From President Kleniewski
To the Campus Community
Since the beginning of the 2008-09 fiscal year, state tax support for
SUNY Oneonta has been reduced by a total of $11 million. When tuition
increases are factored in, the net impact to our budget has been a
reduction of $6.2 million.
To date, the College has absorbed this $6.2 million loss through a
combination of reducing spending and tapping alternative sources of
revenues. These actions include the following steps:
-
Freezing
of 28 FTE positions (12 faculty positions and 16 non-instructional
positions).
-
Salary
savings achieved by filling vacancies with new faculty or staff at
salaries lower than those of the previous incumbents.
-
College-wide
reductions in discretionary spending.
-
Selective
reductions in temporary-service and overtime spending.
-
Drawing
on savings (one-time and recurring reserves).
-
Shifting
expenditures from the core operating budget (state tax support and
tuition revenue) to other College funds, including income funds (IFRs),
OAS funds, and Research Foundation overhead funds.
-
Planning
for a modest increase in enrollment for 2010-11 (45 FTE students),
which will increase our revenues from tuition and fees while
maintaining quality.
Our guiding principle throughout this process, and in every budgetary
challenge, remains the same: to uphold the high-quality teaching and
learning that is central to our College’s mission and identity. We have
thus far weathered the reductions in state support without a serious
detrimental impact on the College’s programs and services.
While we face the future with confidence, the outlook for state support
during the next two to three years is not encouraging. State support
constitutes a third of our core operating budget of nearly $50 million,
so any future reductions will be a significant concern.
As we progress in our planning, we must consider carefully the potential
for future reductions in state funding. We will work together to
balance our strategic priorities with the need for potential additional
savings in the future. I welcome your participation in the process, and
I appreciate your continuing commitment to our students and our College.
Sincerely,
Nancy Kleniewski
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