more than a year after trustees at New Jersey City University declared the school was in a financial crisis the state has tapped a so-called turnaround expert to dig the university out of the mess Henry Amoroso has been tapped as a state monitor for NJCU his consulting firm specializes in restructuring budgets for government private companies and non-profits omaroso will have oversight of all fiscal operations budgeting and Staffing at the school the mismanagement there led to an investigation by the State Comptroller which revealed significant underlying issues including efforts to cover it up I recently asked Henry Amoroso how he plans to right the ship Henry Amoroso welcome to the show it's a pleasure to get to talk to you uh let me ask you off the bat what's your first order of business as the turnaround expert here my immediate Focus will very much be looking at budgets looking for decisions that have been made thus far determining what decisions need to be made in the next several weeks working with the board the board leadership working with the faculty leadership and the union leadership with the students and all the stakeholders the school did look to expand its footprint with some very pricey real estate Investments along the Waterfront there in Jersey City what can you tell us about whether or not you believe the school will be able to move forward with that and I'm also curious just about how concerned you are about some of the fiscal practices that were happening there there were credit cards being used by staff and faculty being paid paying for items that certainly didn't fall within the purview of educational items How concerned are you that these practices are still happening now even as you've come on board I am much more comfortable today as I began to review the practices being put in by the interim leadership in consultation with the state in the state oversight and following the very excellent report for the state controller I intend to see the remaining portions of those recommendations to the extent that any still not yet implemented to be sure that they are implemented it's a little bit too early for me to fully analyze the objectively at least the real estate transactions I know certainly what I've read in the patrols report no I know what I've written response reports from the University as well as the excellent coverage that's been provided by different news outlets have had an opportunity to do all of that to speak at least to some people involved and so I'm in the process of analyzing all of that and saying what can be done on a going forward basis to improve those situations to ensure the sustainability is very important Mission by my count it looks like you sit currently on more than half a dozen boards and Foundations you're an associate professor at Seton Hall you're practicing attorney you obviously have this strategic firm where you're an advisor to other government entities and non-profits in and outside of New Jersey how can you assure the public that you can give this job the dedication that it needs yeah in my consultation with the governor's office and along with the secretary I assured them that this would be a priority I have reduced my responsibilities in Seton Hall and grateful to Seton Hall for their cooperation so I am not a I'm not in the full-time position there presently I've reduced myself to part-time the boards that I am off that I'm on I have taken leave from some already and as a I don't have an active practice I am more of counsel and provide some strategic guidance and I have significantly in large part resulting from covert reduced the Consulting work done at HCA strategies for other municipalities so I have cleared my calendar to bring to this commit to this job my full commitment Henry Amoroso a pleasure to get to speak with you we wish you good luck with the task ahead and we look forward to catching up with you as the work gets underway thanks again thanks so much and thanks for your time too support for the business report provided by the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey working for economic Prosperity by uniting business and Community leaders for 150 years membership and event information online at chamber snj.com [Music]