Fully Fund SUNY Full-Time Faculty Now

Level of Government: State

As a constituent and member of United University Professions, I am writing to request your support for a 2008-2009 State Budget that fully covers mandatory costs and the cost of new full-time faculty for the State University of New York (SUNY).

SUNY's mission is to provide high quality, affordable, accessible higher education for all of New York's citizens. However, a 15-year decline in full-time faculty at SUNY has dramatically eroded this access. Without state funds for more full-time faculty, the State University will not be able to educate all our students and produce the graduates New York needs to compete in a global economy.

SUNY cannot wait any longer to begin repairing the damage of the past. We must act this year. I therefore urge you to add $25 million in state funding to permit SUNY to hire 400 new full-time faculty.

The 2008-09 Executive Budget would cut $34 million in funding to SUNY's state-operated campuses and also fails to fund the costs of enrollment growth for these campuses. This funding gap would force the University to absorb the costs of increased enrollment and other unavoidable expenses, further erode academic quality and deny access for qualified applicants. It is imperative that the legislature restore this cut from the University's operating budget and fully fund enrollment growth to protect academic quality and access.

The Executive Budget proposes only a small increase of $7.8 million for the state's public hospitals, a funding level that would continue a pattern of chronic state underfunding. Over the last few years, these hospitals and health science centers have had to absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in state-mandated expenditures, while the state subsidy today remains at the funding level that existed more than 16 years ago. I therefore urge you to approve an increase of $35 million for SUNY's teaching hospitals in Brooklyn, Long Island and Syracuse and to provide $5 million for the Health Science Center at Buffalo. Those increases will permit these vital public institutions to begin closing their operating deficits, which are expected to worsen next year. Additionally, if the Executive Budget's proposal to reduce hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates is enacted, the resource base of our facilities will be strained to the breaking point, and the quality of patient care will be highly jeopardized.

Additionally, I urge you to approve a $4.5 million budget increase for SUNY's Office of Diversity and Educational Equity, Without such an increase, SUNY will be unable to address the high dropout rates for historically under-represented New Yorkers and the critical needs of low-income, first-generation students.

Finally, I ask that you act to restore the Executive Budget's proposed reduction to the Educational Opportunity Programs and Centers, which serve thousands of academically and financially underserved SUNY students each year.

I thank you in advance for your support.

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