The Buffalo News

WITH SUNY'S SUPPORT, UB IS THRIVING

Published on April 6, 2000
© The Buffalo News Inc.

Professor Mark Shechner's April 2 article in The News Sunday Magazine was wildly off-base in its description of the State University of New York's funding practices and the University at Buffalo's fiscal status.

It is simply preposterous to claim that "this is a time of brutal downsizing" at UB and the SUNY system, or that "every year, even every semester, brings news of fresh budget cuts on top of previous cuts." Here are the facts: UB's core instructional budget has increased every year for the past four years. Our allocation to the campus since 1996 has risen by $19 million -- part of a $777 million increase in total spending by SUNY during that period.

With support from SUNY and its trustees, UB is in the midst of a building boom. We are now investing $103 million in new and renovated physical facilities as part of the $2 billion, five-year capital program initiated by Gov. George Pataki in 1998. Major campus projects include a new $6 million Math Building and a $12.3 million Student Services Building. In addition, UB has planned or completed $58 million in new student housing over the past two years.

UB has added 69 full-time faculty positions in the last two years and now has more full-time faculty than at any time since the fall of 1991. UB also enjoys a ratio of full-time to part-time faculty that is higher than average for the entire SUNY system and the four university research centers.

Far from a "dismantling," SUNY is now experiencing a resurgence in which UB is playing its full part. As even Shechner acknowledges, the entire Buffalo region is benefiting from new ventures such as the Center for Computational Research, one of 50 programs that last year brought $84 million in externally sponsored research to UB and the local economy.

SUNY trustees have initiated a new performance-based budgeting formula that is encouraging UB to grow and lay new foundations for the future by providing a 20 percent match for new research dollars and by allowing the campus to retain every new dollar it generates from increased enrollment.

In contrast to the top-down, centrally managed process that existed until the mid-1990s, SUNY campuses now enjoy much greater autonomy in making their own internal budget allocations.

This inevitably entails some tough choices for campus administrators, and it seems clear Shechner is unhappy with the budgetary choices made by UB, particularly as they affect his department. It is unfortunate that his essentially narrow complaint has been inflated into a massive and inaccurate attack on the entire university.

UB is thriving, and SUNY is committed to helping it succeed in the highly competitive world of higher education. Working together will be the key to building on our success.

ROBERT L. KING

SUNY Chancellor

Albany
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