In an address to the Student Assembly on Monday, Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur predicted a difficult year ahead for BU’s financial state.
At the meeting, DeFleur touched on the poor outlook of New York state’s economy and how that will affect Binghamton. She called for students, faculty and administration to work together for “the greater good of this University.”
Last year, Gov. David Paterson and the New York State Legislature raised tuition by $310 per semester for in-state undergraduates and $1,130 for out-of-state students effective spring 2009. Paterson and the legislature agreed to take 90 percent of that tuition hike equaling $62 million, for the state budget.
In addition, Paterson proposed taking 80 percent, or $122 million, of the 2009-10 academic year’s tuition hike. This was in addition to 2008 cuts in state support that the SUNY system already endured, totaling $210 million. The figure includes $6.5 million of BU’s funds.
According to DeFleur, the state is now facing a 36 percent drop in revenue and has a deficit of $2.1 billion.
DeFleur said she expects that the cuts may continue this academic year, and that with the declining economy, the state government is deciding to fund the SUNY system less and less.
“We will get a little bit more of the tuition increase, but truthfully, we’re very concerned that we also might suddenly get another substantial cut,” she said.
BU’s stance is that the decline in state funding is the wrong direction for the state government and that the students of the SUNY system are the educated future of the state, DeFleur said. BU will be lobbying this stance to New York state along with SUNY schools University at Albany, Stony Brook University, and University at Buffalo.
“It would make more sense to invest in higher education as part of the solution,” said DeFleur. “That is the case that we are going to make very vigorously this year.”
The first part of BU’s campaign to reduce cuts and lobby the state government is called “Think Green, Think Global, Think Binghamton.”
The Assembly was the first to hear of the campaign.
“We’re very excited to learn about President DeFleur’s campaign and we look forward to helping her reach her goals,” said Adam Amit, SA president. “We are fully committed to aiding the administration in securing the most funding and best resources for our University.”
Last year University officials, DeFleur included, called on students numerous times to write letters to the governor and congressmen against the acquisition of the funds for the state government. In addition, the SA collected signatures and held a rally to increase student awareness to the situation.
“Your voices were heard. We didn’t get the successful outcome,” said DeFleur. “But the legislators … the governor’s office, they particularly paid attention to you.”
According to DeFleur, the University has cut back on hiring new faculty and making excess purchases, and accepted only around 30 percent of applicants this year.
“So we’re limiting enrollment, but on the other hand because the tuition and fees represent a significant portion of the money that we do have to spend, it is a catch-22,” she said.
The president also spoke about another challenge when it comes to uniting campus on the issue of finances: current projects. DeFleur defended the continuous construction on campus by noting that it is all being paid for by bonds that were issued by New York state under Gov. George Pataki’s administration in 1997. If BU did not keep its construction projects, other SUNY schools would have used the funds, she said.
DeFleur ended with praise for BU.
“Lets face it, we are the best and so, when things are tough, where do you invest? You invest in your excellence.”