I. Introduction
Good day, everyone.
As we wrap up another inspiring academic year, I want to turn now to providing some updates related to our institution.
The theme that will be threaded through this update is about building a strong future for Buffalo State: Investing in our areas of strength while continuing to refine a portfolio of program offerings to meet student demand and improve operations across the campus.
II. Enrollment and milestones
To begin, we have achieved some significant milestones, and I want to start with one that really encompasses everything we do together here at Buffalo State to help our students soar.
This effort is best measured by the persistence of our students. I shared a few months ago that the early indicators were strong and today I want to share our final persistence numbers for Fall 2024 to Spring 2025: 83.4%. This is up 7 percentage points from the prior year and the strongest result we’ve had as a campus since 2017.
These numbers reflect an incredible amount of work achieved across all divisions that contribute to the student experience and academic success.
We also know this is a predictor of our retention rate and we can already see a strong returning student body registering for the fall. We also appear to be holding our own with moving toward our enrollment goal for first-time students in fall as well.
Our Roar 2 Success cohort achieved an 89.7% persistence rate—an improvement of 22 percentage points. We are investing in Roar 2 Success by expanding it to a two-year program to follow students until they move into their major.
Dual credit enrollment has grown by 65% over 2024, with 1,296 students taking 1,717 courses—generating more than $300,000 in gross revenue. Congratulations to the Continuing Professional Studies team for their work.
We are pleased to announce we have entered into a direct admit agreement with Buffalo Public Schools to seamlessly enroll students into Buffalo State. We are also in conversations with the school districts of Williamsville, Kenmore and Niagara Falls.
Additionally, we are happy to be moving forward with partnerships such as the Buffalo Co-Lab extension of the ILR School at Cornell University and continuing our collaboration with DaVinci High School as we plan for both the academic experience and the logistics of their students' arrival on campus.
It is important to also highlight ongoing support from New York State. The recently approved state budget included $2.6 million in additional operating aid for Buffalo State, bringing the total increase in state support for the last three years to $10.7 million. We thank the Governor and Legislature for supporting SUNY schools statewide. In the end, we also know this funding is not a substitute for our continued work at the campus level to increase revenues and control our expenses.
III. Recap of recent actions and current context
While I have shared examples of some gains we have made, the reality is in the last 10 years, student headcount at Buffalo State has fallen by approximately 45%, with a 25% reduction in the last five years, and a 5% percent reduction from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024. Despite that dramatic decrease in enrollment, changes were not made to staffing and programming. While the enrollment decrease was approximately 45%, staffing only decreased by approximately 25%.
As a result, we have employed several tactics to reduce expenses with varied results, including a hiring freeze and fiscal restraints on other than personal service spending. A review of also receives/extra service/overtime policy across all divisions is expected to lead to a reduction of $300,000 in 2025-26.
The campus implemented a voluntary separation program and a phased VSP, resulting in about 60 retirements.
While we have held true to not replacing open positions created by VSP efforts, our "doing more with less strategy" has reached its limit. It's now time to focus on what is mission critical to deliver for our students. We are looking at every area of our workforce for salary and cost savings, as well as continuing to evaluate OTPS. No area or department will be exempt from this process.
As we near the end of our fiscal year, we currently project our deficit will be between $15.5 million and $17.5 million. We know we must continue the hard but necessary work to climb out of this deficit financial situation. We are taking the steps that will bolster our ability to thrive long-term and deliver for our students, and we will continue to do so.
IV. New actions: Academic
I am announcing difficult, but strategic, moves being made to put Buffalo State in position to excel at the work we do best: Developing students into leaders who have a positive impact on our society.
Buffalo State participated this spring in a SUNY pilot program. This provided us with the technical assistance in order for our campus to identify programs that have inadequate student demand based on:
- enrollment levels,
- student retention, and
- student completion rates over the last three years.
The next step in aligning program offerings with student demand is to begin a program deactivation process, with faculty governance involvement, for select programs.
All current students enrolled in the programs will have the opportunity to complete their degrees with full academic support throughout the transition period. In addition, the campus will follow all appropriate processes and requirements via shared governance, as outlined in Buffalo State policy.
Nineteen programs are being recommended for deactivation, including six bachelor’s programs, two master’s programs, seven minors and four certificate programs. The number of undergraduate students currently majoring in the impacted programs is 65. The number of graduate students pursuing a degree in the impacted programs is seven. This total represents 1% of all Buffalo State students.
The bachelor’s programs are Physics, Sociology and Art History. Concentrations in Fibers, Sculpture and Wood/Furniture are being deactivated from the Art and Design program, but all other concentrations remain. Art History classes will be incorporated into the Art and Design curriculum and Art History will be offered as a minor.
A full list of the 19 programs is available here.
Through the technical assistance received from the SUNY pilot program, Buffalo State also has identified programs that should receive increased investment. For example, new or recently revised programs approved in response to changing student and community needs include minors in Business, and Ethics and Justice; the Applied Psychology B.A..; and the Applied Behavior Analysis M.S.
Also, the School of Education and the Continuing and Professional Studies office are collaborating with Erie I BOCES to develop a microcredential that will provide preparation for school district business leaders, directly addressing the stated needs of employers.
Additionally, the merging of the School of Education and the School of the Professions will move up one year and take place this fall. This timeline, recommended by the SOE-SOP Implementation Team, will allow us to realize both academic and financial efficiencies ahead of schedule.
V. New actions: Non-academic operations
To ensure the continued viability of our other programs, Buffalo State will evaluate staffing levels against existing student populations across campus and consider an adjustment in workforce to serve its existing enrollment.
This will include engaging in workforce optimization planning and realignment of services to meet operational needs. Temporary services and appointments will also be reviewed.
Everyone will be part of this process, and no department will be excluded. In fact, the Office of the President will also be reducing its workforce to aid in supporting the continued operational health of the campus.
We are also looking at ways to work with other SUNY institutions to share services and are reviewing all contracts to determine their need and value to the enterprise.
VI. Overall impact
It is initially estimated the academic and operational changes may result in up to 63 full-time equivalent reductions in staffing, which will be achieved through termination of temporary appointments, non-renewals of term appointments and, finally, retrenchment, only when necessary. These staffing changes will not be immediate as we continue to ensure students currently majoring in programs that are being deactivated have the opportunity to complete their degrees.
Colleagues, this is a difficult, but strategic process. Together, these improvements will enhance and strengthen Buffalo State’s ability to fulfill its mission, provide quality academic programming to its students, and serve the needs of its community.
VII. Conclusion
Please continue to monitor your email over the summer for updated information.
I will be providing the official annual update on our Sustainability Plan after the fiscal year is closed on June 30, and we reconcile our progress with SUNY. Expect a report by email by the end of July. We will position ourselves to be on target for a balanced plan by 2027-28.
I wish you all a restful and relaxing summer. I thank you for your support as we navigate these challenging waters and build a strong future for our beloved Buffalo State. Onward and upward.