An update from the Maritime Administrator
As reported here (and elsewhere) yesterday, Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby cleared his calendar today so that he could get up to the Academy and […]
[Updated] Where does the buck stop for this leadership failure?
[Updated to reflect this report from the Maritime Administrator. Updates are highlighted.] My inbox was inundated today by reports of Academy midshipmen returning from winter […]
Sea year progress
I am pleased to report that today MARAD Administrator Mark H. Buzby signed revised sea year SASH standards (the “SCCT standards”) that a shipping company […]
How you can help protect the Academy from a government shutdown
The USMMAAAF has been quietly working the halls of Congress since long before Homecoming to try to avert the closure of the Academy in the […]
Additional sea year data released by MARAD
Imagine my pleasant surprise when I received an email from Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby with additional data about sea year today. RADM Buzby sent […]
Independent assessment of MARAD, with important recommendations relating to Kings Point, is released
MARAD commissioned an independent assessment to provide a “high level review of its programs and offer[] recommendations for improving the alignment of activities and authorities […]
Check out Maritime TV’s latest “Ask the Administrator”
Maritime TV runs a regular “Ask the Administrator” feature and now that RADM Mark H. Buzby has taken command as Maritime Administrator, it has posted […]
Breaking: Academy removed from accreditation warning
I’m returning (briefly) from post-Hurricane Maria recovery to announce that I have learned that the accreditation warning on the Academy has been removed. The Academy […]
A new vibe at Kings Point
I’m at the Academy homecoming for my 35th reunion. Some of you will recall that I went to last year’s homecoming and reported on what […]
A powerful opening statement from Maritime Administrator nominee Mark Buzby for today’s nomination hearing
In a few minutes, RADM Mark H. Buzby (USN Ret.) will deliver his opening statement for today’s nomination hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. The […]
This is why sea year is not close to 84% (or 81%) restored
In my post explaining (and then criticizing) how MARAD arrived at its calculation for the percentage restoration of sea year, part of my criticism analyzed […]
Village of Kings Point offers SASH resource to midshipmen
George Banville, the Commissioner of the Village of Kings Point Police Department, is trying to get the word out to midshipmen at the Academy about […]
Helis cannot solve USMMA’s SASH under-reporting problem . . .
Because he is the problem. It is critical that the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy have well-defined procedures for assisting victims of sexual assault/sexual harassment (“SASH”). […]
The Campus is our World [updated]
Sea year on the Kings Pointer begins for the B-Splits In contrast with MARAD’s optimistic calculation of the restoration of sea year, a dozen or […]
How MARAD is calculating the restoration of sea year
We aren’t close to full restoration. Over the last six weeks, I’ve had a productive dialogue with Owen Doherty, an Associate Administrator at MARAD regarding […]
[UPDATED with copy of monitoring report] MSCHE report is out: Academy remains on accreditation warning
UPDATE: Link to the full Academy monitoring report added at the end of this post. Today the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (“MSCHE”) released […]
Rear Admiral Mark H. Buzby, ’79, to be nominated as Maritime Administrator
Yesterday it was announced that President Trump intends to nominate Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark H. “Buz” Buzby, ’79, as his Maritime Administrator. The president could […]
Breaking: Current data about sea year
The whole soccer team issue sidetracked me from the post that I’ve been preparing about how MARAD calculates the restoration of sea year. I’ll try […]
[Update re today’s court hearing] Why I haven’t posted about the soccer team issue
Update: At today’s court hearing, the parties reached an agreement that will allow the senior midshipmen on the soccer team to participate in graduation and […]
Dear Secretary Chao: MARAD is undermining you.
Dear Secretary Chao: We at KingsPointSentry.com welcomed your nomination as the Secretary of Transportation and we were particularly heartened during your confirmation hearing when Senator […]
Only 10% of 2020 B-Splits will go out to sea on time
In two weeks, B-Splits at the Academy are scheduled to depart on sea year. Unfortunately, 90% of the Class of 2020 B-Splits will be getting […]
Breaking: OSG approved for sea year (and data from MARAD on how it calculates sea year restoration is coming)
Owen Doherty, ’81, an Associate Administrator at MARAD, reached out to me today to provide data on how MARAD calculates the percentage of restoration of […]
Why has MARAD not disputed my data on sea year?
Spoiler alert: Because my source’s data was accurate. Two weeks ago, in a deliberately provocative post entitled “84% of all MARAD employees who testify before […]
Breaking: Liberty Maritime has reportedly suspended participation in sea year
Two days ago, we revealed the true statistics about the restoration of sea year. They were bleak — and not nearly as rosy as the […]
84% of all MARAD employees who testify before Congress commit perjury***
There’s an old saying that figures don’t lie but liars can figure. MARAD is doing a lot of figuring when it comes to calculating the […]
Yesterday’s hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
[Updated with a direct link to the video of the testimony instead of taking you to the web page where the video could be found.] […]
What are they hiding?
As reported here, the permanent, entrenched, bureaucracy in MARAD has refused to make public any of the actions that the Academy has taken to address […]
At last — the Academy’s submission to MSCHE
Spoiler alert: whole lotta’ nothing . . . so far. In the continuing quest to provide Academy stakeholders with basic information about the ongoing threat […]
(Update 2) Senate Hearing today on SASH at USMMA (with link)
(Update has a link to prepared testimony from a House hearing yesterday at the bottom of the page.) At 10:00 a.m. today, the Acting Maritime […]
UPDATED: Does this qualify as an update on accreditation?
UPDATE: After this post was posted on April 4, 2017, the Academy finally updated the reaccreditation page on its website to provide the following information: […]