More than three months after the dismissal of Mahmoud Saffari, the administration has been able to provide us with a who, what, where, when and even a how.
The area that remains fuzzy is the why.
Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Mahmoud Saffari was dismissed from his employment at SCSU in September of 2011.
According to MnSCU’s administrator personnel plan (page nine), his dismissal was legal. The document stipulates that under the terms of his employment, MnSCU can terminate an administrator for any or no reason and at any time with adequate notice.
That’s the how. Since they’re not legally required, no administrator has been able to give the reason why Saffari’s employment was terminated.
“We have an official reason. The official reason was that he is an administrator under the administrator plan,” said Judith Siminoe, special adviser to the president on matters of data practices law. “If you are an administrator, under that plan, you can be released from employment at any time for any reason or no reason with notice. There is a period of notice that’s required.
“So that means that there doesn’t have to be a reason, there doesn’t have to be a publicly disclosed reason. It’s a matter of changes in the way services are going to be delivered or strategies that the provost had for the office.”
Calling a justification of action a reason for the action is one of the logical fallacies that has been used to dodge the question of why Saffari was dismissed. The administration switches, in the same conversation, to saying that “because it’s legal” is their reason to saying that there is no reason and there’s no need for a reason.
After Saffari’s dismissal, several groups united against this action. MeCHA, The Faculty and Staff of Color Caucus and the SCSU Faculty Association were among these groups; the latter passed a motion requesting that President Potter reconsider the dismissal of Saffari.
Members of MeCHA and other student groups stormed a student government meeting on October 6, barricading the doors until SGA agreed to pass a resolution requiring President Potter to speak to the students about the decision. The following week, Provost Malhotra addressed the SGA, saying that all information regarding Saffari’s termination was private and protected by Minnesota Data Practices law.
At a later meeting, President Potter said the same thing, citing MN Statue 13.43 regarding privacy of state employees.
Specifically, 13.43 states that the existence of, nature of and action taken on any existing complaints against current and former state employees must be made public.
According to Siminoe, there were no complaints on file about Mahmoud Saffari.
When asked whether it would be fair to say that this case is one of those dismissals without reason mentioned in the personnel plan, Siminoe said “we wouldn’t describe it that way.”
Siminoe was among those who walked Saffari off campus on the day he was told of his termination.
It was alleged that he was escorted off campus by security and that his keys were seized and he was not allowed access to his office or staff.
Saffari’s employment was officially terminated on December 20, 2011.
The Chronicle will continue to investigate and report upon this issue. If readers have any information they think should be made available to the student body and community, please contact us.
