March 08, 2008

NYSUT Higher Ed Advocacy Day

Sen. William Stachowski (D-Buffalo) holds a copy of UUP’s 2008 Legislative Agenda as he meets with UUP members, from left, Jacqualine Berger of Empire State College, Dave Peckham of Upstate Medical University and Fred Miller of Oneonta during NYSUT Higher Ed Lobby Day in Albany.

The UUP advocates visited the offices of nearly two dozen lawmakers, urging them to increase funding for SUNY in the state’s 2008-2009 budget. They appealed for an additional $25 million to hire 400 additional full-time faculty; the restoration of $34.2 million for SUNY’s mandatory operating costs cut in the governor’s budget; $40 million more for SUNY’s hospitals and health science centers to make up for chronic underfunding; and a commitment that funds from a proposed higher education endowment would be used only for public higher education.