Please send this e-letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to support an $10 million increase to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, which is needed to financially stabilize this vital public institution.

This fiscal crisis is not due to college mismanagement, mission drift or enrollment declines. It’s a direct result of SUNY's decision to end $10 million in annual state support for the college. For ESF, that cut is equal to a third of its operating budget; it has created a structural deficit the campus continues to carry.

The SUNY Chancellor and Board of Trustees are making the college’s difficult financial situation worse by placing it into SUNY’s one-size-fits-all “stability planning” process. This austerity program has gutted programs and staff at other SUNY campuses such as Buffalo State, Fredonia and Potsdam.

ESF has already consolidated administrative units with other SUNY campuses and has announced a voluntary employee separation program. The college has also been told to terminate its graduate program as it currently exists. It will likely seek faculty layoffs and dismantle other programs.

The letter points out that at a time when the federal government is attacking science, cutting and freezing federal research funding, ending longstanding environmental protections and literally extorting colleges and universities, it is inconceivable that SUNY would choose this moment to further undermine one of the country’s most prestigious environmental schools.

Thank you for sending this letter!