Administrative News

Before a packed auditorium at Stony Brook University on Thursday, leaders of the United University Professionals union called on its members to combat the state budget cuts that have come from Albany since April, after Wall Street’s collapse caused state revenues to dry up.

Bundled in hats and scarves, more than 100 Stony Brook University students and faculty rallied in front of the Student Activities Center Wednesday afternoon in a call to arms against the budget cuts.

Stony Brook underreported campus crime in 2006, an audit by the New York State Comptroller’s office found. The comptroller found that Stony Brook failed to correctly report more crimes than any of the other SUNY schools that were audited.

Robert J. Lenahan, the Stony Brook's director of Campus Emergency Management, will be the new chief of the university police.

All but one of the special construction projects on campus are on hold in the wake of a budget crisis at the New York State level. Of the twelve “strategic initiative” capital projects that were approved in Stony Brook’s last five-year plan, only one – the construction of a student recreation center – is still going forward.

A 21-person committee, chaired by alumnus Richard Nasti, is responsible for seeking out the person who might replace University President Shirley Strum Kenny after she retires next June. At this stage, they're laying out the qualities the school is looking for in its next president.

President Shirley Strum Kenny’s struggle to curb incisive state budget cuts crossed heavily into Wednesday afternoon’s university convocation, where she welcomed 72 new faculty members to Stony Brook and introduced them to the tenuous financial environment in which they will start work.

Research assistants were embroiled in a dispute with Stony Brook University administration last weekend when a rally permit they submitted was held in limbo. Stony Brook University’s research assistants allege that the school tried to impede their attempts to unionize.

Pepsi is king at Stony Brook, and it will continue to reign for the next 10 years. The university’s exclusive contract with the beverage company kicked off this summer, replacing Coca-Cola products in dining halls and 140 vending machines across the university.

Stony Brook University is bracing for a second cut in its state support after the New York State budget was reduced sharply this summer. This cut, which comes in the wake of a smaller cut in the spring, strains Stony Brook’s ability to maintain its core academic programs.

The SUNY senior system administration is working on a deal with the state government that will ensure money generated from special revenue funds – which will be frozen under a recent state-mandated expenditure cap – will not be tapped by the state at the end of 2008-09 fiscal year, a Stony Brook University official said today.

President Shirley Strum Kenny has not been directly addressed by those who signed the Stony Brook University faculty petition declaring a loss of confidence in her leadership, a university official wrote in an e-mail. Kenny also does not foresee any direct resource conflicts between the College of Arts and Sciences and the new university programs.

Stony Brook University’s academic programs could face an unprecedented $20 million state budget cut, according to university officials at yesterday’s town hall meeting. The cut would come from both taxes and—for the first time—a state spending cap on special university revenues.

An online petition criticizing the leadership of Stony Brook President Shirley Strum Kenny has received 90 electronic signatures of tenured and tenure-track faculty at the university.

The petition, at least a week old, reads as follows:

The next time you park illegally on campus don’t expect to brush off the cost of the ticket. With parking fines scheduled to increase this November, and in some cases double, the casual accumulation of parking tickets in exchange for closer parking spots is looking a lot less appealing.