On January 9, Governor Eliot Spitzer made clear in his State of the State address the importance of higher education to New York’s future: “We can’t strengthen our economy without the best colleges producing the best-prepared graduates.” Quite simply, to strengthen our state, we must strengthen our public higher education systems.
New investment in CUNY and SUNY is the best investment in the state’s economic development. The governor’s proposals acknowledge the forward-thinking work of the Commission on Higher Education and lead the way in positioning the state as a global center of research and new industry, with a highly skilled workforce and a diverse, knowledge-based economy.
Most notably, the governor’s plan affirms the importance of hiring at least 2,000 additional full-time faculty at CUNY and SUNY over the next five years, including 250 eminent scholars. Full-time faculty are the core of every great educational institution, and building the faculty ranks at CUNY and SUNY is vital to the universities’ advancement.
In 1975, CUNY employed more than 11,000 full-time faculty. Today, 6,500 full-time faculty work at the university. This is a decrease of more than 40 percent - even though CUNY’s student enrollment has grown to its highest level in over three decades. The commission’s recommendation would help to reverse this pronounced decline.
In addition, the governor’s embrace of the commission-recommended Innovation Fund rightly puts university research at the center of the state’s development by supporting scientific and technological inquiry that holds promise for New York’s economic growth.
I also applaud the governor’s support for CUNY and SUNY community colleges through his endorsement of another important commission recommendation: a seamless transfer process between community and senior colleges.
These three announcements are based on some of the recommendations of the New York State Commission on Higher Education appointed last May by the governor.
A cornerstone of the commission’s work is a call for a New York State Compact for Public Higher Education. Modeled after the CUNY Compact, the statewide compact delineates shared responsibility for public higher education resources in order to reverse chronic underinvestment in CUNY and SUNY.
Prior to the CUNY Compact, funding was determined on a year-to-year basis. This discouraged long-term investment and made public universities vulnerable to economic downturns. Students were hurt when large, unexpected tuition increases were used to cover operating expenses unmet by insufficient public funding.
The statewide Compact for Public Higher Education would require government to cover CUNY’s and SUNY’s mandatory costs, such as energy and labor contracts, and at least 20 percent of the initiatives in the systems’ state-approved academic master plans. The remainder of the funding for investments would come from the universities, in the form of increased philanthropic revenues, internal restructuring and efficiency measures, managed enrollment growth and tuition increases. Tuition increases during the life of a master plan would not exceed an amount formed by a basket of economic indicators, such as the Consumer Price Index or the Higher Education Price Index. Full financial aid for needy students would be maintained. Revenue from tuition increases would go exclusively toward funding investment initiatives, determined in consultation with students, faculty and elected representatives.
CUNY’s experience with the compact model indicates that such a partnership stimulates renewed investment. In its first year, CUNY Compact funding allowed the university to hire additional faculty. It helped CUNY to launch its Graduate School of Journalism and its School of Professional Studies. Millions of dollars were invested in technology, including science instrumentation and electronic library acquisitions, and in student services, including additional counseling staff, child care, veterans’ support, and student fellowships. A statewide compact based on the CUNY model is an important step in developing public universities of national renown.
I urge you to visit www.supportcuny.org to find out how to contact public officials and become involved in university-wide advocacy efforts. The opportunity to invest in CUNY and SUNY must not be missed.
Dr. Matthew Goldstein is the Chancellor of The City University of New York.
