RSS
Home
SUNY Potsdam faces $6 million deficit
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Yesterday, SUNY Potsdam President John Schwaller gave his state of the campus address to faculty, staff and onlookers. News from the meeting was disheartening.
With the harsh cutbacks Albany has administered to the SUNY system already (10% cut from budget), and with many cuts to come, President Schwaller gave the news that SUNY Potsdam is expected to face a $6 million deficit next year. But according to a North Country Public Radio broadcast, Schwaller denies the rumors of cutting 20% of the faculty to absorb the blow.
In expected cuts, Schwaller says that strategy will decide which positions to eliminate. Avoiding cross the board cuts and maintaining a strong acedemic are main concerns. Graduate programs and research funding will be strongly effected, and Schwaller says that private funding may be needed by different programs to continue and will need to become more self sustaining.
"When cutbacks are spoken of, the first thing that we talk about are academic programs and faculty lines." George Gonos is a politics professor at SUNY Potsdam and serves on the faculty union’s executive committee. He says the university should look to management and administration for cuts, not academics. But Gonos says the real problem lies not in "It’s a terribly wrongheaded policy. It’s the wrong thing to do in an economic recession, to cut back on public higher education and keep people out of school." President Schwaller says the situation could get bleaker. He met earlier his month with new SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher. She said state tax receipts are down, and SUNY campuses statewide may face additional cuts.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
