SUNY Drops Plan to Appoint One President Over 2 Campuses

The State University of New York has ditched a controversial plan to appoint one president over two campuses in the 64-campus system. In an effort to save money and spend more on instruction, the SUNY administration had planned to have one president oversee the Canton and Potsdam campuses. But after staff and faculty protests in August, a New York State senator, Patricia A. Ritchie, intervened, introducing a bill that would have required each campus to have its own president. On Tuesday, Senator Ritchie said the plan would have threatened the identity and independence of the campuses. The original SUNY plan would also have brought two other pairs of campuses under single leaders. A SUNY spokesman, David Henahan, said on Tuesday that even though there will be two presidents on those campuses, there will still be a consolidation of the administrative structure at Canton and Potsdam because of the pressing need to cut costs.