Gov. David Paterson dealt a staggering blow to public higher education in New York when he ordered millions of dollars cut from SUNY's budget and proposed to do the same to CUNY.

Higher education leaders reacted with shock and outrage to the governor's executive order for the midyear cuts, which slashes $90 million from SUNY and — pending legislative approval — $53 million from CUNY.

"The ones who would suffer from devastating midyear cuts are the students," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi.

NYSUT leaders at the SUNY and CUNY systems said the proposed cuts are inconceivable and will have far-reaching and devastating effects on public higher education.

The governor's order does not specify how the cuts will take place, but they would almost certainly include personnel, because equipment and supplies do not form a large enough part of the budget at either system to comply.

"The latest reduction goes beyond draconian," said Phillip Smith, president of United University Professions. "It means SUNY will likely be forced to deny access to thousands of students by scaling back on its student admissions and enrollments."

Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY, also predicted that students would be denied entry if the Legislature approves the recommended cuts for New York City's university systems.

"CUNY cannot afford any more cuts," Bowen said. "The university is already cramming students into overcrowded classrooms and squeezing 60 adjunct faculty into a single office. Enrollment is the highest it has ever been. It makes no sense — economically or morally — to cut the university now."

At a recent meeting of the NYSUT Higher Education Council, PSC Secretary Arthurine DeSola said the crowded conditions at CUNY buildings are becoming a health and safety issue, with students and faculty hardly able to move in the hallways before and after class. (See related story).

The Legislature has to approve any cuts to CUNY because its funding comes from New York City and falls under the state's Aid to Localities budget. Case law has established that the governor cannot withhold funding that falls under Aid to Localities.

The governor's order does not extend to the SUNY community colleges.

UUP represents 35,000 academic and professional faculty in the SUNY system, including the public teaching hospitals and health science centers. The PSC represents 22,000 faculty and staff at CUNY.

Both systems have taken a fiscal pounding in recent years, especially since the start of the recession in 2008.

SUNY absorbed $148 million in midyear cus last year, and a $172 million budget cut in the current fiscal year.

CUNY lost $68 million in state support in 2008 and $44 million this year.

NYSUT Executive Vice President Alan Lubin noted that the governor's executive order for even more cuts comes within weeks of visits to upstate New York by both President Obama and Vice President Biden.

Both visits focused on the Obama administration's emphasis on higher education, and ideas for making college affordable for anyone who wants to go.

Given that backdrop, the governor's latest actions are "unthinkable," Lubin said.

"In tough times like these," he said, "cutting back — or in many cases eliminating — the one affordable means through which many of our state's students can earn a college degree is incredibly misguided."

At a time when President Obama himself has highlighted the importance of rebuilding the nation's and the state's economy, "The cuts will cause irreparable harm and will damage the future of our state's economy," Lubin said.