintaining program functions.”
Thank you for your attention to the concerns that I’ve raised. I appreciate your consideration in printing this as a letter to the editor as well as adding an editor’s note to your story.
Maria Matteo, Associate Director
Media and College Relations
Communications and Marketing
