UUP Press Releases

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SUNY budget request misleading and insufficient

Albany, Dec. 2, 2003 - United University Professions (UUP) President William E. Scheuerman denounced the SUNY trustees' 2004-05 budget request as misleading and insulting to the taxpayers of New York state.

"They're calling it a 'no-growth' budget but they're just sugarcoating a poison pill," Scheuerman said. "The reality is, the trustees are putting SUNY in a $39 million hole at the very start of this year's budget process. That's unacceptable! The trustees must do something they've never done before: Ask for sufficient state support for the University system they purportedly represent."

Scheuerman said the trustees' budget request does not address the $39 million operating shortfall identified by Chancellor King earlier this year.

"SUNY needs $39 million just to get to no-growth. But, instead of advocating for the University, these trustees just stick their heads deeper in the sand," Scheuerman said. "SUNY is already reeling from four years of flat budgets; it's time for the trustees to step up to the plate and seek the public resources the University needs."

Moreover, the trustees should not expect to compensate for cuts in state aid with annual tuition increases, according to UUP.

"It's unfair for SUNY students and their families to keep bearing the burden of refilling the University's coffers," Scheuerman said. "A public University needs a far greater public investment."

Scheuerman contrasted the SUNY trustees' "lack of advocacy on behalf of the system they are entrusted to protect" with recent action taken by the CUNY trustees, who are seeking an 8.9 percent increase in public funding for its four-year colleges and no tuition increase next year.

"We at UUP -- like the CUNY trustees -- are concerned about maintaining access and quality at the state's public universities," Scheuerman said. "Access is preserved by affordable costs for students and quality is upheld by a stronger state investment in the system. Our students and faculty deserve no less."

UUP represents more then 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York State-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT).    

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