CUNY Student Express: State Budget Alert

CUNY STUDENT EXPRESS
February 27, 2007

NEW YORK STATE BUDGET ALERT: TIME TO INVEST IN CUNY
Visit www.supportcuny.org

As you know, the 2007-2008 New York State Executive Budget proposed by the Governor is currently under review by The New York State Legislature. Significant operating and capital support for CUNY is included, which represents the best starting point in many years. We need your help now to communicate to State legislators how the budget can be further enhanced to allow CUNY to hire more full-time faculty, strengthen academic and student support, and library services, and more fully meet technology and capital needs. Please visit www.supportcuny.org today to email your views on the State budget. Draft letters are provided and we encourage you to take the time to send your own.

A one-page fact sheet on the State budget is included below. You can read Chancellor Matthew Goldstein's testimony before the legislative fiscal committees at www.supportcuny.org. It is important to note that after one year, 90% of all CUNY graduates remain in New York State. After ten years, over 80% stay here as taxpaying residents, providing a stable tax base of educated citizens who repay the investment made in their education many times over through a lifetime of taxes paid to state, city, and federal coffers. The CUNY Compact, which enlists public and private partners to help finance the CUNY colleges, provides the long term basis for support. The immediate need, however, is for you to be heard now, while the legislative review process is still at work. State leaders will decide on revenue targets and available funds by March 1 and then work towards the adoption of a budget by the end of March. Please visit www.supportcuny.org today. Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,

Jay Hershenson
Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations and
Secretary of the Board of Trustees

The City University of New York
2007-2008 State Budget Priorities

Senior College Operating Budget Gap $24.3 million
While the State Executive Budget provides additional operating aid, it does not provide sufficient funding to cover all of the approved senior college Master Plan initiatives. Given the University's need for full-time faculty and the resources required to support the highest enrollment in 31 years, additional support is warranted. The senior colleges need strengthened undergraduate and graduate programs, expanded research opportunities, and enhanced academic and student support.

State Aid for Community Colleges $5.0 million
CUNY community colleges need base aid funding of $2,650 per FTE, an increase of $125. The Executive Budget recommends a state aid per FTE increase of $100 ($2,625) for the community colleges. This base aid increase, valued at $2.0 million, will assist the University in covering increased mandatory costs at the community colleges. In addition, the University is seeking $3.0 million in additional support to the community colleges in order to provide for priorities outlined in the University's Master Plan. These critical initiatives include additional full-time faculty, library support, and student services enhancements in areas such as counseling, child care, and services to students with disabilities.

Senior College Capital Budget $89.2 million
The Executive Budget does not include all of the additional funds requested by the University in FY2007-2008. The primary need is $50 million in continued funding for the NIT/Information Systems & Administrative Applications project (the University's Enterprise Resource Planning Initiative). Secondary needs include: $24.2 million to address cost escalation increases due to recent economic changes for projects already in construction, including Brooklyn College's West Quad building and City College's School of Architecture; $10 million for the Certificates of Occupancy Initiative that ensures all CUNY facilities continue to be in compliance with Building Department regulations; and $5 million to complete the Visitors' Center for the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives at Queens College.

Community College Capital Budget $8.3 million
The State Executive Budget does not fund all of the needs requested by the University in FY 2007-2008, such as: $2.5 million in continued funding for the NIT/Information Systems & Administrative Applications project (the University's Enterprise Resource Planning Initiative); $2.5 million for the Certificates of Occupancy Initiative that ensures all CUNY facilities continue to be in compliance with Building Department regulations; and $3.3 million for roof replacement and to provide backflow prevention devices required at Bronx Community College.

Financial Aid
The Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) is a critical safety net that allows financially disadvantaged students to attend the University. Over 64,000 of CUNY's undergraduate, degree-seeking students received TAP funding. The University strongly recommends that any modifications to state financial aid programs should be need-based in order to assist those students and families with greatest hardship.