Letter: NCC profs. didn't seek tuition hike
Donald P. Astrab, president of Nassau Community College, in a February 2011 file photo. Credit: Handout
Missing from the article "No tuition, fees hike at NCC" [News, June 20] is the point that the Nassau Community College Federation of Teachers did not call for any increase in tuition. Nassau Community College's finances should be motivated by the same vision that has shaped the college into a nationally recognized institution of higher education.
Nassau Community College earned its reputation because of its dedicated full-time faculty, its low student-to-faculty ratio (and correspondingly small class sizes), and its commitment to providing students the highest quality support services outside the classroom.
No one denies the financial difficulties our college faces, but the administration's continued evisceration of the full-time faculty is not just a pound-foolish recipe for failure, it expresses a vision of education fundamentally hostile to NCC's long tradition. The fundamental issue at stake here is about much more than the money.
Stephanie Sapiie, Woodside
Editor's note: The writer is an assistant professor of history, political science and geography at Nassau Community College.
