Gov. George Pataki's 1999-00 proposed state budget was a disappointment for higher education and would increase financial pressure on both institutions and students, Cornell officials said last week.
Pataki's $72.7 billion proposed executive budget, released Jan. 27, essentially maintains current-level spending for higher education and does not fully fund next year's costs for salary increases authorized this year or any of the increased costs of purchasing goods and services. These salary and inflationary increase needs total $44 million systemwide.
Under the governor's proposal, funding for the state Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) would be cut by $133 million, or more than 20 percent, to $501 million. He also proposed lowering the maximum TAP award for public-university students by $500 and raising the number of credits required for a full award from 12 to 15. Statewide direct institutional aid to independent colleges and universities, or Bundy Aid, was level-funded at $44.3 million.
The plan recommends a core operations budget for the State University of New York (SUNY) of $1,589,300, an increase of only $1.6 million. Most of that $1.6 million increase is for a new Charter Schools Institute and the Small Business Development Center. The proposal includes a total of $821.2 million in general fund support, or state tax dollar support, for SUNY operations, an increase of just $1.6 million over the current year's allocation.
The proposal also maintains current tuition rates at SUNY's state-operated campuses. Students in Cornell's statutory colleges -- the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the College of Veterinary Medicine -- are affected by SUNY tuition increases.
Under the governor's proposal, Cornell's share of the SUNY allocation is $129.1 million. That's $12.77 million, or 8.9 percent, less than the university requested, and level with the amount available for the current year.
"This recommendation leaves us $2.4 million short of the funding required to continue this year's salary increases for a full year and about $1.7 million short to cover other inflationary costs, such as purchasing instruction for statutory college students from the endowed colleges," said Nathan W. Fawcett, associate vice provost for statutory college affairs. "We will be working hard, in concert with SUNY, to secure these missing funds from the Legislature."
The governor's executive budget is the first step in the budget negotiation process, noted Henrik N. Dullea, vice president for university relations. "The failure to include required allocations for faculty and staff compensation and the proposed reductions in student financial aid for New York state residents are particularly troubling," Dullea said. "We will be working with our legislative representatives in the days ahead to secure additional funding for Cornell."
The proposal calls for level funding at $2.9 million for Cornell's County Cooperative Extension Associations -- Section 224. The university had requested $4 million for Cooperative Extension, which has received no increase in a number of years.
The university's request for $15 million in capital funds for a Theory Center supercomputer upgrade was not awarded, nor was a $600,000 request for equipment at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. Matching funds were recommended, however, for programs that are successful in securing National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center (STC) awards. Cornell's Nanobiotechnology program is currently competing for an STC award.
The 1999-00 executive budget proposal funded some priority initiatives in the statutory colleges, some of which included:
Agriculture and Life Sciences:
·Integrated Pest Management, $787,000;
·Pro-Dairy, $642,500.
Human Ecology:
·Parent HIV/AIDS Education, $175,000.
Industrial and Labor Relations:
·Workers Compensation Study, $89,900;
·Alternative Dispute Resolution, $265,100.
Veterinary Medicine:
·Equine Drug Testing, $2.2 million;
·Diagnostic Laboratory, $1.8 million;
·Quality Milk Promotion/Avian Disease, $983,200;
·Wildlife Rabies Control, $150,000;
·Herd Health Assurance Program, $300,000.
Universitywide initiatives funded:
·The New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Biotechnology,
$13 million for 14 centers on a statewide basis;
·Theory Center operating funds, $1.2 million.
| Cornell Chronicle Front Page | | Table of Contents | | Cornell News Service Home Page |