The following is excerpted from testimony by Henrik N. Dullea, Cornell vice president for university relations, on New York Gov. George Pataki's Executive Budget during a town meeting in Cortland Feb. 17, hosted by State Assemblyman Martin A. Luster (D-125th Dist.):
"Thank you very much, Assemblyman Luster, for this opportunity to comment briefly on several key issues in the state budget of concern to the faculty, students and staff at Cornell -- and their families. ...
"The issues that I would like to mention deal with four broad areas: faculty and staff compensation; student financial aid; facility maintenance and rehabilitation; and investment in research and high technology. In each area we need to repair the deficiencies that are reflected in the Executive Budget.
"The Executive Budget that has been presented to the Legislature for your consideration falls far short of meeting the ongoing expenses of the State University system, including the statutory colleges at Cornell. This shortfall is most evident in the Executive Budget's failure to include full annualization of funding for the salaries of faculty and staff throughout the SUNY system.
"As you know, SUNY faculty and professional staff are in the third-year of a three-year contract that ends in 1998-99. Cornell's faculty and professional staff are not state employees, and are therefore not part of the statewide collective bargaining unit, but Cornell receives the same salary allocation from the state for its statutory college employees as is provided to the state-operated campuses. The failure to include the full, annualized salaries for Cornell's faculty and staff leaves our budget short by $2.4 million. These funds, and funding for mandatory price increases for normal goods and services such as heat, power and library acquisitions, must be provided by the state or else all of our campuses will be forced to eliminate more positions and cut back still further on services in order to meet our existing obligations. ..."
"The entire higher education community has been heartened by the reports from Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno that the Executive Budget's call for a cut of over $132 million in the Tuition Assistance Program is dead in the water. While it's clear that the overwhelming majority of the cut would affect students attending SUNY and CUNY, the independent sector institutions must object as well. The failure of the state's student financial aid program to keep pace with the rising cost of tuition not only places a strain on students and their families but is also a significant factor on tuition rates at private institutions and in the statutory colleges as institutional sources of financial aid become more and more significant.
"As you know, at Cornell we are very fortunate to receive strong alumni support for financial aid -- amounting to $62.9 million last year -- and undergraduate scholarships are the sole focus of our current $200 million capital campaign -- but the state's partnership with New York's independent and public sector institutions must not be permitted to erode.
"... Cornell competed successfully for over $300 million in sponsored research support this year, primarily from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and we are among the top 15 institutions in the United states in the receipt of federal support for science and engineering. We compete intensely for this support, but it is increasingly difficult as institutions in other states demand a bigger slice of the federal research pie. Over the last 15 years, New York's share of the NIH research budget has declined from approximately 15 percent to 10 percent, with a resulting loss of over $350 million in federal support.
"Cornell is working in close partnership with the State University leadership in support of a proposal entitled SMART-NY -- SUNY/Cornell Multiplier to Advance Research and Technology -- a multi-year program of investment in SUNY's university centers, health science centers, the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Cornell, which offers the real chance to turn this very serious situation around. The initial areas of concentration for this support would be biotechnology, advanced materials, information technology and the environment. We need the support of the Legislature for this endeavor, and we are confident it will repay the state's investment many times over.
"Lastly, but certainly not least importantly, I would ask that you continue to give serious attention to the capital facilities needs of our campuses. At Cornell, we have been repeatedly seeking state support for the renovation of Bailey Hall and Stocking Hall, the first built in 1912 and the second in 1923. Bailey Hall is the largest auditorium on campus, presently seating approximately 1,900 people. It serves as a regularly scheduled classroom as well as a performance space and is in serious need of rehabilitation. Similarly, Stocking Hall serves as the home of the nationally award-winning Department of Food Science; it must be totally renovated if it is to make possible the continuation of our leadership position in this field that is so important to all our residents. The Legislature provided initial funding for these two facilities in last year's budget but a number of corrections are required in the appropriation bill in order to have the project move forward.
"In conclusion let me thank you again, Mr. Luster, for this opportunity to comment on several of the most important issues facing higher education in general and Cornell in particular during this most recent budget cycle. I hope that the restorations we have requested will come to pass, but I am even more hopeful that you and your colleagues in the Assembly and Senate will begin to examine the long-range health of this industry.
"Many other states in this Union have recognized the vital importance of their colleges and universities and are now making substantial additional investments in order to secure a leadership position -- states like Georgia, Texas, Florida and Michigan. New York needs to be in that group, effectively utilizing all of its resources, both public and independent."
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