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Speak up against harmful budget cuts
The proposed budget will severely limit UB's ability to implement UB 2020 and therefore do great harm to our region's best hope for economic recovery. UB, like the other SUNY research centers, would be disproportionately affected by cuts to the SUNY budget.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , As a supporter of the University at Buffalo, I urge you to protect UB and public higher education in the 2009-2010 enacted budget. I am writing to you now because the proposed budget would have a disproportionately large negative impact on SUNY's research universities, particularly the University at Buffalo, SUNY's largest and most diverse campus. The research and economic development activities of these universities are the best hope for diversifying and growing New York's economy during this budget crisis. But the proposed budget would severely diminish that promise. The proposed budget would also greatly limit UB's ability to implement UB 2020 and it will therefore do great harm to our region's best hope for economic recovery. UB, like the other SUNY research centers, would be disproportionately affected by the SUNY reduction in the following ways: 1. SUNY indirect cost recovery fund "tithe." Indirect costs for sponsored research are reimbursements to offset actual costs of research programs. The tithe is a punitive assessment on those reimbursements-essentially a tax on SUNY research. SUNY university centers would absorb 90% of the tithe. This tax will cost UB approximately $2-3M. 2. Increase in SUNY graduate tuition. Increasing graduate tuition by up to 21%, while reducing graduate scholarships and minority graduate fellowships by 15%, would have a destructive impact at SUNY'S university centers, will account for 70 of the tuition increase revenue. These actions will create as much as $3.7M in unfunded costs for UB's scholarships. 3. State retention of 80% of professional program tuition increase. Research universities generate 100% of professional program tuition revenue for the system. State retention of 80% of the increase is a dramatic departure from past practice when campuses received 100% of the income to invest in these high-profile degree programs. 4. Reduction in state tax support equal to $40M held in Income Fund Reimbursable (IFR) reserves. The proposal to reduce SUNY state tax support equal to $40 million held in SUNY campus IFR reserves, on top of the RF tithe and tuition offsets, is particularly damaging to research campuses, such as UB, that generate large shares of the IFR income earned by the system. The university centers would be responsible for as much as 80% of the IFR reserves reduction burden. UB faces as much as a $10M potential reduction from this aspect of the proposal. 5. Reduction in university-wide programs. These reductions are arbitrary and selectively injurious to research universities which receive as much as 70% of funds in this category. Large nationally significant UB programs such as the Research Institute on Addictions and the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering would be decimated by these cuts. In these difficult economic times it is important to protect institutions that help grow and foster regional economies. UB is one of those institutions. With a current economic impact of $1.7B in Western New York, UB's plans to implement UB 2020 and grow that impact to at least $3.4B would be severely stalled by the proposed budget. Therefore, I urge you to protect UB and all of public higher education in the 2009-2010 budget and help them diversity the New York State economy and improve the quality of life of all New Yorkers. Thank you.
Sincerely, |
Campaign Launched: |
| Background Information |
Why Introduce a Bill?
The purpose of this legislation is to provide regulatory relief to the University at Buffalo (UB) in the areas of tuition policy, capital project financing, construction delivery, land acquisition and disposition, public-private partnerships and procurement of goods and services. These changes would enhance the University at Buffalo’s academic standing and its capacity to serve as a catalyst to stimulate the Western New York economy.
While the legislation is specific to UB, the reforms are in accord with recommendations made by the Commission on Higher Education and SUNY’s own policy agenda. The reforms will enable implementation of UB 2020, the major economic development initiative for Western New York by addressing the chronic lack of economic growth in the Western New York region, made worse by the current economic downturn.
What Does the Bill Do?
It would be challenging under the present circumstances for the state to provide an appropriate level of funding for UB. However, the public policy reforms outlined in this legislation can be implemented quickly and achieved at no cost. They are a high-impact way to move UB 2020 forward.
1) Rational Tuition Strategy
Small, regular increases in tuition would provide the university with predictable funding and will allow parents and students to better plan and budget for expenses. A rational tuition policy will allow UB to invest in excellence, while at the same time expanding access to excellence. More resources would be applied by the university to need-based aid, opening the door to a UB education to thousands more low-income New York students.
2) Spending and Contracting Flexibility
Current policies hamper efficient business practices. Relief from burdensome rules like pre-audits would save taxpayers money, and create a level playing field with other state systems and public research universities. For example, if appropriate reforms were in place, the state could save $1.5 million on the construction of UB’s new Educational Opportunity Center in downtown Buffalo and build it thirteen months faster.
3) Access to Market Capital
Providing the university access to market capital will allow it to build critical research, commercial, and recreational facilities in accelerated time frames. UB’s success in attracting the best faculty and students absolutely depends on our ability to build these facilities much more quickly and with more ready access to capital sources than can be done through the political process that governs the flow of capital funds today. Providing the university the ability to leverage private sector markets also will permit it to leverage critical capital funds at no cost to the taxpayer.
4) Ability to Lease or Purchase Land and Facilities
UB must be able to make the wisest and best use of its land and facilities, and have the ability to create lease or trust agreements with private partners for their development and use. For example, to relocate its Academic Health Center to downtown Buffalo, UB needs the ability to purchase properties and enter into development projects with multiple partners. UB needs the authority to build and renovate housing, academic buildings, research complexes and other facilities entrepreneurially and through public-private partnerships, leveraging the taxpayers’ investment with private funds.