By ryan March 9, 2001
The Committee on Land Grant and Statutory College Affairs met in the Statler Hotel yesterday to discuss the welfare of Cornell University’s four state-funded colleges: the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The panel, led by committee chair Peter Ten Eyck, discussed the University’s need for funding in areas such as on-campus renovations and improvements, financial aid, staff and faculty salaries and outreach programs, all as a result of the committee’s unanimous decision to propose an increase in Statutory tuition. The Board of Trustees will vote upon the proposal today. “The operating budget and tuition for 2001-02 does not look as promising as we hoped,” said Carolyn Ainslie, vice president for planning and budget. “We are expecting we will be short $13 million after allocation from SUNY, contract rents, central services costs and library acquisition.” To fill the $13 million gap, the proposed increase for undergraduate state residents is $1,140 and $1,300 for non-residents. This is more than last year’s increase of $500 for residents and $1,000 for non-residents. Graduate tuition is increasing by 9.5 percent as well. “We want to maintain our quality of excellence, [but also] attract and retain students,” Ainslie said. “The state will still provide aid to families and we will continue to work with SUNY to gain state help.” Though the amount of tuition allotted for financial aid has been steadily dropping and is currently at 12 percent, Ainslie stated that, to ease off students, the committee has solicited three outside sources for aid. First, the Board of Trustees increased the endowment payoff contribution by 18 percent. The Board also devised a long-term fundraising campaign to relieve the budget while still meeting the costs of increasing faculty salaries. Lastly, the Trustees decided to request a larger statutory contribution from the State University of New York (SUNY). According to Ainslie, the major drive for the increase in tuition is a $5.9 million staff and faculty compensation initiative. Ainslie stated that the University could not meet its financial needs last semester, having received only $58.3 million of the $175 million requested from the SUNY Construction fund. “[Receiving SUNY funds] is a real challenge for a major national research university,” said Henrik N. Dullea ’61, vice president for University relations. “We do not have a lot of area representatives for Ithaca, but Cornell has a reputation in our state capitol for excellence.” After taking legislative action, Cornell received $77.1 million from SUNY, which was still not enough to meet the budget. As a result, Mann Library and Stocking Hall were not renovated, though the University has been seeking state support for renovation projects in these buildings for years. This year Ainslie stated her hopes for the University to receive more money from the SUNY Construction Fund, but is also looking to other sources for aid. “Our wish list for the next cycle is not finished,” she said. “But it is in the hundred million dollar range.” There was some controversy on the panel about whether to turn to sources outside of SUNY for funding. “We want to generate new programs at the state level but we don’t want to go outside the SUNY system because of the possible ramifications,” Dullea said. Some feared that using private funds for state projects would cause the state to refuse to pay when a renovation was needed. Though the funds have not been received yet, Ainslie reported that plans for a Bailey Hall construction project are underway and some of the money will go towards that. According to Provost Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin, the University has to prove its excellence to SUNY before more funds can be received. “We can’t just ask SUNY for more money because we do the best research,” Martin said. “We have to present the totality of what we do and why it is better than what other SUNY campuses do.” Francille Firebaugh, director of special projects, stressed the importance of outreach and extension to the community in addition to the teaching and research that occurs in the statutory colleges. The committee agreed that land grant colleges want to do more than just educate their students. Land grant has a duty to inform the public of Cornell’s research, and conduct research that is in public interest. “We have initiated discussions about what it means to be SUNY land grant to rethink land grant missions,” Martin said. “It is our opinion that we can do a better job. We want to think about land grant in terms of the whole college, not just the statutory colleges.” CALS Dean Susan Henry agreed. “We want to offer a practical, liberal education that is relevant to the lives of its citizens and thus requires the entire University to provide education that is absolutely essential,” she said. “We want to point out research as a component to our education and convey that research to the public.” In addition to keeping the community well informed the panel spoke of incorporating a business component to the outreach. “Economic development is about creating jobs,” said Patsy Brannon, dean of the College of Human Ecology. “We need people with knowledge and skills to take those jobs. We are not just building new jobs but training the people to sustain them.” “We need to reconceptualize the land grant mission,” Martin said. “We need to lessen the lines between the statutory and endowed colleges.”Archived article by Rachel Einschlag
By ryan March 9, 2001
The Ithaca Commons is moving forward with its mission for growth. Several developments have taken place recently, leading to the creation of new businesses, while at the same time, many already established stores are experiencing major growth and expansion. Cornell will have its own impact on the growth in the downtown area. “The new Cornell office building expected to be completed in 2004 will house 500 employees and undoubtedly will have a significant impact on the retail community. Extra employees will work downtown and patronize the retailers as part of this worthwhile investment,” said Gary Ferguson, executive director of the Ithaca Downtown Partnership. Expansion and movement have been the buzz words lately out of store owners’ mouths downtown. “We are expanding Ithaca Books because customer demand has been so high,” said James Curran, president of Ithaca Books. Along with expanding at the bookstore’s spot, Curran has purchased a 21,000 square foot building set to open in April on Trumansburg Road. It will house all Internet, mail order and warehouse operations for the store. “The Commons attracts our target audience. It is really all about connections and having a strong sense of what is happening in the marketplace,” Curran said. Logos Bookstore — under new ownership — has moved into the former McDonald’s lot and is scheduled to reopen at the end of March. Customer demand is currently so high that it was necessary to expand to three and a half times the size of the original store, according to Curran. The new space will be able to accommodate an increase from 25,000 to 75,000 — the number of books the store hopes to accumulate over the next several months. Autumn Leaves — a used bookstore — is occupying the former Logos Building and will triple its size by the first of April. Lost Dog Cafe on South Cayuga Street is near 80 percent complete and will open later in the spring, according to Ferguson. The Commons is growing, but the type of businesses the Commons needs is up for debate. “Since the city is planning for more development on the Southwest side, this will ultimately hurt the downtown area,” said Himat Patel, co-owner of Quiktex one-hour photo. Patel calls for a large department store chain compete with the Southwest development — which could include a Target and Pier 1 Imports — to provide customers with choice. Dana Gerhart, the store manager of Morris’ Men’s Wear, disagrees. “The specialty retail stores make downtown Ithaca unique,” she said. “The city is putting a good deal of money into the Commons and media attention will undoubtedly lead to more business interest,” said Josh Eckenrode, store manager of Beyond The Wall Posters. Ferguson stressed that there is room to bring in a diverse group of stores to the Commons. “The biggest objective is to bring more variety of stores to the commons and improve the physical environment. There are currently a half dozen spaces left on the commons. We are looking to evolve into a specialty center for housing, office space, tourism and the retail sector,” he said. Archived article by Chris Westgate