“Everything is still status quo,” she told Variety, after the regents’ one-hour executive meeting.
King declined to comment when asked regarding the duration of Fernandez’s suspension.
Fernandez was suspended on Jan. 12 immediately after the regents installed King as their new chairwoman amid concerns regarding the NMC president’s leadership.
King said “as soon as the investigation is concluded” the regents will revisit the suspension.
She said the regents have yet to receive the results of the investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Office and a separate NMC probe team.
Besides King, Paz C. Younis, Elaine Hocog Orilla and Andrew Orsini were the regents present during the meeting.
King said regents Charles Cepeda, Maria T. Peter and Frank Rabauliman were “officially excused.”
“It’s always good that we act as one unit every time we make a decision,” King said, when asked about the working relationship among the regents.
King and Orilla refused to comment about the discussions during their executive, or closed-door, meeting.
“All I am asking is for the community to trust us,” King said. “The regents are doing their best with what they have been tasked to do. We took our oath of office and we understand our mission very well,” she said.
She said Fernandez communicates through her attorney who, in turn, communicates with the NMC legal counsel.
“Because the matter deals with attorney’s we make sure we’re not going into areas that we can’t talk about this time,” King said.
She admitted that “it’s a very difficult situation because the public would want to know.”
King said the regents are focused on the issue.
“The boards of regents and each of the seven members are concerned about what the outcome would be, and we want to do our best to make sure that we keep the interest of the community and the students in mind,” she added.
The regents will meet again on Feb. 25 to continue discussing personnel matter.
