America’s largest higher education union says it is ready to fight any planned or proposed cuts to programs, faculty, or staff at the State University of New York at Fredonia to reduce the college’s projected deficit.

On Monday, United University Professions President Fred Kowal and statewide Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl were at SUNY Fredonia to deliver that message to members at the campus. They also insist that SUNY has funding to support cash-strapped campuses across the state — and must make it available to campuses in need.

“We are here to tell our members at Fredonia, as well as students and the community, that UUP will fight any and all attempts by SUNY and administration to cut programs at this college,” said Kowal. “We will fight this every step of the way because what’s at stake is so important–our members, our students and our communities.”

No cuts to programs or staff have been announced, but UUP is concerned that plans may be in the works to slash degree programs at SUNY Fredonia and other campuses facing projected multimillion-dollar deficits. In September, SUNY Potsdam announced plans to cut 14 degree programs–and associated faculty and staff– to reduce a projected $9 million deficit. Last week, Potsdam administration announced that it will keep four of those programs.

“(There is) $163 million in new SUNY state funding available in the enacted budget to erase deficits at Fredonia, Potsdam and 17 other financially troubled campuses,” said Kowal. “But the SUNY Board of Trustees chose not to distribute the funds based on campus need. This is a manufactured crisis and we’re concerned that Potsdam will become the template for similar cuts at financially troubled campuses like Fredonia or Buffalo State University to lower enrollments and ultimately close campuses.

“We will not let this happen.”

SUNY Fredonia’s deficit was about $16 million as of December 2022.

At the start of the semester, SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison distributed to staff noting that there will be $10 million in unspecified cuts at the university over the next five years. “Though we have taken substantial steps to reduce expenditures in the last three years, as I presented to you in my August 16, 2023, State of the University Address, a steeper path lies ahead,” Kolison wrote. “Consequently, I will propose a plan to decrease our annual expenses by $10 million over the next five years, underpinning our commitment to fiscal responsibility. Our goal is to make this endeavor a collaborative one, involving critical inputs from stakeholders and our SUNY partners.”

In addition to the money directly held by SUNY, SUNY Fredonia and Potsdam have campus foundations with substantial holdings. Kowal questioned why dollars from these campus foundations haven’t been used to wipe out deficits at the colleges.

“Utilizing campus foundation dollars to avert program cuts at these campuses would also fulfill the stated goals of these foundations,” Kowal said. “Given the multitude of options, there is no need to consider any of these cuts.”

The Fredonia College Foundation, which reports assets of $48.3 million as of December 2022, has a mission to “promote, advance and support the activities and programs of Fredonia,” according to the SUNY Fredonia website.

According to that same Foundation, 95% or more of the 600-plus endowed funds are restricted, which means they may only be utilized for the specific purposes outlined in the donors original gift agreement. Unrestricted dollars may be used to support the University’s areas of greatest need, but currently represent less than 5% of the yearly available dollars.