By Mark Wozniak
Buffalo, NY – Governor Andrew Cuomo has laid out a plan to have the University at Buffalo and SUNY's three other university centers, in Albany, Binghamton and Stony Brook, compete for additional state funding.
Under the proposal, dubbed NYSUNY 2020. Unwer the proposal, each school would work up a plan to improve its campus and its region's economy. UB officials are praising the plan.
University at Buffalo President Satish K. Tripathi praised the Governor and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher for the NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant Program. The capital funding initiative involving UB, Albany, Binghamton and Stony Brook is expected to make SUNY a leading catalyst for job growth throughout the state, as well as strengthening the academic programs of the four SUNY University Centers.
The campuses would submit proposals for capital projects that could receive a maximum of about $35 million each. Western New York lawmakers said UB also could submit as part of its application, proposals to raise tuition and to enter into public-private partnerships.
Those elements of the plan would require legislative approval.