Statement from President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr. M.D., on the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act
Aug. 4, 2010
The Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act is a zero-cost solution to push the State University of New York, and Stony Brook University, to the next level. We are disappointed that the State missed the chance to enact the Empowerment Act during this budget cycle, and urge the legislatures and their leaders to stay true to the promise for a three-way agreement on PHEEIA in the early fall.
Students, faculty, the alumni association, the Stony Brook Council, building trades, the Long Island Association, local, county and federal officials, many state legislators, the Chancellor, the Governor, and the majority of New Yorkers expressed support for PHEEIA, and we thank them for their insight and vision, and hope they will continue to voice their support to get this done.
With passage of this new budget, the cuts to Stony Brook University now exceed more than $60 million and the lack of any increase in tuition revenue, or the regulatory relief and enhanced entrepreneurial flexibility that PHEEIA promised, will force us to make some very difficult decisions. Workforce reductions and additional programmatic cuts, analogous to the relocation of the sustainability programs from Stony Brook Southampton to our main campus, and the closing of one of our leased spaces in Manhattan, will undoubtedly follow.
Despite these short term challenges, I am very optimistic about Stony Brook’s long term success. The remarkable outpouring of public support for PHEEIA over the past few weeks, and the continued commitment of our faculty, students, staff and University leadership to Stony Brook’s pursuit of excellence, speak to a better future.
Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., MD
President, Stony Brook University
See also:
August 4, 2010 statement of SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher on future of SUNY Empowerment »
More messages from the President »