JOSH RANNEY
News Editor
The Student Association is joining other Fredonia governing bodies in standing up to New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo to push him to close the TAP Gap.
SA is looking to make this statement regarding state funding for public universities following the University Faculty Senate, the Faculty Student Association and the Fredonia College Council.
In the coming days, SA will be drafting a resolution stating their position, which will be considered by other SA committees for approval.
Spearheading that resolution is the Student Association’s Chair of Community Relations, Cristian Rodriguez.
“Over the years, Governor Cuomo has cut our budget in the state budget, so New York state schools have been getting less and less funding since the Great Recession,” said Rodriguez. “Ever since we were hit, we haven’t gotten that money back.”
Rodriguez said the TAP Gap is essentially the gap in funding that state schools, like Fredonia, used to get as opposed to what they get now.
Rodriguez confirmed they are following the path set by the University Senate.
“They passed a resolution and they called for the Student Association to pass a resolution, so that’s what we’re going to try to do,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said he, along with the Community Relation committee, was charged with drafting this resolution by President of the Student Association, Seth Meyer.
“It’s disappointing that it has come to the petitions of many organizations statewide to urge the Governor to close the TAP Gap and to support the Maintenance of Effort,” Meyer said. “I think Cristian and the Community Relations committee understands the importance of what they are doing and I can’t wait to seal the envelope and send it to the Governor’s office.”
At the time The Leader spoke with Rodriguez, he and Meyer were going to be going over final edits to the resolution with the intent of sending it through the Rules Committee for preliminary debate and a vote of approval.
If it is approved, it will go to the General Assembly on Thursday, March 28 for final adoption by the General Assembly.
Rodriguez also said he and Meyer plan to present their resolution, once passed, to the University Senate.
“Fredonia is facing a budget crisis,” said Rodriguez. “[President] Horvath and the rest of [the] administration is kind of struggling to see where to cut programs. Whether we should cut academic programs, whether we should cut student programs to avoid all of this and avert crisis, let’s go to the government and say, ‘Hey, where was the funding that we used to receive? Why can’t we get that back? Economic times have been prosperous since.’”
Rodriguez said, unfortunately, this isn’t an issue on too many students’ radar. He, along with other SA leaders have had to do a lot of educating on it.
“I was pretty perplexed when I was in University Senate and I heard about the resolution, myself,” said Rodriguez.
While few individuals know about the push to call on Cuomo, it has been a statewide movement to call on the Governor to address public university funding.
“There was actually a resolution that the [Fredonia] University Senate followed, and it was a resolution through the SUNY and CUNY systems combined,” said Rodriguez. “It was a New Deal passed by SUNY and CUNY, down to University Senate, now down to SA.”
The resolution approved by University Senate was literally, a “New Deal.” The “New Deal 2.0 Fredonia Resolution” passed in Fredonia’s University Senate with 36 senators in favor, one against and one abstaining.
“The Fredonia University Senate calls on Fredonia’s College Council, Alumni Association, Student Association, Faculty Student Association and academic departments to speedily pass resolutions aligned with ours, which include encouragement of all students, alumni, donors, and current and former workers in or members of their body to reach out to the Governor and their representatives in the New York State Legislature and, as fellow citizens or residents of New York and/or supporters of public higher education, urge them to strike a new deal for SUNY and CUNY by closing the ‘TAP Gap,’ incorporating enhanced MOE provisions and increasing the share of public funds going to public higher education in an Enacted Budget that truly supports and advances our core academic missions.”
As it has come through each level of governance in higher education, Rodriguez said the whole thing has been a “chain reaction.”
“As I student, I think it’s crazy that so much funding was taken from us after the Great Recession and [it was] never replenished,” said Rodriguez. “I understand why they had to take money out, however, since economic times have changed and since we’ve bounced back . . . it’s crazy that we’re not getting this money.”
“There is a budget crisis on campus, and because of that budget crisis, there’s a budget crisis in SUNY,” said Rodriguez. “We’re not the only school going through this . . . Why isn’t the state doing something? Why aren’t they giving us the fair funding? So as a student, I’m personally appalled and upset at Governor Cuomo.”