Fact Finder
Read more: Local, State, Education
A Friday deadline will now be extended to give more time for SUNY administrators to negotiate with Governor Patterson's high level staff over a proposed reformulation of funding for the State University system. The Governor has called for a 3.35% cut in funding across the SUNY system. University and college presidents throughout the state are saying the cuts would drastically harm the education offerings at their respective institutions.
I talked with SUNY Cortland President Eric Bitterbaum this afternoon about the potential $10 million cut to his campus budget. Bitterbaum told me the cuts, "would be devastating like a tsunami coming at us." Bitterbaum says if these cuts remain administrators would be forced to eliminate most adjunct professors, cancel some classes and increase class sizes.
Beyond the changes in the classroom he says the proposal would put an end to the SUNY system as it is known today. The new funding system would redirect tuition and fees from parents and students to the state level instead of being used for programs at the local level. In addition there would be a cap of the money that each campus would then have returned to them. That's where the budget cuts come into place.
By way of comparison SUNY Oswego would lose in the range of $10 Million. The University of Buffalo would face a $16 milllion cut. Other larger state universities would lose more money.
The SUNY Board of Trustees is meeting tomorrow to discuss its approach to negotiations with the Governor. The extension of the May 16 deadline allows more time for a different solution. President Bitterbaum says time is of the essence as plans are made for the fall. Staff and faculty hiring decisions need to be made and students need to know whether there is still room for them in the classroom.
