Please see the following from Statewide President Fred Kowal:
Dear Colleagues:
In the last federal aid package (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and. Economic Security (CARES) Act), Higher Education received funding that is intended to assist students and campuses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Half of the funding is to take the form of a direct allocation to campuses to alleviate costs for students. Campuses will have one year to spend those funds. This portion of the funding must be distributed as emergency aid to students to cover the cost of attendance, which includes food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and childcare. As of now, reports indicate that the funds are moving out from the Federal Department of Education at a snail’s pace. This is unfortunate, as the more funding that students receive, the more likely they are to be back in the fall.
The other half of these funds were designed to be more discretionary, with funding also going directly to campuses. The purpose of these funds is to address costs that have arisen (mostly in revenue lost) due to the coronavirus crisis. Attached is a document that we have prepared which lists how much will be allocated to each campus for the two purposes.
This information is vitally important, as it can be central to your conversations with campus administration. First and foremost, it’s imperative for us to know if campuses have received the funds. Next, it will be critical to know how these funds are being used. Our position is simple: This is the time to protect jobs so that once we are out of this time of crisis, we are not left with a hollowed out public higher education system. These funds must be used to protect all of our members, from adjuncts to surgeons. Access to higher education and opportunities will be key in rebuilding our state. New York State’s public higher education system has already suffered from a decade of flat funding. While some may feel that there are other priorities for New York State spending, it is more important now than ever to invest in public higher education to stimulate the economy in communities across New York.
We will fight for every dollar and every member as we move forward, and we need everyone to be engaged in this fight. Information you gather from your administrations will be vital in our work with SUNY System Administration and the Governor’s Office. It will also help in our ongoing advocacy on the federal level, where we are joining with our state AFL-CIO partners and our national AFT affiliate for more federal funds to offset the losses New York is incurring.
The first CARES act did bring money to higher education, but the amount of money is far, far too limited given the crisis. We need more federal support and your help in that advocacy is critical. Now is the time to engage our members like never before to call, write, and email their Congressional representatives to ensure this funding is expanded and continuing through the next year. This is the only way we will avoid the worst impacts of the collapsing economy. If you haven’t already done so, please click here to sign the letters to our federal representatives.
Once again, thanks for all you are doing for our members and our university. I look forward to our conference call to discuss this topic and others with you. In the meantime, please take care and stay well.
In Solidarity,
Fred