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Campus administrators announce budgetary plans at May 3 forum

Andrew Bruso

SUNY New Paltz faculty and staff gathered for an open forum on Wednesday, May 3, to hear how the College is reducing this year’s budget deficit and steps it will take to close the gap next year.

The conversation built on meetings held in October 2016 and February 2017, and included the announcement of some initial decisions that have been made to generate new revenue and reduce expenditures for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Many of these were inspired by suggestions offered by faculty and staff.

President Donald P. Christian and Provost Lorin Basden Arnold opened the forum by articulating some key decisions:

  • There will be no cuts to courses students need to proceed through their programs
  • There are no plans to change faculty load for next year
  • No programs are being eliminated at this time

Christian and Arnold also listed some broad institutional priorities that are informing the budgetary process:

  • The importance of graduate enrollments to the College’s economy
  • The need to develop new markets, particularly online, graduate, extended and other non-traditional markets
  • The importance of sustaining New Paltz’s academic quality, rising reputation, recruitment of well-qualified students, and strong retention and completion rates
  • The College’s role as a regional institution serving the post-secondary needs of New York residents
  • The importance of remaining accountable to New York State taxpayers
  • The understanding that while international enrollments are critical to the College’s mission to prepare global citizens, we cannot rely heavily on such enrollments, given their volatility.

Vice President for Administration & Finance Michele Halstead then offered a detailed budgetary report, beginning with a revised estimation of the College’s 2016-17 core operating budget deficit of $3 million (down from the $4 million forecasted earlier this year, preserving $1 million in campus reserves).

New Paltz achieved these savings without job losses, thanks to a 90-day hiring frost and reductions in spending by units across campus, among other cost-cutting measures.

Halstead also outlined some decisions that have been made to continue reducing costs and raising revenue next year. These include:

  • Revenue Generators
    • Increased fees for parking, transcripts, and some other services
    • Enrollment increases made possible thanks to reorganization in residence halls
    • Increases to rent paid by third-party campus service providers (i.e. Campus Auxiliary Services)
  • Cost Reductions
    • Personnel attrition – targeting open positions to leave unfilled after retirements and resignations
    • Continuation of hiring frost
    • Reductions to summer temporary Facilities staff
    • Utilities savings through scheduling and new photo-voltaic arrays
    • Reduced spending by campus units for supplies and travel

Community members who were unable to attend the May 3 budget forum are invited to view the presentation by logging onto my.newpaltz.edu, clicking “Budget Information Center,” and accessing the “Budget Forum: Managing our Economy in Uncertain Times – 5-3-2017” link.