PLATTSBURGH — SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi says the college is not a “clone” of SUNY Potsdam and its current financial situation.
“They’re a very different institution with a different mission, and in many ways, a different market and niche that they serve,” Enyedi said, referring to the recent news that SUNY Potsdam is facing a $9 million deficit and would be discontinuing 14 degree programs and considering the closure of two campus buildings.
“But I want to acknowledge that everybody on our campus, and probably in the local community, is wondering, ‘Well, what’s going on? What does that mean for us?’”
Well, Enyedi assured SUNY Plattsburgh is in a much better financial situation. When they closed the books on their 2022-2023 budget, he said, they ended up spending just $16,000 more than they had money for.
“So we had a $16,000 deficit on a $55 million-plus budget,” he said.
UUP VIEW
The president said reports from the United University Professions (UUP) last year that SUNY Plattsburgh was facing a projected $7.8 million budget deficit were not accurate.
“From my perspective, it (that number) never existed,” he said. “It’s a fantasy.”
Asked where that number came from, UUP President Frederick E. Kowal explained they got it from this SUNY Plattsburgh document: tinyurl.com/57rhxvzj.
“The $7.8 million deficit figure for SUNY Plattsburgh, which we presented at a press conference at the campus in November 2022, was a bad number. We were off by $200,000. It should have been $7.6 million. That number appears in the SUNY Plattsburgh Budget Open Forum document, presented by Vice President for Administration and Finance Josee Larochelle on May 11, 2022,” Kowal said.
“The same document also projects a $3.19 million deficit for SUNY Plattsburgh for 2023-2024 (page 22). Further, it shows operating deficits for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. That’s the most current information we have. I think President Enyedi is much better suited than I to explain how his administration was able to end 2022-2023 with a $16,000 deficit after projecting a $7.6 million deficit for that year and a $3.91 million deficit in 2023-2024. These are the administration’s numbers, not UUP’s.”
Currently, though, Enyedi said the college has a $14 million surplus in cash reserves. He is estimating to end this fiscal year between $11-$12 million in the plus.
“So we’re still going to carry forward a positive balance,” he said.
Being in this financial spot has been the result of good budget management in recent years, he said.
“Our plan … is about being very thoughtful in terms of where do we move programs to, in terms of renewing programs or developing new programs. We’ve been doing the necessary work around reductions and I’ll say, budget changes, since I’ve been here well over three years,” Enyedi said.
“We’ve taken 20% out of our budget already in the last three years.”
When asked what that looks like, Enyedi said “I would say, look at the campus, you will see what it looks like.”
“We have students that are pleased with what the campus offers them. We’re offering all the classes … from the perspective that I’ve got, we are maintaining the level of service that’s aligned with the students that we enroll. I mean, we’re getting along with that. But I would say that the campus is doing very well with respect to what that looks like.”
PROGRAMS
Enyedi didn’t explicitly say whether or not certain programs — like the journalism program — would be facing any cuts.
“There’s always going to be speculation,” he said. “Everyone will express concerns.”
“When a department doesn’t receive a hire, they may automatically assume ‘oh, that’s not the direction that we want to be going.’ But what’s happening is that with the limited dollars that we’ve got, is that conversations are occurring within Academic Affairs, within the various schools, is where are the highest priority areas for our hiring? Where do we need to hire first?” he continued.
“And what usually hits a high priority is if you’ve got an accredited program, you’re going to have to make sure you’ve got the appropriate number of faculty to student ratio or else your accreditation becomes a challenge. So when there’s a limited pool of dollars, because you can never predict who’s going to retire or when, you have those conversations to say, ‘Well, where are the highest priorities for the money at this point in time?’”
Enyedi also touted that the campus has been the recipient of $4.3 million in state funding this year, the largest allocation in 20 years.
He said those funds help cover the expenses of salary adjustments that occur annually.
“We were the fifth highest allocation (among the comprehensive universities), in terms of new money coming to campus — $3.3 million of that is permanent, recurring dollars.”
Additionally, Enyedi said the campus received millions of dollars from the state construction fund for several projects, including an estimated $34 million for the Memorial Hall renovation; $6.7 million approved for a design phase for a new welcome and alumni center at Redcay Hall; $5.7 million for masonry work at Kehoe; $8.3 million for Field House gymnasium renovations and a new roof; and almost $4 million for heating and air conditioning upgrades in Myers.
“I call us an investment center,” he said.
MORE WORK
While the campus is in a better place than most, though, it’s not all perfect.
Enyedi recognized that the issues SUNY Potsdam is facing — low enrollment, budget challenges and competing against other colleges for students — are not unique to that campus.
“We’re in that same ecosystem, but the good news is that we’ve been doing a couple of things simultaneously.”
Enyedi said Plattsburgh has developed initiatives, like their Strategic Plan, to get out ahead of the challenges being faced by the nearby institutions.
The college’s Strategic Plan, he said, focuses on four critical components: building enrollment to a stable number; dedication to student success by building up support on campus; focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion and creating a supportive campus environment for all; and a commitment and dedication to North Country engagement.
On the college’s strategic plan, Kowal said, “UUP certainly supports diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at SUNY campuses, as well as creating a supportive environment for our students.”
Since the plan was implemented, Enyedi said the number of applications they received this year jumped up to 11,385 — 30.6% higher than in 2021.
When “all the dust settled” that translated to 1,761 new students this fall. Now, as it stands, SUNY Plattsburgh has between 4,425 and 4,450 students enrolled, which is roughly 50 students or 1% lower than a year ago.
“The retention piece is the next piece, because right now our retention sits around 70% or 71%. We want to bump it up to 82%.”
STUDENT NEEDS
Perhaps the most important aspect of retaining students moving forward, Enyedi said, is knowing who the students are.
He said meeting the needs of the new generation — Generation P — is a priority for the college leadership and they have made the necessary investments in mental health services to do so.
“As we go through our recruitment and our orientation, I would even have parents ask me and say, what sorts of mental health supports do you have on your campus for my son or daughter? I’ve never been asked that with such frequency until the last two years,” he said. “So that’s a big deal.”
“Everything we do is to ensure the success of the students.”