SUNY Fredonia is holding the line on its finances – but that’s likely small consolation to campus officials who continue to stare at an eight-figure deficit.

Michael Kelly, campus vice president for finance and administration, reported at the last College Council meeting that the financial situation has changed little from the council’s last meeting in October. If anything, the situation has slightly improved because the campus wound up with a higher enrollment than budgeted, he said.

“We’re ahead of budget and we’re anticipating staying ahead of budget the rest of the school year,” Kelly said.

However, the numbers on the slides Kelly showed were still well in the red. The biggest one: SUNY Fredonia’s shortfall, before cuts and before any extra funding gets scraped up, is about $17.2 million.

Kelly touted minor cuts, stating, “Every little bit helps.” For example, the campus will save $5,000 by using University Police to guard payroll deposits at the bank, instead of a private security company.

Kelly also mentioned that increased sales of SUNY Fredonia-branded items, spurred by expanded Internet marketing, netted the campus an extra $10,000 in the fall.

There’s also $295,000 in savings SUNY Fredonia got from the first phase of the Lanford House renovation coming in under budget through the state construction fund. The house is the home of SUNY Fredonia presidents. President Stephen Kolison was forced to relocate due to the renovations before returning this fall. They will continue, with exterior work now planned, but the interior is essentially complete.

However, the above things won’t solve SUNY Fredonia’s biggest financial problem: it needs more tuition-paying students. As Kelly put it, “Our general operation resources are largely driven by tuition.”

Kolison announced a cost-cutting plan to eliminate 13 majors earlier in December, a week before the College Council meeting.