While the governor's budget does include cuts at SUNY schools it doesn't allow for tuition hikes - which the schools aren't happy about.
Cara Matthews at Gannett explains that this third leg of SUNY's "empowerment" plan didn't make the budget:
The governor recommended two out of the three elements of the Higher Education Empowerment Act SUNY pushed for last year and continues to support, but not the one dealing with tuition. Cuomo wants to give the university system the opportunity to form public-private partnerships and scale back the review process required by the state for SUNY to purchase goods and services.
And the fact that tuition's not going up is irking the SUNY Student Assembly. Yup, you read that right.
Jay Rey at the Buffalo New reports that student delegates are worried that cuts without hikes will mean programs will be slashed:
"SUNY students think this is unwise," said Julie Gondar, a University at Albany student, who serves as president of the Student Assembly. "We feel keeping tuition at the current level is simply not sustainable, and does not support access and affordability in the long term." While college students are usually the ones fighting tuition increases, this latest twist shows the level of frustration over budget cuts eroding a SUNY education. SUNY has lost about one-third of its state support over the past three years, forcing schools like Geneseo and New Paltz state colleges and Albany to start phasing out programs.
Good news for BU
Cuts won't be the order of the day at SUNY Binghamton, if interim president Peter Magrath has anything to do with it (although he very well might not). He tells George Basler at the Press & Sun-Bulletin that he'll work to avoid laying off teachers - and that the 10 percent cut is better than the 20 percent cut he was bracing for.
Donations to SUNY Binghamton doubled in the last year, according to a new report. Brian Tumulty of Gannett reports that figure is largely due to software donations from Siemens. Meanwhile at Cornell, donations dropped by 31 percent, helping it to slide from No. 3 in gifts to No. 13.
Cornell's Indian ag partnership
The Times of India reports that Cornell will be partnering with Banaras Hindu University in India on an "agricultural innovation" program with support from USAID.
We Live NY
Jeff Murray at the Star-Gazette has more details on the 2011 We Live NY Summit (full disclosure, one of those details is that the Innovation Trail will be hosting a radio program at the event). The summit is designed to help college students and young professionals learn more about living in New York - not just working here:
Young people are constantly trying to find a balance in their professional and personal lives, and this summit will help them achieve those goals, said Sean Lukasik, president of Twin Tiers Young Professionals. "It's not just about 9 to 5 in the workplace. It's really about achieving that work-life balance," Lukasik said.
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