SUNY Chancellor King Joins UAlbany President Rodríguez to Celebrate More Than $8 Million in New Funding Secured in State Budget
May 8, 2024
Historic Investments are a 13.5% Increase Over the Past Year and Will Pay for Salary Increases to Attract Top Faculty and Staff, Fuel Research, and Promote Student Success
Today's Visit Focused on the xCITE Lab Where Chancellor and President Met with Students, Faculty, and Researchers about AI Innovation
Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King, Jr. joined University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez on campus to celebrate the historic investment increases secured as part of the State Budget, and outline how this new $8.3 million will support faculty and staff, fuel research, and promote student success. UAlbany's new funding is a 13.5% increase over the past year, and a 46% increase over the past two years.
Last week, the SUNY Board of Trustees announced how the system is allocating the $114 million increase in Direct State Tax Support across its State-operated campuses from the 2024-2025 budget. Over the past two years, SUNY has benefitted from a total increase of $277 million, which represents the largest two-year investment in SUNY campuses in five decades.
Chancellor King, President Rodríguez, as well as Assemblymembers Patricia Fahy and John McDonald visited the ExTreme Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology (xCITE) Lab, along with UAlbany faculty and staff who are using artificial intelligence to help predict weather-related phenomena like power outages and severe weather events that impact New Yorkers. They also met with leadership from UAlbany's State Weather Risk Communication Center to learn about their work to better inform decision makers during weather emergencies.
"UAlbany is a center of research excellence, using AI in creative ways to transform our state, and the campus is attracting top faculty to drive innovation further and inspire our students toward even higher levels of success," said SUNY Chancellor King. "We are grateful to Governor Hochul and our legislative leaders for supporting our campuses with back-to-back historic increases in funding for public higher education, so we can build on the work of UAlbany and all SUNY State-operated campuses."
UAlbany President Rodríguez said, "UAlbany faculty are conducting cutting-edge research at the intersection of weather prediction and AI and also teaching the next generation of atmospheric scientists and emergency managers who will work together to keep New Yorkers safe as we confront the long-term implications of our changing climate. We cannot do this critical work without the support of New York State. For the second year in a row, Governor Hochul and the Legislature – led by Senator Breslin and Assemblymembers Fahy and McDonald – have delivered. This new funding will support investments in our faculty, staff, and students, including student internship experiences, student support services, and affordability for the graduate students who are so essential to our campus research mission."
NY Senator Neil D. Breslin said, "Today's announcement of an additional $8.3 million in direct support for UAlbany underscores our state's commitment to ensuring that students have access to the highest quality faculty, research facilities, and paid internship opportunities from the moment they set foot on campus until they cross the stage at graduation. I thank Governor Hochul for collaborating with the Legislature to secure these record investments in higher education, which will equip our youth with the tools they need to meet the economic demands of the future. I am especially excited by UAlbany's plans to dedicate a portion of this funding towards cutting-edge, AI-driven atmospheric research through its xCITE lab, a collaborative research center that is critical to our state's ability to respond to weather emergencies as we adjust to an increasingly volatile climate."
Assemblymember Patricia Fahy, Chair of the Assembly's Standing Committee on Higher Education, said, "Securing increases in state aid for our SUNY system has been a top priority of mine as Assembly Higher Education Chair and am thrilled that we've now seen the largest two-year investment in SUNY campuses in five decades. That progress is a testament to the partnership formed with SUNY Chancellor John King, and I couldn't be more thrilled to a portion of this funding is supporting the Capital Region's cornerstone university – UAlbany. Whether its investing in staff or faculty, or in the future of student success when it comes to AI or climate change prediction, SUNY and UAlbany have demonstrated what increased state aid means for our campuses across the state, and these investments will help the University continue to cement itself as an academic and community leader in higher education more broadly."
Assemblymember John T. McDonald III, RPh said, "I am thrilled to have supported this funding increase for UAlbany in this year's State Budget. Investing in our universities is an investment in our future. The significant increase in funding reflects our commitment to excellence in education, research, and student success. Together, we are ensuring that SUNY remains a beacon of opportunity and excellence for generations to come."
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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