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��Ӱֱ�� State College President Dr. John M. Anderson recently addressed NYS budget issues with the campus community. During his talk, Anderson characterized Gov. Paterson’s proposed Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act as “the most profound initiative to positively impact public higher education in New York State since the Nelson Rockefeller era. I applaud his efforts."

The new act, if passed, will put SUNY’s fate in its own hands, noted Anderson. Without government micromanagement, SUNY campuses will be able to control their futures independently…from rational tuition increases to partnerships with private industry. “Removing that extra layer of bureaucracy will allow ��Ӱֱ�� State College, and all SUNY campuses, to move forward with their respective strategic plans,” said Anderson.

On Tuesday, Anderson continued, the Governor revealed his 2010-11 budget plan which calls for significant reductions in State spending across all sectors of government, including SUNY. Anderson continued, “How the plan will impact ��Ӱֱ�� State specifically is not known at this point; however, we know it will be significant. Quite frankly, this does not come as much of a surprise to us. We have been preparing for long-term reductions for the past two years by strategically reducing administrative overhead, conserving energy, and restructuring to deliver our educational and service programs in a more efficient manner. In addition, we continue to build demand for our programs which has reaped additional tuition revenue.”

Because New York State “is in a severe state of fiscal emergency and we must all do our part to not only contain cost, but increase revenue. ��Ӱֱ�� State College will join its colleagues in SUNY to assist the State in economic recovery. After all, we educate and prepare tomorrow’s workforce to hit the ground running which will drive the economic recovery in this State,” Anderson said.

In the meantime, Anderson continued, “in order to weather this significant budget reduction and still maintain the quality of our academic programs and services, we need the Governor’s Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act to be passed by the New York State Legislature as part of his budget plan. I have personally asked all of our NYS legislative representatives to support this legislation so critical for our long-term viability and growth.”