DAN QUAGLIANA
News Editor
SUNY Potsdam. Photo via Potsdam.edu
On Tuesday, Sept. 19, SUNY Potsdam announced that they were cutting numerous degree programs in the near future in order to get their looming budget deficit under control.
Similarly to Fredonia’s deficit, Potsdam has an annual budget deficit totalling $9 million.
Potsdam’s president, Dr. Suzanne Smith, stated in a speech on Sept. 19 that, “The aspirations of our students, the degrees they want to hold and the careers they wish to pursue, have evolved. Now, we must realign our academic programs with these changing student and market needs.”
In order to do this, the college is releasing a plan that “focuses on aligning academic programming with student enrollment needs, charts a path for investments in strengths and growth areas and leans on the college’s strengths to establish a future-focused fiscal health framework,” according to a statement released on the same day.
Potsdam is cutting 14 different bachelor’s and master’s programs across the board, including liberal arts college staples such as the philosophy and art history programs.
According to data released by the college, the affected programs only represent 6.3% of their total enrollment. These programs were chosen in order to save as much money as possible, while at the same time minimize the number of students that will be affected.
Smith noted that, “Every student in these programs will have the option of completing their degrees here with the SUNY Potsdam name across them.” She also said that graduates that hold degrees in discontinued programs will still have those degrees recognized.
Potsdam’s chapter of United University Professions (UUP), the union that represents SUNY’s faculty and professional staff, said that this academic year “will present significant challenges to our college as our administration, faculty and staff work to realign the campus to meet the new demographic realities.”
One of their goals as a union will be to band together, “in a single, engaged voice to demand that the college fulfill its contractual obligations.”
Despite the negative connotations associated with these decisions, various groups affiliated with Potsdam do support the decision. “As proud alumni of SUNY Potsdam, we support the College as it assesses the strength of its academic offerings,” said SUNY Potsdam Alumni Association President Peter Galloway.
College Council Chair June O’Neill added that, “We fully support President Smith and the plan to restore our beloved institution to fiscal health. Now with the new framework in place, and our strategic planning process already underway, the College Council has full faith and confidence that SUNY Potsdam will ultimately emerge stronger and ready for the future as a result of this painful but necessary realignment.”
As has been repeatedly made clear to faculty, staff and students here at Fredonia, this university is also facing a significant budget deficit.
However, no program cuts have been announced yet.
“It [makes] me worry about what could happen to…our campus,” said Rosie Rapisarda, the president of Fredonia’s Student Association. “[Program cuts] would be a bad idea. That would just [cause] enrollment [to] drop even more. There would be [fewer] options in majors, which would make Fredonia unappealing to others trying to come here.”
Fredonia’s president, Dr. Stephen Kolison, has revealed that he has been “working on a plan” to address the university’s deficit.
The exact details of the plan and how similar it is to Potsdam’s, if it is at all, remain unknown.
More data is expected to be released in approximately two to four weeks.
The Leader reached out to both Potsdam’s administrative staff and Student Government Association, but received no response from their SGA. The administrative staff instead offered links to official press releases.