SUNY can't immediately fire Kaloyeros from faculty

The State University of New York appears to be trying to find a way to oust former SUNY Poly president Alain Kaloyeros as a professor of nanoscale science and engineering — but Kaloyeros may be hard to get rid of under SUNY's union contract with its faculty.

Kaloyeros has been on unpaid leave from his faculty position since 2014 when his College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering split from the University at Albany and merged into SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica.

Kaloyeros was tapped to lead the combined schools.

[...] when Kaloyeros was officially appointed president of SUNY Poly in 2015, the SUNY board of trustees agreed that Kaloyeros would "automatically" return to his teaching jobs were he ever to leave his management position, with his salary set at $801,700.

Discipline can only be brought against an employee "for cause," according to the UUP contract, and under the legal system he is considered innocent until proven guilty, so it is possible that SUNY may have to find other instances of alleged wrongdoing to proceed with his firing.

Kaloyeros, who has denied any wrongdoing, is facing felony bid rigging charges filed against him by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman related to construction contracts approved by SUNY Poly with several upstate developers who have also been charged.