PLATTSBURGH — In a campus-wide email sent out Friday morning, SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi gave an update on his Plattsburgh Next Strategic Plan and addressed the lingering financial concerns that have surrounded the college recently.
SUNY Plattsburgh’s budget was among topics addressed.
‘A PICTURE WE MUST CHANGE’
“As we have discussed in recent campus meetings, flat annual appropriations from the state, no increases in tuition and fewer students lead to a revenue picture that is challenging. This is not new, as the full state investment years are decades behind us,” Enyedi said in the email.
“And we have made changes, as outlined in the summary we have taken through numerous conversations. Most directly have been questions about the near term, and that while we have $14.3 million in cash on hand, our current spending plan would use much of that this year. We know that historically we have not spent all that we allocate as expenses, but it is still a picture we must change.”
TWO ‘KEY CHANGES’
Enyedi said that since last month, the current financial situation has seemingly improved.
“There are two key changes from the slides we developed in November from our budget office. First, income related to this fall’s higher than expected enrollment and income adds $732,000 to revenue. We can also conservatively set aside $2 million in positions we know can’t be filled this year. That figure will likely end up being higher. Other planned spending can also generate savings. Accordingly, our planned shortfall is on track to use up about half of reserves and perhaps less,” he said.
“As to next year’s planned permanent cuts outlined in the slides, with the cabinet I have decided to spread these over the next three fiscal years (2023-24 through 2025-26). We will combine permanent and temporary savings, both to achieve the $5.2 million number next year and the overall reduction over that time. The details of these changes for 2023-24 will be identified during the normal budget development process timeline. This begins now in partnership with you and ends in April or May,” Enyedi continued.
“Two important things to note: First, spreading over time allows us to use normal attrition and changes to blend our spending and people into the areas of highest need. Second, as we dig into our plans and compare that to historic, actual spending, we can more tightly align our plan to our needs.”
PLATTSBURGH NEXT
In regard to the Plattsburgh Next Strategic Plan, Enyedi said they’re making progress on “strengthening student success, prioritizing equity and inclusion, and engaging our North Country region.”
“This week, we received approval from SUNY for strategic faculty lines from the state appropriation advanced by the legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul,” Enyedi said.
“These were allocated to support SUNY’s commitment to excellence in teaching, innovative research and scholarship, and to increase diversity in our faculty ranks to ensure that SUNY is fully representative of the students and communities that we serve.”
The positions they will begin searching for soon include digital media production, teacher education, special education, social work, human development and family relations, data analytics or cybersecurity and global supply chain management.
“These are critical growth areas that will allow us to advance in areas such as a master’s degree in social work, something many across the region have asked for,” Enyedi added.
“Academic Affairs is also undertaking a more comprehensive examination of the marketability of our portfolio, looking at areas of special opportunities to grow.”
RECORD APPLICATION RATES
Another area addressed in the email, which is critical to the success of Enyedi’s strategic plan for the college’s future, was enrollment.
Enyedi revealed that, thanks to a recent SUNY initiative, the college has seen a drastic increase in applications for next fall’s semester.
“SUNY Plattsburgh has realized a record increase in applications to date for fall 2023 over the last two years, reflecting strong growth through the SUNY initiative that dropped the fee to apply. We have never seen this many applications for the following fall this early,” he said in the email.
“The increase is 114 percent more than this point in either of the past two years — 4,968 apps vs. 2,323 and 2,330 the two prior years — and our trends are slightly above the system as a whole. The power of this is a high number of early applications provides the opportunity for more early acceptances and better opportunities to grow enrollment. Admissions has already begun releasing acceptances, about three weeks ahead of where we’d normally be.”
Moving forward, similar updates will now be sent out monthly, the email said.
PUSH FOR TRANSPARENCY
The transparent move comes after many people involved at the college had “expressed a desire for more steady, detailed updates.”
Michael Cashman, Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor, as well as college council member, was one of those people.
Last month, when some of the budget and financial concerns SUNY Plattsburgh is facing first became public, Cashman was vocal about his support for this type of engagement with faculty, staff and students to happen.
“SUNY Plattsburgh has a shared tradition of shared governance, and shared governance … means everybody has the same information to crowdsource the best solutions so that the decision maker can lead on everyone’s behalf,” he told the Press-Republican at the time.
“We need to engage all members — faculty, staff, students — because this challenge is not an easy one, but it requires the campus to punch well above its weight and not to hope for a ‘white knight’ to come and save the campus, because it is among many in a pack that are fighting for similar resources.”
These regular updates are expected to again feature enrollment, budget and strategic plan updates, as well as other news around campus, Enyedi said.
“I will amplify that with continued in-person visits where able, with the overarching purpose of this communication being a baseline from which to talk, listen and adjust.”