The Voice

The SUNY Board of Trustees ended an almost two-year search for a new chancellor Feb. 10 when it unanimously voted to appoint Nancy L. Zimpher to the post.

Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati, will be SUNY’s first female chancellor when she starts June 1.

UUP President Phillip Smith said Zimpher’s experience will serve SUNY well during one of the University’s worst financial crises.

“Based on her resume, we are optimistic she will bring the steady leadership that is so vital to SUNY, as it faces the serious financial challenges caused by state budget cutbacks,” Smith said. “UUP stands ready to work with Dr. Zimpher to send the message that SUNY is the solution to improve our state’s economy.”

David Curry of SUNY Plattsburgh joins the discussion to begin the union's legislative outreach as soon as possible, in both Albany and in lawmakers' home districts

“This is the worst state of affairs that we’ve had in the last 20 years.” That ominous assessment delivered by UUP President Phillip Smith marked the start of the union’s Outreach Committee retreat in mid-August. The two-day gathering in Albany drew nearly 60 UUP members.

Smith painted a bleak picture regarding SUNY’s finances, following the latest round of state budget cuts issued by Gov. David Paterson in response to a mounting state deficit. On top of a $52 million state budget cut earlier this year, the governor ordered a 7 percent budget cut for all state agencies in August, translating to another $96 million reduction for SUNY. That brings SUNY’s budget down by a total of $148 million, which Smith predicted will be a long-term cut carrying over into future years. He warned the Outreach Committee members that the sharp reduction will put SUNY further behind in the numbers of full-time faculty it needs to keep up with enrollment growth.

“Our heads are way below the water line on this,” he said.

Smith noted the $148 million budget reduction does not include approximately $100 million in non-general fund revenues SUNY collects from students and hospital patients, but is being forbidden from spending. The union president said he expects the state will eventually take that money.

UUP President Phill Smith talks with union members about the governor's call for the state university to make deep cuts

Weeks before the start of the fall 2008 semester, SUNY was up against yet another significant reduction — an estimated cut of $96 million in state support. This comes on top of a cut in May of $52 million. The latest slash ordered by Gov. David Paterson followed an unprecedented July 29 televised address in which he announced that the state faces “increasingly harsh economic times.”

UUP President Phillip Smith warned the additional $96 million cut will irrevocably damage the University’s ability to fulfill its core mission.

“Providing the people of New York with educational services of the highest quality, with the broadest possible access to all segments of the population is SUNY’s core mission under the state Education Law,” Smith told reporters in August. “This reduction — on top of the earlier $52 million cut from the general fund — will make it impossible to fulfill that mission and could result in tens of thousands of students being turned away, or closed out of courses needed for graduation. An education delayed is an education denied.”

“It is inconceivable that SUNY is being directed to absorb an overall cut of $148 million in anticipated state aid, just weeks before classes were scheduled to resume,” Smith added.

The $148 million cut does not include the state’s order to SUNY to reduce its non-general fund spending by as much as $109 million, affecting operations such as residence halls and food service.

McNitt

Public higher education rose to the fore in Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s 2008 State of the State address. In his annual address to both houses of the state Legislature Jan. 9, the governor called for the hiring of 2,000 more full-time faculty for SUNY and CUNY over the next five years, reflecting the recommendations of his Commission on Higher Education.

“If you want to participate in the innovation economy, a high school diploma is not always enough – you’re going to need a college diploma, or better yet, an advanced degree. We can’t strengthen our economy without the best colleges producing the best-prepared graduates,” the governor said. “That’s why our goal must be to make an outstanding higher education affordable for every New Yorker.”

The ranks of full-time faculty within New York state’s two public university systems would increase by 2,000 during the next five years. That is among the major recommendations contained in the preliminary report of the New York State Commission on Higher Education released Dec. 17.

UUP Acting President Frederick Floss said he found the commission’s report encouraging in regard to its call to hire more full-time faculty.

“The commission is on the right track in recognizing that hiring additional full-time faculty is vital to building an outstanding university system,” Floss said.

During a news conference at the Capitol where the preliminary report was officially presented, Gov. Eliot Spitzer termed the need to hire more full-time faculty at SUNY and CUNY as “a core proposal.”