Among other SUNY universities, members of the New Paltz campus community gathered for SUNY Day to lobby to legislators in Albany, N.Y. on Monday.
SUNY Day is an annual event organized by the system administration and government relations leaders where delegations made up of students, faculty and administrators come together in an effort to bring forth ideas and concerns regarding the SUNY system, according to Chief of Staff Shelly Wright.
The governor, the majority leader in the Senate, the head of the Assembly and the chairs of higher education committees are invited to participate in the event, said Wright.
“Comments are made by those leaders in relation to the current proposals on the table, such as executive budget,” said Wright. “The cuts will be a topic but it is kind of a day to showcase what SUNY does for the state of New York and have a presence.”
Prior to the event, Interim President Donald Christian said he and other administrators will advocate components that are part of the “SUNY-wide advocacy package for this budget cycle.”
Aside from advocating their support for the rational tuition policy, Wright said they will continue to advocate their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposals for procurement relief for the SUNY campuses and for private-public partnerships.
According to the Times Union, Cuomo’s budget would allow SUNY campuses to enter into public-private partnerships without legislative approval. The partnership was included in The Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (PHEEIA) which was rejected last year.
“We recognize that those are things that are going to be long term and probably modest for us in terms of producing any revenue relief,” said Christian.
Like Christian, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher expressed her appreciation for Cuomo’s proposals.
“SUNY greatly appreciates the governor’s support for badly needed and long-overdue regulatory relief related to public-private partnerships and procurement,” she said in a press release. “These reforms represent significant future revenue growth opportunities for SUNY.”