Saying he wanted to "sweep away some of the hobgoblins that have been conjured up to scare members of the university (SUNY) community," SUNY Provost Peter Salins told State Senate and Assembly staff and UUP representatives on Oct. 1 that the system�s Resource Allocation Method (RAM) will not close any campuses, cause faculty layoffs, make campuses "scramble for enrollments," facilitate differential tuition, or impact the collective bargaining agreement with faculty.
Terming the new allocation process an "algorithm," Salins addressed a roundtable discussion led by Assembly Committee on Higher Education Chairman Edward C. Sullivan of Manhattan at the State Capitol. He said, "the new algorithm will allow funding for instruction to go where the students are, in two ways. It credits campuses fully for the tuition their students pay. It allocates state tax levy support under a clear, but flexible, format that recognizes the costs of instruction at different academic levels, and among different kinds of academic programs.
"For the first time," he added, "the allocation algorithm recognizes the need to fund � and reward � the important research activity that is an essential aspect of the missions of our University Centers, our health science centers, the Cornell statutory colleges and some of our other campuses."
Salins, also SUNY�s Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, pointed out that, far from faculty layoffs, 28 SUNY campuses have seen faculty ranks grow since RAM�s introduction last year.
President Hitchcock has said previously, "I completely support the concept embodied in the new RAM which would allocate state tax dollar appropriations to the campuses and in manner that is predictable and easily understood . . . Furthermore, I heartily endorse the notion that each campus will retain in entirety all tuition and other revenues that it generates."
What this means, according to Executive Vice President Carl Carlucci, is that "because the RAM gives us more flexibility, more control of our own funds, we can invest them in the projects we find most important. And the number one priority is the strength of the faculty and its enhancement in years to come."