We agree with Dean Berliner that the article about the Frank G. Zarb School of Business appearing in the April 10, 2018 edition of The Hofstra Chronicle “is very misleading, inaccurate and unfair.” We are also responding because we have direct knowledge of the events cited in the article. However, due to the sensitivity and confidentiality of personnel issues, we are not able to comment in detail.
We would like to first address the cronyism comments. We are very proud of our students and that many of our alumni have excelled to very prestigious positions in business, government and education. We view it as an extraordinary example of mentoring whenever alumni come back to Hofstra to teach, whether it be as a full-time tenure track faculty member or an adjunct. There are many alumni who teach at Hofstra, in our department and across campus, many of whom were teaching assistants and otherwise employed on campus. We are proud of this and view it as the highest compliment as a faculty member; that you’ve made such a significant positive impression that a student wants to come back and do what you do.
We should also note that many senior administrators at Hofstra are also Hofstra graduates. The negative connotation portrayed in the article is insulting to our alumni and current students and implies that they should not be hired by Hofstra as faculty or administrators. For the record, a national search is always performed for all new faculty openings, including recruiting at national academic conferences, and the best candidate is selected after interviews with an entire committee of faculty members on a personnel committee, as well as administration, even if they happen to be a former Hofstra student. Additionally, all administrator positions are filled after a thorough search and the best candidate is selected based upon the search. A committee interviews the candidates, and the final candidate needs to be approved at various levels of the University. Also, the fact that some of the faculty and administrators have been at the school for a long time and are friends is a testament to the collegiality that exists in the Zarb School and the Accounting, Taxation, and Legal Studies in Business Department.
Regarding Dr. Tinkelman, he was not forced, asked or pressured to leave the University. Dr. Tinkelman was a tenured faculty member in our department who left to accept a tenured position at another university. In fact, before joining Hofstra, he was a tenured professor at another university, and left that tenured position for an untenured position at Hofstra. Many of us sat on his tenure committee and unanimously supported him for tenure. Dr. Tinkelman was asked to take the department chair position after Dr. Venuti, the department chair, accepted the position of senior associate dean. Dr. Tinkelman accepted the position to help the Department. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out; nevertheless, we thanked him for his efforts. As Dean Berliner mentioned, after Dr. Tinkelman left, he was replaced as Chair by Prof. Lopez who agreed to serve for one semester and then by Prof. Weisel who agreed to serve for two semesters. Both Prof. Lopez and Weisel served the Department well and left to return to their primary interests of teaching and research. Dr. Burke has agreed to take the chair position at a very difficult time in the Department’s history.
Dr. Gomaa was a well-respected and well-liked faculty member by both his colleagues and students. He was encouraged by Dean Berliner, Dr. Burke and, as we understand, even the AAUP Faculty Union, not to attend the Department meeting regarding Dr. Tinkelman’s proposed removal as chair. All untenured faculty members were encouraged not to attend because we did not want them to get in the middle of a very unpleasant situation. Instead, they were encouraged to either see or write Dean Berliner with any comments they had, which would have been presented at the meeting and kept confidential as to the source. It needs to be stated, according to University policy and procedures, that no voting was to take place at the meeting. The Dean was simply going to explain the reasons behind his actions and then give Dr. Tinkelman a chance to respond. No retaliation was ever taken against Dr. Gomaa or anyone else for their comments made during the meeting.
Regarding the other issue relating to Dr. Gomaa’s reappointment, Dr. Burke, who was çhair of the DPC at the time, upon consent of the members, acted on behalf of the Committee. As with all candidates up for reappointment, she presented Dr. Gomaa’s portfolio and led the discussions that the Committee had regarding his reappointment. The purpose of this procedure is to provide guidance to untenured faculty members as they go through the tenure process and is a very common event. The guidance is given to help the untenured candidates build up their portfolio to increase the chances of being granted tenure. Also, what wasn’t mentioned in the article, is that the Committee unanimously supported Dr. Gomaa for reappointment.
Dr. Tinkelman and Dr. Gomaa both made positive contributions to the University and we are confident they will continue to do so in their current positions. Their departure was sensationalized by the article in The Chronicle, and was based on misleading, incomplete and inaccurate information, which is a disservice to the Hofstra community.
Sincerely,
Dr. Anthony Basile
Dr. Stuart Bass
Dr. Ralph Polimeni
Dr. Jacqueline Burke
The views and opinions expressed in the Editorial section are those of the authors of the articles. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors. The Chronicle reserves the right to not publish any piece that does not meet our editorial standards.
PROFESSIONAL • Nov 29, 2018 at 1:39 am
Seems that the click is sticking together again. Burke never worked in the Accounting field, doesn’t have a NY CPA, and doesn’t have a PhD in Accounting. Her students who intern have more experience than she has. Basile does not have a PhD in Accounting but at least he works in the field. Check if Bass passed the bar exam. Not so sure he did.
Polimeni should retire. He is past his prime and should have gone out on a high note instead of making a fool of himself and getting involved with the unethical behavior of his colleagues.
Frustrated Faculty Member • Apr 18, 2018 at 12:45 pm
In fact, Tinkelman was replaced by Burke – a Hofstra grad and former Polimeni TA; Shain was replaced by O’Brien – a Hofstra grad and former Burke TA; Gomaa’s role as Beta Alpha Psi advisor is now filled by O’Brien – a Hofstra grad and former TA. Moreover, Burke doesn’t even have an accounting PhD (her degree is in education) and Polemini has supported O’Brien in his pursuit of a non-accounting PhD — even though they are both supposed to have terminal degrees in their field and replaced people with accounting PhD’s. Burke has about 5 minutes of actual accounting experience and O’Brien had to bail out of practice after less than a year because he couldn’t handle it. These are the people now leading this department. How sad. They’ve gone on to hire another former student as an adjunct in legal. Basile also doesn’t have a PhD in accounting and was both the former TA for, and hired by Polemini. It is no wonder there exists a pack mentality among these people. They need to protect their own mediocre credentials by eliminating higher qualified faculty. Important to also point out that under both Venuti’s & Tinkelman’s leadership no former Polemini grads were hired. Interesting.
Another TF Member • Apr 17, 2018 at 9:02 pm
Interesting that the five people who left, mentioned in the previous letter, did not have Hofstra degrees. Also interesting that many online articles seem to recommend NOT hiring your own graduates. Among the common problems cited are 1. expectations of loyalty; 2.lack of new ideas; 3. difficult transitions from student to peer; 4. confirmation bias (or self-affirmation – we know they’re great people because they graduated from our department); 5. weaker productivity.
This is an incomplete list, but if you search online, you can find many articles on the topic.
It is worthy of further examination to see if this may have led to the turnover. Certainly, the issue of loyalty was raised in Krahulik’s original article.
FTFacultyMember • Apr 17, 2018 at 3:06 pm
Interesting how these faculty members are the only ones to sign this letter and all 4 were alleged to be in the group that is at the hear to of the problems in that department. Guess they couldn’t get other colleagues who were NOT a part of their group to sign on with them. Makes one think this is an awful situation that can really only be resolved with a change in leadership. This letter also fails to mention that yes, it is great to have former students end up on faculty, but that here, ALL of these people seem to be ONE person’s former students. That results in a lack of diversity of personal thought, a sense of "owing" to the one person who got them their job, and perhaps sometimes not the fully open and honest evaluation of competing candidates. I am not a fan of Pres. Trump but I have to agree that the ONLY solution that can restore confidence in the leadership of this department & school is to "drain the swamp" of its current leadership structure and start anew. No other department has this degree of dissension, turnover, and lack of collegiality. It all starts at the top.
As is customary – the powers that be at Hofstra will be COWARDS and will not step up to the plate for ONCE and remedy what has been tearing this once prestigious department at its seams.