From: Buffalo News
August 8, 2008

By Tom Precious - NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Updated: 08/07/08 8:29 AM

ALBANY — Worried University at Buffalo officials have put in place an immediate hiring freeze and moratorium on large purchases as an initial response to Gov. David A. Paterson’s order that state agencies trim 7 percent of their current year’s spending plans.

Still uncertain is whether any programs for students, who return for the fall semester in a less than three weeks, could be on the final hit list being put together in the weeks ahead. Officials stressed, however, that the cuts will not force any classes to be canceled this fall.

But there are fears that UB ultimately will be asked to trim $20 million from its current budget.

“The hiring and purchasing ‘time-out’ will preserve current degrees of financial freedom while we learn more about the specific actions called for by the governor and SUNY and determine the campus approach we should take in response to this financial context,” Satish K. Tripathi , UB’s provost and executive vice president for academic affairs , wrote in an e-mail sent Wednesday afternoon to the university’s employees.

The move came a day after UB President John Simpson told employees of his “grave concern” about the budget cuts that are coming a third of the way into the State University of New York’s fiscal year. It is uncertain what impact the cuts will have on the university’s ambitious UB 2020 plan to transform its campus into a major research institution, but Simpson said the new round of cuts presents a “formidable challenge” to UB.

University officials have not yet been given a firm number of what they will have to cut from the current budget, though sources say it could be as high as $20 million. UB officials warned that the actions taken Wednesday are temporary — 45 days — and that real cuts to programs are likely to be hitting the university.

The emerging fiscal situation at UB came as Paterson administration officials huddled Wednesday in closed-door meetings trying to come up with ways to erase $630 million in spending approved less than four months ago by the governor and State Legislature. The governor also is asking the Legislature, when it returns for a special session on Aug. 19, to help him reduce spending by another $600 million.

While the Paterson administration and SUNY have declined to say how much is being cut from the university system, a union official Wednesday said SUNY is in line for $96 million in state aid cuts — a level that will cause “irrevocable damage” to the system. That comes on top of $52 million cut earlier this year.

“It is inconceivable that SUNY is being directed to absorb an overall cut of $148 million in anticipated state aid, just weeks before classes are scheduled to resume,” said United University Professions President Phillip Smith. “This massive cut is, for example, equivalent to the entire operating budget of at least one of its university centers or the combined operating budgets of three university colleges.”

The union represents 34,000 academic and professional faculty at SUNY campuses.

Many state agencies still have not been given a precise dollar amount they are expected to cut in order to comply with Paterson’s edict that 7 percent in state spending be cut to help him meet the overall $600 million reduction level. Part of that reduction — about $50 million — is coming from a hiring freeze imposed on state agencies last week. That means the vast majority will be coming out of operating budgets.

The 7 percent cuts come on top of 3.3 percent in spending reductions agencies were ordered to trim following enactment of the state budget in April. The earlier round of reductions was painless for most agencies, which cut back on things like travel and additional hiring. The upcoming round, though, is expected to start cutting into actual programs, from state parks to roads and bridge-maintenance efforts.

Officials at SUNY’s headquarters in Albany say there is no firm number yet for how much the higher education system will have to cut from its budget. Officials also could not confirm the possible cuts of up to $20 million for UB. “It’s an ongoing conversation between SUNY, the Division of Budget and the governor’s office,” said SUNY’s Casey Cannistraci.

In his letter to UB’s staff Wednesday, Tripathi warned that the “budgetary news from Albany is bleaker than expected.” He said a committee is being formed to come up with ideas to help UB “deal with this distressing fiscal environment so that we, as a university, can emerge stronger.” The committee will include university workers and students.

The action Wednesday includes the 45-day hiring freeze and a ban on purchases over $5,000. Compared with many smaller SUNY campuses, UB relies on a greater percentage of state aid to help pay its bills. Officials say that is because UB has more research work and other expensive programs not covered by tuition. The state this year is budgeted to send UB $207 million, out of a campus budget that exceeds $1 billion.

The day before, Simpson sent a letter to UB staff saying the new fiscal problem facing the campus “once again calls attention to a number of larger, ongoing issues that face public higher education in New York state. And it presents a fundamental paradox: UB’s success is part of the solution for the economic future of New York, yet UB’s budget is being reduced at just the wrong time.”

In his letter, Simpson was not shy in saying that Albany should be spending more on higher education, not less, especially at a time when UB is poised with its UB 2020 plan to become more of a player in trying to help the ailing upstate economy.

“Currently, every dollar of state support sent to UB is multiplied five-fold in economic effect. If we had the appropriate tools that we need to implement UB 2020, this number would likely increase substantially,” Simpson wrote.