The Catskill Chronicle

Dear Editor,

Do you remember “The Music Man”? Remember the lyrics “there is trouble, trouble right here in River city”? Well folks we have trouble, trouble right here in Sullivan County. It is at our Community College, they’ve done it again.

Remember the over 2 million dollars that the college lost on a wind turbine project that never happened, costing us taxpayers approximately $17,000 in monthly payments?

We were told that was a “learning experience” and no one was held accountable. Now it is 21 nursing students who were washed out of the nursing program. How did this happen? Was this by design, poor training or teaching, or was it a combination?

On March 17 I attended the board of trustees meeting of the college. There were three students who spoke to the trustees about being dismissed from the nursing program for failing one or more of the three “skillings” tests. There was no reaction from the trustees, but there is a big back story.

All students are given a nursing handbook upon entering the nursing program. The nursing handbook, in summary, says that at the end of three successful semesters the student shall take a “skillings” test to be eligible to take the final semester of nursing. In 30 minutes a student is required to pass two “skillings” along with required reading.

There were approximately 67 students eligible to take the “skillings” test. The test consisted of reading and completing 3 “skills.” On the first try only 6 passed. Those who failed were retested, and 21 failed again. The 21 appealed their failure based upon the handbook requirements. They were reinstated because they all passed 2 of the 3 skills given. A short time later the reinstatement was rescinded, but they were told they could retake the test. Most of the students took advantage of the retest. They all failed and were removed from the program. Upon being dismissed, a few students who appeared before the trustees told them about the testing procedures that resulted in their dismissal.

On February 25, 2011, a suit was filed with 11 students (plaintiffs) against Sullivan County Community College and others (defendants). This suit was filed in the County Clerk’s Office as case #: 2011 – 499.

In reading the affidavits of various students, I found consistencies with their experiences. They were not given the same courtesies and treatment that other students received. Materials and equipment were either missing, misplaced or made purposely difficult to find. Some students failed the use of an IV, because the equipment was overused and abused, and therefore not working properly, forcing students to timeout on the skill. There were students who did not take the third test because they had to sign a waiver to be eligible to retake it.

Dr. Mamie Howard-Golladay, president of SCCC, as an administrator, should have questioned the testing procedure and test results. A failure rate of 91% on the first try, would have been a red flag to an education major, signaling a problem with the testing procedures. Any administrator, with the knowledge and understanding of statistics and proper testing procedures should have nullified the results, letting the students proceed with their courses. Dr. Golladay received a pass on the 2 million dollars, why did she not give a pass to the 21 students? They’re the ones who paid for three semesters of classes. Now the college will have to return the tuition paid for the fourth semester and possibly return monies expended for nursing classes in the first three semesters due to the poor testing procedures administered for “skillings.”

If the college insists on a testing procedure, then all should be given the same skill set, with all equipment in working order and complete documentation. The present testing system can arbitrarily favor some students and capriciously deny others.

A voluntary audit of the nursing program was completed by the New York State Department of Education at the request of the college. There are deficiencies that need correction. One of the deficiencies was the lack of instructors with an education background, who would have knowledge and understanding of testing procedures. Another deficiency was a high student-teacher ratio which is approximately 24 students to one teacher, while the state recommends a ratio of 16 to 18 students per teacher.

The college would rather spend taxpayer money on lawyers to prove the students wrong than reinstate these students ASAP. Assign the best teachers to cover material missed while continuing their other coursework, permitting them to graduate on time. The college will have to pay these instructors extra money for the extra class work, being more effective than paying attorney fees to fight a losing case.

Sincerely yours,
Kenneth Walter
Grahamsville, NY