UB's wallet just got thinner and UB 2020 may need a new name.
State legislators have cut funding to the SUNY system by 30 percent in the past three years and New York's recent budget continued the draining of SUNY's financial support.
The 2010-11 budget, which was passed 125 days late, calls for an estimated $210 million in cuts to the SUNY system.
"I am deeply disappointed that Albany has failed once again to give UB the policy tools we need to gain new operating resources, and use those resources more effectively," said University at Buffalo President John Simpson in a letter to the UB community.
Perhaps more disappointing to the SUNY administration was the bill's failure to approve a measure proposed by Gov. Patterson which proposed more autonomy for SUNY schools.
The bill, known as the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (PHEEIA), proposed to give each SUNY school the power to control its own tuition. The bill's passing would have given each school the freedom to enter into partnerships with private organizations and companies as a means of acquiring additional funding.
No component of the PHEEIA was included in the budget.
"To say I'm deeply disappointed is entirely accurate," Simpson said to The Buffalo News. "I thought the state would recognize the value that a university can have, especially in Western New York. I was optimistic that they were going to approve the kinds of things to let us control our own destiny and do the kinds of things that universities do."
According to Simpson, the provisions of PHEEIA did not ask too much of the state. Instead, they would have granted UB and the other SUNY schools the same power every major public university across the nation possesses.
While Simpson and other SUNY administrators advocated the proposed bill, many students stood against it. Tony Smith, a sophomore political science major, was glad to hear the act's exclusion from the budget.
"The idea of the state school system is to make affordable education available to citizens," Smith said. "If you allow the administrations to raise tuition how they see fit then you might as well privatize them."
Though PHEEIA's absence in the budget delays the completion of UB 2020, current students and staff will experience the immediate consequences of the budget cuts. Overcrowded classrooms, fewer course offerings and other ongoing problems may not be resolved in the near future.
Mai-Linh Notaro, a senior art major, experienced the overcrowding on the first day of classes.
"I walked into [organic chemistry] today and could barely find a seat," Notaro said.
Although the SUNY administration and some legislators are continuing to fight for an increased budget and the major policy changes included in PHEEIA, it appears that the state leaders have no intention of changing their stance towards SUNY funding in the near future. What this means for our university is left to be seen.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
