Reinstate Bronx CC Prof Fired for Collegiality Gap; Deemed That Insufficient Grounds
By DAVID SIMS
A City University of New York sociology professor has been reinstated to his job at Bronx Community College after an arbitrator found that he had been wrongfully denied reappointment by BCC's president.

JOHN ASIMAKOPOULOS: Gains reinstatement.

John Asimakopoulos was denied reappointment for the 2007-2008 academic year in the fall of 2006 due to "a lack of collegiality," according a letter written by BCC President Carolyn Williams at the time, with allegations made that he was sometimes "combative and hostile." But Richard Adelman, a state arbitrator, decided that CUNY's decision was unjustified and that "a lack of collegiality" was too arbitrary a reason to dismiss the professor.

Mr. Adelman has ordered CUNY to reappoint Mr. Asimakopoulos as a tenure-tracked Assistant Professor at BCC for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Hearings Didn't Go Well

Mr. Asimakopoulos, who was first appointed to the Social Sciences Department in 2004, had struggled in all of his reappointment hearings. Towards the end of his first year at the college, Mr. Asimakopoulos was denied reappointment by the Social Sciences Department's College Personnel and Budget Committee, but after appealing his decision to the Humanities Division and receiving a letter of recommendation from Ms. Williams, he was reappointed.

He passed muster with the Personnel Committee but not with the Humanities panel in his second hearing a few months later. Again he was pushed through by Ms. Williams, who said that she was not sure he had been "given the guidelines" as to what was expected of him.

In a letter to Mr. Asimakopoulos, Ms. Williams stated that "the basis for second and subsequent reappointments includes teaching effectiveness, scholarly and professional growth ... and effective service [on college committees]. In addition, collegiality is a factor to be considered for reappointment and tenure."

Ms. Williams's stressing of "collegiality" as an aspect of the reappointment process became the crucial part of the fall 2006 decision that Mr. Asimakopoulos not be reappointed, which all departments and committees agreed upon. Ms. Williams, after reviewing his personnel file, told Mr. Asimakopoulos that she would not recommend him again. "Your performance as an assistant professor has failed to meet the standards of collegiality as set forth by the CUNY Bylaws ... you have been made aware that collegiality is a concern and the concern has not been remedied," said Mr. Williams at the time.

Defends His Teaching

After the Professional Staff Congress filed a grievance on behalf of Mr. Asimakopoulos, the matter went to Step One and Step Two hearings, which affirmed Ms. Williams' decision, before going to arbitration. Mr. Asimakopoulos argued that in the "traditional, if not canonic, criteria for reappointment," such as teaching effectiveness and service to the college, he had an exemplary record, adding that "collegiality" was an ill-defined term that could not alone account for his being denied reappointment.

He also noted that he had been commended in a previous evaluation by department Chairperson Peter Morrill, who wrote that Mr. Asimakopoulos's "relationships in the department have always been positive and have become more so during the year ... you get along well with everyone, including the Chair, and have offered to help department members on many occasions."

Ali Zaidi, who taught with Mr. Asimakopoulos at BCC, said of his colleague, "He was completely perplexed. He was getting terrific teaching evaluations .. he was publishing .. and no one would tell him [why he was denied reappointment]. There may have been some misunderstanding, different expectations .. but for the college President to fire someone on those grounds? It's unheard of."

Didn't Just Go Along

Mr. Zaidi supposed that the reason for Mr. Asimakopoulos being accused of a lack of collegiality was that he was so exasperated by the repeated denials that he once commented at a hearing, "I feel like I'm in Kafka's 'Trial.''' Another time, he was informed he was expected to make personal financial sacrifice to attend academic conferences, because the BCC funding was lacking, something he took issue with.

"I think it was a political firing, I don't think there was any doubt in anyone's mind," said Mr. Zaidi. 'They're firing leftists ... politics never entered his classroom, he wasn't an activist ... but he dared challenge the reappointment proceeding that was taking place."

CUNY contended that Ms. Williams's decision was not arbitrary and that Mr. Asimakopoulos had displayed "combative and hostile behavior" at the school, allegedly refusing to cooperate with other BCC staff members. It asserted that Mr. Asimakopoulos was "put on notice for some time, was given an opportunity to improve his behavior, and failed to do so." But Mr. Adelman decided that Ms. Williams needed to show other failings in Mr. Asimakopoulos's performance at BCC to justify her denial, and thus overturned it.