SUNY Board Adopts 2010-11 Budget Request

Seeks Operational and Management Flexibility to Generate Revenue, Cover Mandated Costs, Follow Tuition Plan

 

New York City – Upon the recommendation of Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, the State University of New York Board of Trustees today approved the SUNY 2010-11 State Budget Request.

 

Approval by the Board comes as applications and enrollments surge to record levels, as SUNY approves a groundbreaking policy that improves student mobility, and the University attracts $95M in stimulus research funding. These announcements come on the heels of Chancellor Zimpher engaging SUNY and the public in a statewide strategic planning effort that is the largest public conversation about public higher education in the country.

 

The 2010-11 request seeks:

• Additional management and operation flexibility for SUNY campuses in order to generate additional savings and new revenue,
• Some additional funding to support state-mandated costs and inflation,  
• Recognition of the state’s commitment to return to SUNY a portion of the 2009 tuition increase,
• To follow the rational tuition plan adopted by the Board in 2008, and
• The continuation of SUNY’s multi-year capital construction budget.

 

“I commend Chancellor Zimpher and all SUNY campus presidents, faculty and staff for their success while coping with this severe fiscal crisis,” said Board Chairman Carl T. Hayden.  “The request we approved today provides SUNY with the state resources needed to move forward, and more importantly, provides us with tools to better utilize our existing scarce resources.”

 

“This year’s budget request protects our students while providing regulatory relief for our campuses," said Chancellor Zimpher.  "The flexibility legislation we've submitted would generate additional revenue, giving us stability and opportunity for the future. SUNY will continue to work with the Governor and the Legislature to get through this fiscal crisis as we develop our long-term strategic plan.”

 

In a departure from past practice and in response to the on-going fiscal crisis, Chancellor Zimpher formed a Budget Task Force to develop the 2010-11 budget request and to address the $90 million 2009-10 mid-year budget reduction. The Board of Trustees today also approved the adjustment to the SUNY 2009-10 financial plan.

 

The Budget Taskforce was comprised of campus presidents from all SUNY sectors, campus provosts, business officers, vice president for research and SUNY System Administration staff.

 

Chancellor Zimpher praised the Budget Task Force’s work, saying “the Task Force really pushed the re-set button with this process, developing solutions that will enable SUNY to deal with our short-term challenges while laying the groundwork for long-term structural reforms.”

 

2010-11 BUDGET REQUEST HIGHLIGHTS

 

State Support

 

For baccalaureate and doctoral granting campuses, the request addresses SUNY’s obligation to meet base-level needs, including negotiated collective bargaining agreements and inflation.

 

For the 30 community colleges, the request calls for full funding of enrollment as well as a modest $50 per student increase to enable those campuses to cope with inflationary pressures.

 

For SUNY hospitals, the request calls for an increase in the state subsidy to fund collectively bargained salaries and employee benefits and the extraordinary costs increases in the employer share of the NY Common Retirement fund.

 

The 2010-11 budget request also follows the rational tuition policy adopted by the Board in 2008. The rational tuition policy calls for SUNY to increase all tuition levels by an amount equal to the Higher Education Price Index, which is two percent for the 2009-10 fiscal year for public colleges and universities.

 

Under the plan, a resident undergraduate would pay $5,070 per year in tuition in the fall of 2010, with SUNY campuses retaining 100 percent of the revenue generated by the increase.

 

At that level, tuition would exceed the $5,000 limit for the state’s Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).   To protect the financially neediest students, SUNY will self-fund the overage at a cost of $5 million. 

 

When the $100 annual increase is taken into account, SUNY 2010 in-state undergraduate tuition and fees would still be below the 2009 national average, based on a recent report from the College Board.

 

Financial and Administrative Flexibility

 

SUNY seeks additional financial and administrative statutory flexibility to form a stronger strategic partnership for the economic resurgence of the State of New York.  A differential tuition policy and management and operational reforms, outlined below, will enable SUNY to generate significant additional revenue apart from state support and create new efficiencies resulting in savings to be directed to the research, teaching and public service missions of the campuses.

 

The SUNY Board of Trustees will report annually on the progress and effectiveness of these reforms and will provide notification of impending tuition rates to the governor and state Legislature.

 

A differential tuition policy for all SUNY four-year campuses will:

• Allow the SUNY Board of Trustees to implement differential tuition rates at the doctoral-granting institutions upon the recommendation of the presidents,

 

• Permit different tuition rates to be authorized for annual or multi-year tuition by program and, within each program, by class year, and differing rates of tuition based upon full-time, part-time, in-state and out-of-state status, need or income, and

 

• Provide a pathway for differential tuition at SUNY comprehensive and technology colleges.

 

Management / Operational Reform for all SUNY campuses will:

• Eliminate pre-audit of expenses by the State Comptroller and Attorney General,

 

• Allow for leasing or other arrangements of SUNY campus property without state Comptroller or Attorney General approvals, with the exception of the sale of such property,

 

• Provide campuses with access market capital through DASNY, and

 

• Authorizes campuses to engage in public – private partnerships.

 

The PowerPoint presentation to the Board of Trustees detailing the SUNY 2010-11 budget request is available here.

 

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 465,000 students in 7,669 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

 

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