On Behalf of UUP Statewide President Fred Kowal…
Last month, the SUNY Potsdam president announced a drastic series of program cuts
that would end as many as 14 degree programs—and terminate the jobs of an
unnamed number of faculty and staff—to reduce a projected $9 million deficit.
Enrollment drops at Potsdam continue to be blamed for the cuts – disingenuously since enrollment at Potsdam is up 3% this year.
The fact is that this is a manufactured crisis. UUP is very concerned that the cuts at
Potsdam will become a template for similar cuts at other cash-strapped campuses to
further lower enrollments and then use that as an excuse to close campuses.
It is important to understand that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo effectively cut SUNY’s
budget every year during his tenure as governor. Not surprisingly, the cumulative effect
of those cuts has had a direct impact on enrollments at many of our campuses. It is
important to understand the scope of the cuts: Controlling for inflation, if the state had
funded SUNY at the level of 2008, SUNY would have $7.8 billion more.
Enrollment drops do not justify cutting programs and staff at our campuses. Previous
cuts to SUNY funding led to these drops in enrollment. The best way to resolve this is to
restore and increase funding, which will attract and retain students, and secure SUNY’s
future as a vibrant public higher education system.
Further, UUP is the only entity that advocates for SUNY. SUNY has not consistently
advocated for itself over the past decade and SUNY has been no help in trying to
resolve the financial difficulties at our campuses or at our vital teaching hospitals. UUP
is out there, year in and year out, fighting for more funding for SUNY, even in the face of
more than a decade of austerity budgets during the Cuomo administration.
This year, we were able to secure $163 million in new state funding, working with a
governor and a Legislature that understands the value and necessity of providing a
properly funded, world-class public university system for New Yorkers.
We need to realize, however, that the $163 million is for our campuses—specifically to
erase deficits at our financially troubled campuses. One of the key uses of those dollars
is to stabilize those campuses first and allow them to work toward the future.
It’s not about my campus or your campus. It’s about our campuses. It’s about SUNY as
a system. If our campuses don’t support each other, the SUNY system itself will be
weakened. And eventually all of our campuses will be hurt.
We must stick together. We must support each other. Together, we are stronger.