Albany – On Monday,
SUNY Student Assembly President Thomas D. Mastro testified at the joint budget
hearing before the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees.
President Mastro first testified in the
early afternoon alongside SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and the Presidents of
the University at Albany, Potsdam, and Monroe Community College. Mastro’s
testimony carried one strong message: SUNY students overwhelmingly support the
continuation of a fair, equitable and predictable tuition plan as laid out
under NYSUNY 2020. After five years of the plan, Mastro says, “Our student
leaders spoke with a loud, clear, and unified voice. They said we cannot afford
to be left in the dark. They said we cannot afford sporadic and unpredictable
tuition hikes." When the Student Assembly General Assembly met last
spring, the renewal of NYSUNY 2020 passed 59-4 with one abstention.
Later that afternoon other leaders from
the Student Assembly joined Mastro to speak on their larger legislative agenda.
Testifying on behalf of students were Vice President Melissa Kathan, Chief of
Staff Marc Cohen, and Director of Legislative Affairs Nicholas Simons.
Vice President Kathan testified on the
importance of reinstating tuition assistance for graduate students, known as
Graduate TAP. Currently, only undergraduate students are eligible for TAP aid.
"Our nearly 41,000 graduate students should have the same access to aid as
any student pursuing his or her education" said Kathan. She went on
to discuss the importance of disability accommodations stating that, "A
student’s opportunity to obtain an education must not be impeded by a campus’
physical or structural insufficiencies." As a senior who will enroll at
the University at Buffalo’s Law School in the autumn, she strongly
supports the expansion of TAP eligibility so that graduate students can succeed
without financial worries impeding their academic growth.
Director Simons spoke at length with
regard to increased funding for SUNY childcare centers. "Among the most
significant issues facing our non-traditional students is the inadequacies
surrounding childcare funding," said Simons. These centers serve students,
faculty, and community members at 50 of SUNY’s campuses, and would be
negatively impacted by the proposed $1.1 million cut as set forth in the
Governor's executive budget.
Last to testify was the Assembly's Chief
of Staff, Marc Cohen. Cohen testified on the need for increased community
college base aid, which had been touched upon by Chancellor Zimpher earlier.
"For all the good that our community colleges do, all of the ways the
students contribute back to their communities, they are grossly
underfunded," said Cohen. "The proposal in the Executive Budget of a
flat Base Operating Aid per full-time equivalent of $2,597 would mean a year to
year decrease in direct state tax support of nearly $21 million,” he continued.
The full testimony can be viewed online through the New York State
Assembly. The
testimony of the Chancellor and President Mastro begins three minutes in, and
the testimony of President Mastro, Vice President Kathan, Chief of Staff Cohen,
and Director Simons begins at 6 hours and twenty-one minutes.
Source: SUNYSA
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