COLLEGES BOOST RESEARCH SPENDING; SUNY CAMPUSES IN CNY GET 28 PERCENT MORE THAN THEY DID FIVE YEARS AGO
BYLINE: By Nancy Buczek Staff writer
Central New York's State University of New York campuses are chasing more government and private dollars as they try to make their campuses destinations for faculty and students and, in some cases, stimulate the local economy.
Five local SUNY campuses spent about $60.3 million from federal, state and private sources in the past fiscal year on research projects and other activities, according to a report from the SUNY Research Foundation. The foundation's Sponsored Program Activity Report was issued in September and shows spending by campus from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006.
"It's an infusion of money not just to the school but to the community," said SUNY Chancellor John R. Ryan. "We're part of the solutions for the economy for New York."
Ryan said this type of external money can help campuses by allowing them to develop state-of-the-art facilities, which attract faculty members doing cutting-edge research. The local and state economy can benefit if the research is introduced into the marketplace, he said.
The five local SUNY campuses listed in the report on average spent 28 percent more from government and private sources than they did five years ago. Each local institution posted an increase compared with five years ago in its spending of sponsored program money. But SUNY Cortland's spending was only about $34,000 more than five years ago, so its percentage increase was flat, according to the report.
Taxpayers helped pay for some of the campus projects because the U.S. government provided more than half of SUNY's research money, according to The Research Foundation Web site. The largest sponsors were the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to the site.
Morrisville State College President Ray Cross said the college will continue to seek this type of money, especially for applied research in the areas of the environment and energy. SUNY institutions are being relied upon more to help stimulate economic development across the state, said Cross, who is a research foundation board member.
"We feel that responsibility increasingly. It's growing on our shoulders," he said.
SUNY Upstate Medical University's sponsored program spending has steadily risen over the past five years, according to the report. It spent more money in the last fiscal year than any other local SUNY institution, but its numbers are smaller than most other SUNY university centers and institutions that grant doctorates listed in the report.
The State University at Stony Brook spent $159.4 million in sponsored dollars; the State University at Albany spent $150.6 million; and SUNY Downstate Medical Center spent $129.4 million.
Ryan said he is pleased with Upstate's performance, noting that Albany, Downstate and Stony Brook have different programs and facilities than Upstate. He said the state needs to invest in Upstate's facilities to help it attract more research faculty. Kenneth Barker, Upstate's provost and vice president for research, said the university's total sponsored program dollars may seem small, but they will continue to grow and are integral to the university.
"It costs a lot of money to do this research, so these grants provide the fodder to allow that to occur. You can't do it without research grants," Barker said.
Providing research opportunities for undergraduates is becoming a priority at many institutions, including the State University College at Oswego. The college in August hired a full-time director of research administration and development, Jack Gelfand. His salary is $90,000.
Research makes students' classroom experiences relevant and helps them interact with other people, which they'll have to do when they enter the work force, Gelfand said.
"Without these sponsored research dollars, we wouldn't have these additional activities for the students to participate in," Gelfand said. "In order to do this extra stuff, we need to go out and get these extra dollars."
Nancy Buczek can be reached at nbuczek@syracuse.com or 470-2173.
Research under way
Here are some examples of projects State University of New York institutions sought government and private money for:
Upstate Medical University: $310,000, National Institutes of Health, to faculty member Frank Middleton to study the genomic changes in gene expression in ethanol-damaged brains.
Upstate Medical University: $364,827, National Institutes of Health, to faculty member Kenneth Mann to study fatigue damage evolution in total joint replacements.
State University College at Oswego: $1.7 million, National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, the Oswego Children's Study to determine how prenatal PCB and mercury exposure in children affects learning and development. In their 15-year study, they found subtle but measurable effects on the control of mental processing in the children of mothers who were exposed to PCBs.
Source: SUNY Upstate Medical University and SUNY Oswego