Budget Issues

[Dane96]

I've asked on here about the student activity fee, but no one has answered. I don't know if you can do a specific activity fee in the SUNY system. That seems to me to be the best option now. At least put it up for a referendum. What could it hurt?

 

And Kingston is worse then University Field.

 

We'd be better off playing on Fallon Field. There has to be $5mm somewhere in the system that can be used to upgrade University Field. That's all we'd need to be attractive enough for the CAA in the short term.

 

The closest stadium would be the Carrier Dome. When RPI builds their field, maybe we can rent that?

 

 

from the UAlbany website:

 

Intercollegiate Athletics Fee: anticipated at $206.50 for 12 or more credits, $TBD for 9-11 credits, $TBD for 6-8 credits. Funds the intercollegiate sports programs including team transportation, uniforms, etc. This fee is mandatory for undergraduate students taking 6 or more credits except those who do not have access to the campus, such as students in our Overseas Academic Programs.

 

 

For Spring 2009 fee is now listed as $214.50.

 

That is so low for most schools I know. Most I know are in the 300's-400's.

[danefan]

I'm not sure how much leeway the school has on that, if any. UB is $215 for athletics and SBU doesn't break it down, but instead just charges one flat fee.

 

Seems to me like maybe they are constrained.

 

If not, why hasn't an increase been proposed to the student body?

[Dane96]

Definitely not constrained- That is a University issue. The last big raise was when I was a Soph in 94. That is when we put forth the DI vote...and it passed raising the fee from 100 something to just at 200...or maybe just below.

[danefan]

Definitely not constrained- That is a University issue. The last big raise was when I was a Soph in 94. That is when we put forth the DI vote...and it passed raising the fee from 100 something to just at 200...or maybe just below.

 

 

 

A moderate raise would do wonders.

15,000 students (not students pay a full fee) at $150 increase per year gets an additional $2.25 million extra a year! That at the very minimum pays for full scholarship football.

[Patch]

I may be way off base and I may take al ot of heat from the posters here, but the more I read and educate myself about the financial situation in NYS. The more I'm worried about maintaining what we have and the less I care about adding things.

 

I read about millions of dollars being cut from our present budget, mid year tuition increases and then I read about increasing Intercollegiate Athletic Fees on top of that.

 

All of this is happening at the same time alot of part time jobs held by students, as well as full time jobs held by students and/or parents are be slashed or cut altogehter.

 

My concerns have shifted drastically I just hope some type of recovery starts to show its face or otherwise I have a very pessimistic outlook for the next few years at UA and many other institutions statewide.

 

I expect to see a jump in enrollment at community colleges and a decrease at four year institutions due to increased cost at 4 year schools and the affordabilty of 2 year schools.

[danefan]

Patch, I don't think you are way off base.

 

I think you are being realistic. I find myself (including my most recent posts) being too optomistic.

 

Its frustrating to sit here and think of things that should have been done in all reality two years ago. Now you are probably right. The ship has sailed.

[MRSGDG]

I may be way off base and I may take al ot of heat from the posters here, but the more I read and educate myself about the financial situation in NYS. The more I'm worried about maintaining what we have and the less I care about adding things.

 

I read about millions of dollars being cut from our present budget, mid year tuition increases and then I read about increasing Intercollegiate Athletic Fees on top of that.

 

All of this is happening at the same time alot of part time jobs held by students, as well as full time jobs held by students and/or parents are be slashed or cut altogehter.

 

My concerns have shifted drastically I just hope some type of recovery starts to show its face or otherwise I have a very pessimistic outlook for the next few years at UA and many other institutions statewide.

 

I expect to see a jump in enrollment at community colleges and a decrease at four year institutions due to increased cost at 4 year schools and the affordabilty of 2 year schools.

 

 

Agree and well put Patch.

[UAlbany09]

Capital News 9 has a good article about Patterson's proposed budget cuts. In it there is an interesting passage: "In a departure from more than 30-year old practice of using 100 percent of the revenue resulting from tuition increases to offset General Fund spending on higher education, SUNY and CUNY will be allowed to retain 10 percent of the fiscal benefit from the 2008-09 spring semester increase and 20 percent of the full annual increase in 2009-10 for increased investment." Any thoughts on this.

[alum73]

That is a small step in the right direction. Up to now, any tuition increase just allowed the state to reduce it's contribution by the amount of increase. It never resulted in additional funds to the university.

[danefan]

There is no special session. The legislators came up here for nothing, except to vote for their conference leaders. If someone can give me an estimate of how much it costs in travel and everything else to have a special session, send it my way.

 

Paterson will not call another special session to deal with the projected $1.5 billion cuts in the 2008-2009 budget until he can get a three-way agreement on the cuts. He said he doesn’t expect this to happen before January. Which means that it will be taken up by Senate

 

Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith, who is expected to become Senate Majority Leader in January.

 

Paterson will submit his 2009-2010 budget on Dec. 16, and will ask the Assembly and Senate to hold joint hearings to discuss the budget cuts.

 

He hopes that the legislature will pass the budget cuts a month early, in late February or early March.

 

http://blogs.timesunion.com/capitol/

[Classof72/74]

BTW, does anyone want to Chancellor

 

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article...18051/1001/NEWS

[UAalum72]

There is no special session. The legislators came up here for nothing, except to vote for their conference leaders. If someone can give me an estimate of how much it costs in travel and everything else to have a special session, send it my way.

Tedisco said 'nearly $40,000 per day', the Associated Press said 'over $60,000' and AM Roundup writer Irene Liu said it 'could be over $100,000'.

[ATL_DANE]

If New York truly wanted to lower the expense of its HUGE state university system and increase its overall strength it would consolidate. New York does not need 64 campuses, worse yet 64 independent universities and colleges. It never needed 64 campuses and it can't afford it any more. Its too many campuses and they are way too small. Most of New York's campuses are around 5k students. UB is the largest and its 1/2 the size of Ohio State. UAlbany is 1/3 the size of UF.

 

New York also cannot afford to have multiple SUNY campuses within an hour or two of each other. I thought the idea was to go off to college? If you need training, go to the community college. Does New York need both University of Buffalo and Buffalo State? What's the sense? That duplication results in funding 2 college presidents, double the admin, double the staff etc.

 

It would make sense to close some campuses altogether but even if that were politically impossible at least merge them under one university flag. UAlbany currently has three campuses. Why not add 1 or 2 more? Administratively New York could save a fortune. Add SUNY IT and SUNY Cobbleskill to UAlbany's three existing campuses and rename the 5 campuses to "New York State University" or "Eastern New York University". I see Michigan State campuses all over the state of Michigan, as far as Grand Rapids. UGA has an Atlanta campus. I saw a Georgia Tech campus near Savannah. UConn has a Stamford campus. New York can keep the campus, even though it shouldn't, and just stream line into larger and more dominant universities. It would also make for a stronger athletic department

[alum73]

about 1/2 of the 64 are community colleges.

[ATL_DANE]

True.

 

But 30 four year colleges? Not one anywhere near the size of a UCLA, Michigan, UGA, Florida? 2 of the 4 SUNY Centers aren't even 20k. The non-SUNY centers (other 26) tend to be way under 10k. How much duplication is that? 30 college presidents? How many VPs, Admin, etc? Having a few small liberal arts colleges in the system is fine but how many Cortlands, Fredonias, Oswegos, Potsdams do we need? The problem is this SUNY system design is a jobs program for small Podunk towns across upstate New York and not about higher education. New York and SUNY would be much better off with fewer colleges that had more money than keeping what we have and everyone suffers.

 

On top of all of that duplication, can someone tell me the difference between a Potsdam and a Cortland? How about an Oswego versus Buffalo State? Every campus seems to offer criminal justice, as if that were necessary. Honestly, other than geography how is a prospective student suppose to decipher the difference in the educational goals between campuses?

 

I'm just saying that it would be better off for everyone to take the smaller pot of state money and apply it against fewer but larger SUNY campuses.