UUP Press Releases

CONTACT: Denyce Duncan Lacy or Don Feldstein at (518) 640-6600
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 30, 2006

Union chief says Exec Budget ignores faculty loss, enrollment rise

The president of the nation’s largest higher education union warns that the State University of New York faces a bleak future if the Legislature fails to increase state funding for SUNY.

Testifying before a joint hearing of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees today, United University Professions President William E. Scheuerman called the Executive Budget “disappointing.” Scheuerman is asking the Legislature to add $153 million more for mandated costs, enrollment growth and more full-time faculty.

Scheuerman testified that since 1994, the number of full-time faculty has declined by nearly 1,200, or 11.5 percent, while the number of part-time faculty grew by 2,500, or 63 percent. This trend continues while SUNY’s student population has grown by 13,600 during the past five years.

“Without the $153 million that UUP and SUNY are requesting the state-operated campuses will continue to deny thousands of students the opportunity to obtain high-quality public higher education in New York,” Scheuerman warned.

The union is asking state lawmakers to add a total of $153 million in operating aid including:
* $120.9 million to cover mandatory and base-level costs;
* $25.5 million for enrollment growth of 6,600 students and to fund 300 new academic and     professional faculty lines;
* $4 million for high need economic development and health programs; and  
* 2.9 million for geographic cost differentials in the New York Metro area and Hudson Valley.

UUP also recommends state lawmakers provide an additional $50 million in capital funding for technology and academic equipment.

The governor’s proposed budget authorizes SUNY to spend $85.3 million more, but does not provide the additional revenue, which leaves the door open for a $500 tuition increase. Scheuerman also criticized the Executive Budget for continuing the state’s trend of decreasing its share of direct aid to SUNY while increasing reliance on tuition. During the 1990-91 fiscal year, the state financed 75.4 percent of SUNY’s operating budget, but in 2005-06, the state’s share plummeted to 54.1 percent.

Scheuerman noted the budget proposes increasing state support for SUNY’s 34 state-operated campuses by a miniscule .34 percent, or $3.6 million.

“The Executive Budget represents a missed opportunity to really address the issue of underfunding at SUNY,” Scheuerman told lawmakers. “The state-operated campuses’ resource base has become increasingly fragile, their capacity to meet unanticipated cost increases no longer exists, and the quality of education provided to over 200,000 students is at risk because of chronic underfunding,” Scheuerman said.

State support has declined by double-digit percentages at some campuses in the past five years, ranging as high as 19 percent at Farmingdale. Scheuerman said campuses have been forced to boost tuition and fees and rely more heavily on part-time faculty to make up the difference.

“No other state department or agency has suffered such reductions during this timeframe comparable to those experienced by campuses such as Buffalo State, Brockport, New Paltz, Albany, Oswego, Farmingdale, and the other 10 institutions impacted by cuts exceeding 10 percent,” he said.

Scheuerman noted that UUP was not criticizing the appropriate use of part-time faculty. “Instead, our concern is with the over reliance on part-time faculty – who now teach half the courses at some state-operated colleges – but who are not compensated for the scholarship, research, and participation in governance that marks a first-rate institution.”

Scheuerman also warned that SUNY’s three health science centers are endangered by provisions in the governor’s budget.

“Our members absolutely oppose the ill-considered plan to transfer the SUNY hospitals to private, not-for-profit status, and we oppose cuts to Medicaid.” Scheuerman said the Medicaid cuts total over $7 million at SUNY hospitals. He said the budget proposal to boost the hospitals’ subsidy by $10 million is not nearly enough, especially in light of the fact that the state has not funded $141 million in costs over the past two years, plus $74.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year. UUP is asking for a public dialogue on the adequacy of hospital funding, especially in regard to the increasing role these hospitals play in their respective communities.

UUP represents more then 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York state-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Scheuerman also serves as president of AFT’s Higher Education Program and Policy Council, representing 150,000 higher education union members across the nation.     

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