SUNY Board of Trustees Pass Resolution Strongly Supporting Shared Services

Albany – The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York today unanimously adopted a resolution that strongly supports the efforts around SUNY Campus Alliance Networks, which will expand academic resources and course availability for students while increasing efficiency within the SUNY system. The Board specifically acknowledged that one option for shared services may include sharing presidencies between two state-operated campuses as a “reasonable and valid option to explore in sharing services and in pursuit of devoting more resources to the academic mission of the campuses.”

"We need to act upon our recognition that our limited resources need to be devoted whenever possible to instruction," said Chairman Carl T. Hayden. “Through this resolution, we are reaffirming our commitment to SUNY’s mission. The Board has given clear direction to the Chancellor and all of SUNY’s presidents that we must do our part to ensure that these resources are directed to educational instruction.”

“We are very sensitive to the fact that SUNY campuses are deeply embedded within communities across New York, but it is critical that we increase efficiency in order to maintain access to the most affordable public higher education in the northeast,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “We have made a public commitment to maintain that presence while improving upon the education we are providing our current and future students.”

The Board reaffirmed its role as the ultimate authority for appointment of campus presidents, and emphasized the important role of college councils in commenting upon and recommending presidential candidates for the Board’s final consideration. Additionally, the Board endorsed the continued consideration of sharing presidencies between Cobleskill and Delhi, and between Morrisville and SUNY IT, and encouraged all affected constituencies to express their considered views on the matter to the Chancellor and the Board by the November board meetings.

The Board also called for continued collaboration between the presidents of SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam, and called for a joint report to be submitted by March 30, 2012, which will include recommendations for additional opportunities for increasing the percentages of their operating budgets devoted to instruction and academic services if there were a shared presidency between their campuses, whether there would be substantial obstacles or costs to such a shared presidency, and whether they recommend such a shared presidency, the continuation of separate presidencies (and administrations), or some other organizational structure or approach to best achieve the above goals. The Board intends to consider this report at its regular May meeting, and shall assess the recommendations in that report and from the Chancellor and other sources fully, including in comparison to the progress being made at the other administrative alliance institutions.

Currently, the average percentage of spending at SUNY’s smallest state-operated campuses – among them, Canton, Delhi, Cobleskill, SUNY IT and Morrisville – toward academic instruction is 39 percent. The average among all state-operated campuses is 52 percent.

Campus Alliance Networks call for collaboration on administrative functions – among leadership and within information technology or human resources, for example – while increasing efficiency and enhancing educational opportunities by making the business and academic resources of other campuses in the region available to students, faculty, and staff at each site.  

By sharing administrative functions among area colleges, SUNY Campus Alliance Networks will redirect existing funding to enhance learning opportunities and access for students.

It is intended that cost savings generated by administrative reorganization will be redirected toward academic instruction and other student-support services.

The SUNY Board of Trustees, in a resolution adopted at its June 15 meeting, directed the chancellor and empowered presidents to promote campus-to-campus collaboration and implement strategies to improve efficiency, generate cost savings, build capacity, and expand student services through the use of shared administrative functions, procurement opportunities, and realignment of academic program offerings where possible.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 467,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with nearly 3 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu 

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