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SUNY must remain affordable
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“Fantastic education at a reasonable price is a big part of who we are, and I don’t want us to lose that. But we have to keep pushing for this flexibility one way or the other.”
As SUNY pursues more financial independence from the state, it is critical that the 64-campus system stay true to its roots as a public institution that offers affordable, high-quality education, a senior SUNY administrator told UB’s Faculty Senate Executive Committee at a Wednesday meeting.
The Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, a slate of reforms New York lawmakers are considering, would give the system control over tuition rates and revenues and more flexibility in land use and procurement, said Monica Rimai, SUNY senior vice chancellor and chief operating officer. But critics who say the legislation amounts to a veiled attempt to privatize the university are wrong, Rimai said.
“Fantastic education at a reasonable price is a big part of who we are, and I don’t want us to lose that,” Rimai said. “But we have to keep pushing for this flexibility one way or the other.”
One proposed reform that some stakeholders, including the United University Professions (UUP) faculty union, have assailed is moving tuition outside the state budget process and authorizing SUNY to set rates and implement differential rates for programs and campuses. Opponents say such changes would open the door for drastic increases in the amount students pay to go to school.
Rimai said SUNY has responded to those concerns by drafting a comprehensive policy that lays out how trustees would manage tuition and promises to devote a portion of new revenues to enhancing financial aid. She bristled at the idea that lawmakers can handle tuition policy more responsibly than SUNY could.
“If you look at what the legislature has done, it has been far from fair and rational,” Rimai said. “So to suggest that we can be trusted to educate this incredible important resource that we have, but we can’t be trusted to set appropriate tuition, for me is a little crazy. But I think that the way you handle that is you keep engaged in the debate, you offer the examples, you show the facts and the data.”
Following a half-hour presentation, Rimai engaged in a conversation with FSEC members about SUNY’s relationship with the state. A steep decline in public dollars as a percentage of institutions’ operating budgets was a topic that generated particular interest.
“At what point in time, if those drops continue, do we think of severing our ties and going independent again, and is there a mechanism to do that?” one senator asked. “Because if that drops to 1 or 2 percent, it becomes meaningless. Is there a way to move away from the state system if it’s no longer working for us?”
Rimai responded by saying that in an era of dwindling state support, SUNY must explore how more financial flexibility and freedom can help the institution achieve its goals. She cited the University of Michigan as one school whose high level of autonomy has enabled it to “control its destiny.”
Rimai emphasized, however, that a greater degree of independence does not translate into privatization. Access and affordability must remain paramount, she said. And while she acknowledged that SUNY and UUP have not reached common ground on proposed reforms, she believes the two organizations share the same long-term goal: creating a strong public university with more jobs—not fewer—for the employees the union represents.
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