Reporter Volume 26, No.21 March 23, 1995

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Reporter Editor
The State University of New York Board of Trustees issued a grim
message last week with the release of its plan for dealing with the
$290 million budget reduction proposed for the system in the executive
budget.
	"Today we wish to demonstrate what a plan to meet the budget
would require. Let no one have any doubts about what is at stake.
There is no room for denial. There must be no vagueness about how
devastating the course will be if we implement the proposed budget.
Let no one say he or she did not know what was happening," said
Frederic V. Salerno, chair of the SUNY Board of Trustees at a March 14
press conference.
	"Higher education for thousands of New York State citizens of
all income levels is at stake. Communities that have grown up around
campuses are threatened with irreparable harm," Salerno said.
	Under the plan outlined by Salerno, eight campuses and/or
hospitals would close; undergraduate tuition would increase by $1,600
per year and all other tuition would rise proportionally; and SUNY
would carry out a systemwide restructuring that includes a 30 percent
cut in SUNY administration.
	In addition, 120 programs would be eliminated and another 600
curtailed. Those programs collectively represent 28 percent of all
SUNY's programs and every campus would be affected, Salerno said.
Systemwide, 2,500 jobs could be eliminated and 20,000 students denied
access. The job cuts would affect faculty primarily, he said. "It is a
mix, but a good portion of that would be faculty."
	Salerno steadfastly refused to "identify campuses or respond
to rumors" about what campuses or hospitals face closing. "We know
specifically the campuses that are targeted. We are not going to
disclose that," Salerno said.
	Asked whether it was fair to indicate that there would be
closings but not name campuses and hospitals threatened by the budget,
Salerno replied, "I think it's very fair because to the extent to
which there is restoration, some of these campuses might survive....To
talk about them right now would be premature and cause devastation to
the campuses and/or hospitals if we prematurely said they were going
to close."
	He denied that the Board of Trustees' plan was an attempt to
blackmail the state legislature into reducing the level of cuts
proposed for the State University system. "Let me tell you, this is no
blackmail. We're responding to a cut we have received. We have looked
at all the alternatives and found that this is the best way for the
State University of New York to proceed. This is not blackmailing,"
Salerno said.
	"We're hoping and praying there will be some restoration.
We're working with the governor's office. We're working with the
Assembly and the Senate, and we're trying to make sure everyone
understands the consequences of this budget. And we're hopeful."
	SUNY employees will not face salary cuts, Salerno said,
because most salaries are covered by collective bargaining.
	He was adamant that there is no "fat" left to be cut from the
SUNY budget. "We have taken over a five-year period of time $200
million in cuts....When we benchmark ourselves against any other
system, we find ourselves in a very, very good position competitively.
However, having said that, we don't think there's a lot of fat there,"
Salerno said.
	"Clearly the governor has received a mandate from the people.
He has come out with a budget that is painful in many different areas.
It is our obligation as trustees to respond to that budget cut. If we
do have to respond to that $290 million budget cut...we will have to
cut campuses and slash hospitals. We will have downsized the remaining
programs...and will have historically raised tuition."
	The best solution SUNY can hope for, Salerno said, "is some
restoration and a stretch out. If this were a business, we would try
to restructure the business over a period of time. It's difficult to
get all these cuts accomplished in the first year."
	But, he added, "If we have an immediate $290 million cut we
will have immediate closures....We would find a way to take care of
the existing students (but) we would not admit new students."
	The cuts also mean that relationships the universities have
with affiliated hospitals could be affected.
	There is no mistaking, Salerno said, that "$290 million will
be saved this year. That is what this budget tells us to do. That is
what our plan enables us to do.
	"Access and availability to the governor's office and to the
Assembly and to the Senate has been very positive. We do have a huge
budget problem in the State of New York and I don't know how much
restoration will be coming.
	"We're running out of time. April 1 will be here very soon."