Richard Stempniak of SUNY Buffalo, left, discusses the issues with Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (D – Bufflao).

Public higher education advocates had cause for optimism that 2008 might be a good year.

First, the Commission on Higher Education’s preliminary report called for 2,000 more full-time faculty at the state’s two public university systems.

Then Gov. Eliot Spitzer termed the need to hire more full-time faculty at SUNY and CUNY “a core proposal.” The governor incorporated that proposal into his State of the State address Jan. 9, and he re-emphasized the importance of investing in higher ed when he introduced his $124.3 billion Executive Budget for 2008-09.

“Excellence in higher education is the key to a better future for our state,” the governor said. “If we want to create jobs statewide and revitalize the Upstate region, we must ensure that our system of higher education is second to none.”

But when it came to funding improvements in public higher education, the governor’s actions did not match his rhetoric. Rather than providing funds for more full-time faculty and other initiatives in his budget, the governor proposed to create a

$4 billion higher education endowment financed by privatizing the New York State Lottery. Then UUP Acting President Frederick Floss said the lack of immediate direct state budget funding would stall SUNY as an engine of economic growth.

“We applaud the governor for recognizing the need to invest in SUNY and CUNY over the long term, but it must also do so over the short term,” Floss said. “The lack of state budget funding for more full-time faculty leaves New York’s economic engine with no fuel.”

Floss brought UUP’s budget concerns directly to lawmakers Jan. 30. Testifying before a state legislative hearing on the governor’s budget, Floss said SUNY can’t wait for creation of a new endowment to fund more full-time faculty.

“It may be at least three years before income from the endowment would provide any appreciable revenue for the University,” Floss said. “Under no circumstances can our public universities wait several more years to begin repairing the damage of the past. We need to act this year.” Floss urged lawmakers to add $25 million to the budget to create 400 new full-time faculty positions. He said the additional faculty is required to reverse a 15-year decline in faculty ranks. During those 15 years, Floss said SUNY eliminated 900 full-time faculty positions, while student enrollment has grown by 45,000.

Floss also went to bat for SUNY’s three teaching hospitals, labeling the

$7 million increase proposed in the Executive Budget as “miniscule.” UUP seeks a $35 million increase.

“Over the last few years, these hospitals and our health science centers have had to absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in state-mandated expenditures, while the state subsidy today remains essentially at the funding level that has existed for more than 16 years,” Floss told lawmakers. He warned that if hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates are reduced, the hospital’s resources would be strained to the breaking point, jeopardizing the quality of patient care.

Floss also called for a $4.5 million increase in the budget for SUNY’s Office of Diversity and Educational Equity, far more than the $500,000 proposed by the governor.

Without that level of funding, he said, “We will not address the high dropout rates for historically underrepresented New Yorkers and the critical needs of low-income, first- generation students.”

UUP also suggested other alterations to the budget, including:

• Restoring $34 million cut from SUNY’s operating budget, and fully funding the costs of enrollment growth;

• Restoring $7.2 million in funding for the Equal Opportunity Programs and Equal Opportunity Centers that serve thousands of financially and academically underserved SUNY students;

• Adding $5 million to enhance SUNY libraries; and,

• Adding $5 million to support the SUNY Health Science Center in Buffalo.

— Donald Feldstein