Statutory college

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In American higher education, particular to the state of New York, a statutory college or contract college is a college or school that is a component of an independent, private university that has been designated by the state legislature to receive significant public funding from the state. The statutory college is operated by the university on behalf of the state, with the mission of serving specific educational needs of the state. New York's statutory colleges are administratively affiliated with the State University of New York (SUNY) system, and receive funding from SUNY's operating budget; however, SUNY ultimately has little control over these colleges — admission standards, standards for completion of degrees and which academic programs are offered are determined by the statutory college's private institution. There are four statutory colleges at Cornell University and one at Alfred University.

The terms "statutory college" and "contract college" derive from the fact that each of these dually-affiliated colleges or schools are operated independently from the state pursuant to statute or under contract with the state. The colleges and schools that do not receive direct funding from the state are generally referred to as endowed colleges, to differentiate them from the statutory colleges.

Since 2001, the administration at Cornell has come to prefer the term "contract college" over "statutory college" to emphasize that these units are an integral part of a private institution (and should legally be treated as such). There is, indeed, basis for both terms in the law, as New York's legistative language refers to the state-supported colleges as "statutory or contract" colleges.

1 At Cornell University
2 At Alfred University
3 Roles of the state and the private university
4 Other affiliations between the state and private universities
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] At Cornell University

See also: Organization of Cornell University

Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which is also the state's land-grant university, prefers the term "contract college" for 4 of its 14 divisions:

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (established 1888; contract since 1904)
College of Human Ecology (established 1919; contract since 1925)
School of Industrial and Labor Relations (established 1944)
College of Veterinary Medicine (established 1894)

Two of Cornell's contract colleges — the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology — existed as non-state-supported colleges (as the College of Agriculture and the School of Home Economics, respectively) before state legislation was enacted to make each a state-supported entity. The College of Human Ecology and the College of Veterinary Medicine trace their origins to Cornell's agriculture college. However, the College of Veterinary Medicine was actually the first contract college in New York.

[edit] At Alfred University

Alfred University in the Town of Alfred, New York has one statutory college:

New York State College of Ceramics (established 1900)

The New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) consists of the School of Art and Design, with its own dean, and four state supported materials programs cross-organized within Alfred University's School of Engineering. The College of Ceramics is functioning technically as a "holding entity" (currently without a unit head or administration) for the fiscal support of the state programs and the NYSCC mission. The School of Art and Design, a subunit of the College of Ceramics, is further subdivided into divisions. Alfred's School of Engineering is technically a "hybrid school" with the four state supported programs and two additional privately endowed programs. The majority of funding for Alfred University's School of Engineering is in effect supplied by the State of New York.

[edit] Roles of the state and the private university

The statutory colleges are not state-run; they are operated by either Cornell or Alfred. However, the five existing statutory colleges have been affiliated with SUNY since its inception in 1948 (but had no affiliation with any umbrella organization before 1948). Statutory college employees legally are employees of Cornell and Alfred Universities, not employees of SUNY; this has been subsequently been affirmed by the courts.

However, the state Education Law does give the SUNY Board of Trustees the following authority: the SUNY Board of Trustees must formally approve Cornell's and Alfred's appointment of the deans of the statutory colleges, and it controls the level of state funding for the statutory colleges. (In addition to money allocated by SUNY, the colleges are funded by tuition and fees; grants and contracts from state agencies; special state legislative funding; federal funding; and private donations.)

Additionally, the Education Law does mandate a consultatory role for SUNY in a few areas: the statutory college consult with (but require no formal approval from) SUNY when it sets tuition rates. SUNY also exercises "general supervision" over the statutory colleges. However, Cornell and Alfred have interpreted the law to mean that SUNY does not have the right to create novel policies for the statutory colleges that are not explicitly stated in the Education Law. If there is a conflict between Cornell or Alfred and SUNY in regard to a policy or action that SUNY is requiring from Cornell or Alfred, it must be resolved by negotiation between the two parties, although there is the legal right of court appeal by either party if agreement cannot be reached. However, this legal option has never been used.

Since statutory colleges at Cornell and Alfred receive significant state funding, tuition rates for statutory colleges and for endowed colleges are determined separately; this often translates into lower tuition rates for students at the statutory colleges. In-state residents receive additional benefits; they pay a separate reduced rate from their out-of-state counterparts' rates.

There is debate and confusion about whether the statutory colleges are "public" or "private, nonprofit" entities. Legally, they are private and nonprofit; Cornell and Alfred Universities are private, nonprofit institutions, a status which extends to all of these universities' components. Also, the employees of the statutory colleges are legally (as affirmed by court rulings), private, nonprofit employees. An analogy would be a private, nonprofit health agency which, under contract with a government, regularly receives government money to operate a research institute; the whole private, nonprofit agency (including the research institute) still remains a private, nonprofit entity. New York State's Education Law also states that the statutory colleges are not "state agencies." The fact that each of the statutory colleges contains "New York State" in their official names has not legally and technically altered this private nature of the statutory colleges.

There are two state-supported university systems in New York State: SUNY, which has degree-granting units scattered throughout the state, and the City University of New York (CUNY), which only has degree-granting units in New York City. New York State's statutory colleges are partners of SUNY and have no affiliation with CUNY.

[edit] Other affiliations between the state and private universities

In 1911, the state created the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University, in Syracuse, New York, now known as the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) [1]. However, unlike the statutory colleges, this college was established as an autonomous instution that was administratively not part of Syracuse University, its private host instutution. The two institutions have adjacent campuses, a close working relationship and SUNY-ESF students even rely on Syracuse University for dormitory housing.

Additionally, the New York State Psychiatric Institute is a research facility of the New York State Office of Mental Health located at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. It is not a statutory unit — it does not grant degrees, so it could not be called a college — despite being affiliated with Columbia's Medical Center and its Psychiatry Department, because it remains an institute of the state.