Kristen Bowes, Esq.

· Responsible for all areas of legal work and compliance for the College, which includes four campuses, approximately 10,000 students, three hundred full-time employees and 700 part-time employees.

· Provide advice on all significant student matters, as well as faculty and other employee matters relating to employment contracts, voluntary separation packages, FMLA, disability accommodations, discrimination complaints, disciplinary matters, and termination agreements.

· Conduct internal investigations relating to employee misconduct, liase with outside counsel on litigations and union negotiations, and handle all subpoenas and document requests.

· Advise on all contracts, such as vendor, service, facilities and independent contractor contracts and agreements, grant and scholarship agreements, and articulation and affiliation agreements.

· Member of the College’s senior staff and the President’s Cabinet, head of the College’s Non-Academic Policy Review Council, which regularly reviews, revises and drafts College policies as needed, and member of the Faculty Handbook Committee.

· Provide guidance on legal compliance with, all local, state and federal laws and regulations, including Title IX, Clery/VAWA, Title I (ADA/Section 504), Title IV, Title VI, Title VII, as well as NCAA rules. Respond to complaints made with external agencies, such as the NYS Division of Human Rights, the EEOC, and the U.S. Department of Education.

· Conduct regular trainings on College policies and laws, including those related to Title IX/sexual harassment, equity, FERPA, and the College’s Whistleblower Policy.

· Was lead counsel and senior staff member involved in the complicated transaction between Mercy and The College of New Rochelle (CNR), which led to the Teach-Out of approximately 1800 former and new CNR students, lease of three former CNR campuses, and hiring numerous faculty and staff.

Involved in the College’s re-negotiation of Manhattan campus lease with SL Green under a 30-year leasehold condominium structure.

Taught Employment Law in the School of Business, Human Resources Management Program

Education Unit

· Investigated major internal fraud cases for the University, such as embezzlement, grade fraud and NCAA violations.

· Lead attorney on several long-term investigations that led to criminal prosecution and resignation and/or termination of former employees, including at the College of Staten Island, Baruch College, and Medgar Evers College.

· Drafted charges and presented disciplinary actions at hearings and arbitrations against senior level employees, faculty members and students accused of fraud and other serious misconduct throughout the University.

· Defended CUNY colleges at arbitration against grievances filed by instructional staff members for violations of contract, including faculty members who were not reappointed with tenure.

· Defended discrimination complaints brought against the colleges, including filing answers to complaints, mediating cases before the EEOC, or defending the college at a hearing before the New York State Division of Human Rights.

Rackets Bureau, Investigations Division

· One of two prosecutors selected to the Rackets Bureau from an incoming class of fifty prosecutors.

· Investigated, indicted and tried cases involving official corruption, gun trafficking, and organized and white collar crime.

Investigative Experience

· Lead prosecutor in year-long high-profile money laundering investigation conducted jointly with the NYPD, New York State Police and NYS Department of Taxation and Finance that lead to the indictment of 28 defendants on a total of 1,236 counts for the laundering of proceeds from the black market sale of cigarettes to Jordan.

· Drafted applications for eavesdropping and video surveillance warrants on multiple telephone lines and locations over a span of seven months.

· From May to August 2003, and April to August, 2006, headed the Fraudulent Identification Task Force, a coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies organized to arrest and prosecute individuals who manufactured or sold forged identification documents, in an effort to eliminate the sources of these documents for terrorists. Created the handbook for implementing the Fraudulent Identification Task Force in Bronx County.