By Phillip H. Smith
Updated: 05/16/08 6:28 AM

The State University of New York is facing the very real threat of being dismantled. This threat comes from the state Division of Budget and its order to all state agencies, including SUNY, to reduce spending by 3.35 percent. For SUNY, that translates into a freeze of $109.4 million the university system collects from tuition, dormitory fees, food services, bookstores and other payments. The freeze even applies to the revenue SUNY’s three public hospitals collect from patients and their private insurance.

This is money the State University relies on to run its operations. It is also money that students and their families are paying for higher education — not state tax dollars — and it is money that patients are paying for their health care. If this freeze is allowed to stand, students and patients won’t be getting what they paid for.

Beyond the question of fairness, the inability to spend the nearly $110 million would have a devastating effect on SUNY. Thousands of courses will be canceled, class sizes will balloon and the quality of both academic programs and patient care will erode. . . .

We ask Gov. David A. Paterson to release the nearly $110 million as a solid investment that will yield brighter days for the state and its beleaguered finances.

Phillip H. Smith is president of UnitedUniversity Professions, which represents34,000 academic and professional facultyat SUNY’s 29 state-operated campuses.

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