Stony Brook Prepares for Budget Cut Aftermath
By Will James Stony Brook University is bracing for a second cut in its state support after the New York State budget was reduced sharply this summer. This cut, which comes in the wake of a smaller cut in the spring, strains Stony Brook’s ability to maintain its core academic programs. Stony Brook administration members have predicted a seven percent cut in its state support, totaling $13.4 million. Although this seems small compared to the university’s total budget, which was about $1.8 billion last year, state support is the piece of the budget that funds the programs that make up the heart of the university – the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the School of Medicine, among others. Diminishing state support could result in fewer faculty members and fewer courses, Dan Melucci, associate vice president for strategy, planning and analysis, said of the cuts. “They are of a magnitude at which they’d be very destructive,” he said. On July 30, Governor David A. Paterson announced a reduction in state agencies’ budgets that amounted to $650 million. On Aug. 20, in a special meeting of the state legislature, lawmakers cut an additional $427 million in accordance with Paterson’s plan to lower the state deficit and to help remedy a “fiscal crisis” that has its roots in the faltering national economy and ailing Wall Street. In an Aug. 20 press release Paterson said, “Too often in the past, our State's failure to respond quickly to fiscal crises has only made our budget problems worse and the solutions we’ve had to implement more painful. Today, we are taking a different approach. Rather than simply hoping that our struggling economy improves, all sides worked together in the spirit of cooperation and took action to reduce spending.” The cut, which totals more than a billion dollars, was passed on to all state agencies, including SUNY. Right now, Stony Brook is waiting to find out how SUNY will divide the cut among its campuses. When Paterson called for a state budget reduction last semester, two weeks after he was sworn into office, SUNY distributed the cut proportionally to all campuses, resulting in a $7.4 million loss for Stony Brook. If SUNY does the same thing this time around, Melucci said, Stony Brook will be facing a loss of $13.4 million. On the first day of class this semester, Stony Brook president Shirley Strum Kenny sent an email to students announcing the creation of a Campus Budget Advisory Committee, composed of faculty, staff and students to brainstorm ways to save money and increase revenue. She also encouraged students to offer suggestions to committee members, writing, “We need good ideas.” The e-mail also said that a tuition increase could be in SUNY’s future. “Inevitably, there is also talk of tuition increases,” the e-mail said, “particularly since SUNY has had no increases in the last five years. Any tuition increase requires action by the New York State Legislature and Governor.” |
