FREDONIA, N.Y. — Just as SUNY Fredonia begins to implement a plan to cut 13 areas of study to help make up for a $10 million deficit, the overall educational system may have more financial challenges to deal with.
That is even as state lawmakers and the governor work on the budget.
United University Professions Union President Fred Kowal bluntly said, "This is a manufactured crisis."
Kowal, who heads up the nation's largest union for higher education feels that way regarding the New York State funding situation for SUNY system colleges and universities like Fredonia, Buffalo State, Geneseo, Potsdam, and at least 14 other campuses which are all struggling with deficits.
Kowal says while factors like fluctuating enrollment, COVID recovery and the past CUOMO administration underfunding of the SUNY system may all be factors, he is concerned there may be a deeper agenda.
Kowal said "I think it was the intent of the Chancellor to cut programs and to cut campuses and shrink them. And it's very, very disturbing because the system is being undermined. And students' experience will suffer and their opportunities will suffer,"
The union leader notes the reversal of state funding policy for the better under Governor Hochul with what some SUNY officials call historic amounts of money in the budget. But Kowal also claims state leaders opted to plow more dollars for research and other programs into so-called University Centers like UB, Stony Brook, and Binghamton at the expense of smaller, more rural campuses. He feels it could perhaps lead to a two-tiered system like California.
"As in last year's budget, there were hundreds of millions of dollars that were devoted to the four university centers and then the comprehensive colleges like Fredonia, like Buffalo State, like Brockport they had to you know satisfy themselves with much lower amounts coming in."
The state is planning to close the SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn which is a teaching hospital housing Colleges of Medicine and Nursing because of a $100 million deficit and an aging facility.
In January, SUNY leaders presented a report that the entire system faces a $1 billion annual deficit within ten years if current trends continue unless corrective actions are taken. So 2 On Your Side asked Kowal, "With that looming figure that they're throwing out there - where do you think we're going here?"
He responded: "Yeah it is disturbing."
Kowal said he feels that the report has many variables and assumptions.
"Let's take care of the issues this year - the deficits at places like Fredonia and Buffalo State and then move forward and talk about the long run. I remain optimistic though because I know that New Yorkers believe in public higher education."
We reached out to the SUNY Press and Communications Office for a response. A spokesman sent us this statement:
“SUNY is committed to all of our campuses, and that is why we allocated historic increases in last year’s budget to every state-operated campus, including a $2.8 million increase in state aid to Fredonia, a 25% increase over the previous year.
SUNY Fredonia is moving forward in advancing a plan to shape a viable, sustainable future for its campus that allows it to offer the high-quality courses of study students desire, in a vibrant setting.”
It has been pointed out previously that only 74 students are currently enrolled in those majors. They include Art History, French and Adolescent Education in French, Industrial Management, Mathematic Sciences for Middle Grades, Philosophy, Sociology, Spanish and Adolescent Education in Spanish, Visual Arts in Ceramics, Photography, and Sculpture, and finally Early Childhood Education.