Dear Commons Community,

My colleague, Jack Hammond (Hunter College),  passed along the URL for an article that appeared in Crain’s New York.  The article describes the cutbacks that have started at SUNY and CUNY.  For SUNY, it has already led to recommendations to close departments and  retrench tenured faculty.  At CUNY,  the cutbacks have resulted in a  hiring freeze and increases in tuition.  For the coming year, it is likely that the bulk of the funding shortfalls will be borne by the students via tuition increases.

Earlier this year I posted on the cutbacks to higher education in the United Kingdom   (see  https://apicciano.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2010/10/12/browne-report-on-higher-education-in-the-u-k/

https://apicciano.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2010/10/16/browne-report-%E2%80%93-phase-ii-massive-cuts-in-funding-to-higher-education/

https://apicciano.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2010/11/11/browne-report-phase-iii-%E2%80%93-52000-protest-cuts-to-higher-education-in-the-u-k/

In the UK, there have been protests some of which have led to violence.

Here in New York State, we are awaiting Governor-Elect Cuomo’s plan for closing the budget gap and what it means for CUNY and SUNY.  Without a doubt, it is going to be a difficult fiscal situation for public higher education for the next several years.

Tony