2019-20 Executive Budget Impact on UAlbany

• Approximately $56.4 million in state tax support for the University at Albany (similar to last year’s level). The SUNY system would receive $708 million in direct state tax support, similar to last year.
• A continuation of the 2017-18 restoration of the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) and Predictable Tuition Plan.
• System-wide, SUNY institutions will spend $64 million to cover the TAP tuition gap.
• Tuition revenue was held flat at 2018-19 levels and is expected to sufficiently accommodate a maximum $200/year increase to resident undergraduate tuition rates and increases to other tuition rates as planned. This is the third year of four years of scheduled tuition increases.
• A reappropriation* in capital funding for the development of the new College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; $15 million was originally appropriated in the 2014-15 Enacted Budget.
• A reappropriation for the NYSTAR Center of Excellence in Atmospheric and Environmental Prediction and Innovation at the University at Albany; $250,000 was originally appropriated in the 2015-16 Enacted Budget.
• $1.24 million for the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the University at Albany (CARD Albany), which brings research and practice together in community settings.
• Level funding of $235,000 for Just for the Kids (Know Your Schools-for NY Kids) within the School of Education, the only New York-focused, evidenced-based school improvement program in the State that compares the performance of equally-resourced and similarly challenged schools.
• Level funding of $261,600 for the Public Health Management Leaders of Tomorrow program (PHLOT), established in 2006, which strengthens the public health infrastructure across New York State.
• Level funding of $148,000 for the Center for Health Workforce Studies, a not-for-profit research organization that provides timely, accurate data and policy-relevant research about the health workforce.
• Level funding of $32,000 for Public Health Live, a monthly webcast series designed to provide continuing education opportunities on public health issues.
• Level funding of $100,000 for the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society for the Immigrant Integration Index.
• $18 million to be allocated according to a plan by the SUNY Board of Trustees (SUNY Performance and Investment Fund).
• Full support of State-operated campus employee benefits and bonded capital costs.
• Inclusion of direct state tax funding to aid in mitigating the impact of the United University Professions (UUP) retroactive payment in 2018-19.
• Continued implementation of the Excelsior Scholarship Program, with eligibility increased to $125,000 in family taxable income a year. Last year, UAlbany had more than 1,000 students receiving a full Excelsior award.
• Implementation of the DREAM Act, with a $27 million investment, which would make undocumented students eligible for TAP as well as the Excelsior Scholarship Program and other State-administered scholarships.
• Extension of design/build authority to the Dormitory Authority (DASNY) but does not include SUNY or the State University Construction Fund.
• Requirement that SUNY, CUNY and their affiliated construction funds (SUCF and CUCF) submit contracts for construction, commodities, computer equipment and printing valued in excess of $250,000 for pre-audit to the offices of the State Comptroller and Inspector General.
• Requirement that the SUNY RF submit contracts for pre-audit by the office of the State Comptroller and Inspector General where State funding is in excess of $1 million.
• Requirement that the Office of General Services (OGS) must submit centralized contracts in excess of $85,000 (excluding any purchases, purchase orders, or other procurement transactions issued under such transactions) for pre-audit.

*A reappropriation is a legislative enactment that continues any undisbursed balance of an appropriation that would otherwise lapse. It allows the program to keep money that was set aside in previous years but not spent.

• Since the Governor established the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) in 2014, enrollment has grown exponentially – as of mid-January, there are over 600 declared majors in the undergraduate major in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (launched in August 2016) and almost 400 declared majors in the undergraduate major in Informatics, the only fully online major at the University. Due to the College’s surging enrollment, demand is outpacing the University’s ability to sustain the grown trajectory in the near term and as a result, we have requested $2 million in bridge funding from the State that will allow UAlbany to leverage this enormous interest and dramatically increase the College’s capacity and impact.
  
  
• Construction of the Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex (ETEC) building is well underway. The steel structure of the building is being completed and floor slabs will be poured by early spring 2019. The site work portions of the job are largely complete, including the installation of the geothermal well field which will provide energy efficient heating and cooling to the building. Occupancy is anticipated in mid-2021. This project is the signature construction project in UAlbany’s NYSUNY 2020 plan. ETEC will be home to the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC), the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (DAES), the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), the New York State Mesonet, and the University’s Environmental and Sustainable Engineering programs along with private partners, business development functions and instructional and research programs in Chemistry. 
  
  
• Construction of the New York State Mesonet system, comprised of state-of-the-art weather-detection stations statewide to provide a broader picture of current weather conditions with real-time data, was completed last March with 126 weather stations statewide – including 17 profilers that create three-dimensional, high-resolution observations for optimum reliability and accuracy. The project was funded with a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and implemented in partnership with DHSES. The new system, which will augment the 27 stations now used the National Weather Service, will ensure emergency managers are better equipped to make decisions and deploy resources to protect life and property during extreme weather events. We have secured $750,000 in operating support for 2018-19 through an MOU with SUNY and the rights to sell data licenses and to meet the growing volume of requests from state agencies, we are seeking annual support of $1.5 million
  
  
• The University at Albany’s Health Sciences Campus is home to the largest concentration of health science-related entities in the Capital Region, including the University’s School of Public Health and Cancer Research Center, the Pharmaceutical Research Institute affiliated with Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the Neural Stem Cell Institute. Major health-related corporations – such as Taconic, AMRI and Regeneron – are also on campus. The campus will leverage the expertise in UAlbany’s health-related academic programs, promote economic efficiencies and cultivate new opportunities for entrepreneurs, businesses, faculty, and students through the Blackstone Launchpad and Innovate 518 program. Our goal is to make the Health Sciences Campus a premier global hub for research, development, and commercialization in the health care industry.