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the University community moves on multiple fronts to persuade state
and city elected officials to boost financial support, the New York
State Assembly and Senate have issued their proposals for funding
for the new fiscal year.
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Assemblyman Joel Miller, Trustee Kenneth Cook, and Assemblywoman
Rhoda Jacobs (all CUNY graduates) discuss budget needs at the
Board of Trustees' reception in Albany on March 12. |
The Assembly
budget resolution calls for a $10 million increase in funding for
new faculty and a $175 increase in community college base aid per
FTE. The Assembly also recommends more money for student financial
aid, doctoral student support, and restoration and increases to
SEEK and College Discovery programs. Capital assistance to Medgar
Evers College is proposed. The Assembly, for the first time, proposes
multi-year funding for the University operating budget. The Senate
version restores faculty lines cut from the community colleges in
the Executive Budget. Substantial increases in childcare support
are also recommended, along with a $25 increase in base aid per
FTE. Reductions in adjunct funding and freshman year support are
proposed. No increased funds for new faculty are recommended for
the senior or community colleges.
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| Above
left. Govenor George Pataki, at a conference on the nursing
crisis at The Graduate Center on Mar. 29, announcing a $3 million
grant for nursing education facilities in the Bronx. |
It is expected
that these substantial differences will be resolved by a joint conference
committee in collaboration with the legislative leadership. Any
agreement will be subject to the approval or veto of the Governor.
In a separate initiative, Gov. George Pataki announced his support
for a $3 million health care training center in the Bronx in collaboration
with CUNY and Service Employees Local 1199. The center, located
in the old Alexander's department store on Fordham Road and the
Grand Concourse, will provide counseling, job training and courses
to prepare workers for nursing careers with the help of faculty
from Lehman College, Bronx Community College and Hostos Community
College.
The governor's announcement came during an appearance with Chancellor
Matthew Goldstein and 1199 President Dennis Rivera at the Graduate
Center on March 29, during a day-long CUNY-1199 conference on the
shortage of nursing professionals in the health care industry. For
fiscal year 2002, the New York City executive budget proposes an
increase of $5.5 million for 100 full-time faculty and $5 million
for College Now. These increases were offset by a recommended reduction
in overall city support of $10.5 million. The executive budget also
called for a $1.6 million reduction in administrative services and
the elimination of the $6.5 million City Council Academic Scholarship
Program.
The City Council budget proposal recommends restoration of the reductions
outlined in the executive budget proposal. The Council's spending
plan also calls for $1 million for economic development initiatives
and $2 million to fund a certificate program at John Jay College
in cooperation with the NYP.Meanwhile, a delegation of University
trustees, administrators, staff and students traveled to the capital
on March 12 to advocate for more full-time faculty, community college
base aid, and other needs outlined in CUNY's 2001-2002 budget request.
Chancellor Goldstein and Trustee Alfred B. Curtis, Jr. led the delegation
on the two-day campaign that included meetings with key legislators,
including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader
Joseph Bruno, and senior aides to the Governor.
In addition to seeking restoration of full-time faculty lines, the
delegation stressed the need for legislative support in areas such
as economic development, base aid, teacher training, doctoral student
assistance, SEEK, and worker education. The group completed its
first day with a reception, attended by several hundred legislators
and staff, held in the well of the Legislative Office Building and
featuring a student jazz trio from Kingsborough Community College.
Smaller face-to-face meetings with legislators took place the next
day.
This trip followed a special CUNY event organized by Chancellor
Goldstein and Medgar Evers College President Edison Jackson on Feb.
17: an Albany meeting with the leadership of the Black and Puerto
Rican Legislative Caucus. These events were among many outreach
efforts by the University. In the city, the colleges coordinated
four legislative breakfasts in March for members of the State Legislature
and City Council from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island
(the Bronx breakfast followed in April).
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