OBSERVER Photo On Thursday, SUNY Fredonia announced that 20 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and almost a dozen administrative offices and support services are being considered for elimination or reduction as part of the 2019-2020 budget planning and beyond.

As part of the next phase of SUNY Fredonia’s Procedures for Emergency Program Reduction/Elimination (PEPRE), President Virginia Horvath, Ph.D., announced that 20 undergraduate and graduate degree programs are being considered for elimination or reduction. Additionally, three administrative and support services and eight administrative offices are being considered for reduction or elimination. Other cost-saving measures include the suspension of the two advertised dean searches and the cancellation of the search for a development associate (fundraiser) in Advancement, Engagement and Economic Development. According to Horvath, the phone calls, visits and even petitions have already been coming into her office.

Horvath told the OBSERVER that about 10 years ago, multiple SUNY campuses were announcing plans to reduce or eliminate select programs, which led SUNY Fredonia to create the plan that became known as PEPRE. “We hoped never to use it,” she explained. “I was vice president for academic affairs at the time, and we thought, ‘What would the criteria be if we were to reduce the number of academic programs?'”

Horvath continued, “Every year, we’ve tried to reduce our operating expenses, knowing we’d be out of reserves this year.” In her April presentation about the 2018-2019 operating budget for the college, Horvath explained that the campus would be addressing this challenge by focusing on enrollment, student success, advocacy for state support for higher education and careful reviews of ways to be more efficient in operations and programs. In that report, Horvath also addressed rumors and replied, “We are not out of cash. We are not on the brink of bankruptcy or closing. We need to reduce our expenses to avoid borrowing next year.” To that end, programs, offices and services were considered based on demand, cost to operate, centrality to SUNY Fredonia’s mission and quality of programs.

Undergraduate degree programs being considered for elimination/reduction are BA Applied Mathematics, BA Art History, BA Earth Science, BA French, BA French: Adolescent Education, BA Philosophy, BFA Ceramics, BFA Film and Video, BFA Sculpture, BS Industrial Management, BS Mathematical Sciences: Middle Childhood and BS Mathematics: Physics. Graduate degree programs being considered for elimination/reduction are CAS Bilingual, CAS Professional Writing, CAS TESOL, MA English, MA Language and Learning, MM Music Theory: Composition, MS Biology and MsEd Mathematics.

Administrative and support services being considered for elimination/reduction are Fleet Services, Phone Service and Professional Development Center. Administrative offices being considered for elimination/reduction are Office of Graduate Studies, Office of the Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, Office of University Services, Office of Facilities Planning, Office of the VP for Advancement, Engagement and Economic Development, Office of the VP for Enrollment and Student Services, Office of the VP for Finance and Administration and President’s Office and Reports.

Horvath emphasized that an office or service on the list is not necessarily being eliminated, but the supervisor of that area is being asked to propose ways to reduce administrative costs and evaluate other ways to provide essential services. Similarly, departments or subjects of study are not being eliminated. Rather, academic programs with low enrollment may be eliminated.

“This week, I informed people who oversee those offices and programs that one or more had been identified for possible reduction and/or elimination,” Horvath said in an email to the campus on Thursday. “No final decisions have been made on program reduction/elimination,” she continued. “As part of this process, identified areas will, if they choose, submit a response to the potential elimination/reduction by February 1, 2019. The responses will be available for review by the members of the Cabinet and Senate-designated representatives in the next step of the PEPRE process. I will announce final decisions on any program reductions/eliminations by March 15, 2019.”

“I know people are concerned that if you have a liberal arts college, you need to teach certain disciplines,” Horvath told the OBSERVER. “We ensure that students have exposure to a lot of foundational courses outside their majors. It doesn’t mean that faculty who teach in the degree program will be out of a job in March. There’s plenty for them to teach. In terms of cost, we’ve been using analytics to determine administrative costs per hour for programs and offices or services, and we are trying to reduce those costs.”

Horvath explained that although a degree program may be eliminated, courses in that degree program may still be available. “If only two students choose that degree program, there may be another option we can provide them that will give them what they want,” she said.

Although Horvath anticipates a negative reaction from some, she understands their concerns. “Change is always hard for people, and our financial situation is always a challenge.” She went on to explain that students currently enrolled or accepted in a degree program that has been designated for elimination will be able to complete their degrees. “If the campus makes a decision to deactivate a particular program, it still has to be decided at the SUNY level,” she said. According to Horvath, program reductions and eliminations are unlikely to go into effect until the 2020-2021 academic year.

Horvath explained to the OBSERVER that Fredonia is not the only SUNY campus that is considering such cost-saving measures and reducing the number of academic programs. “Our costs continue to rise, but our allocation from the state is relatively flat, which is not a new situation,” Horvath said. “In New York State, we’re in an unusual situation that the legislature sets the tuition, the price. Many of our fixed prices are determined off campus in Albany and state-wide unions.” She went on to give an example of one of the rising costs associated with SUNY Fredonia’s campus — faculty and staff raises — and said, “These are well-deserved raises, but I would rather see increased base support so we don’t have increased expenses.” This and similar situations are what caused the campus to dip into the reserve funds in recent years. The campus has not been able to contribute to the reserve, which was built up, in part, when high school enrollment (and therefore college enrollment) was at its peak in New York state some 10 years ago. Since then, enrollment has continued to be a challenge for the college, Horvath explained.

“Any solutions — people are welcome to bring them forward,” Horvath said. “It is about people: the students we serve, the goals we have in the community to provide an education to help people’s personal goals, their family and the workforce, and to be responsible with the citizens of New York who have entrusted us with delivering these programs.” To read Horvath’s complete 2018-2019 SUNY Fredonia budget update, https://www.fredonia.edu/about/offices/budget.