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, ongoing 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 the academic functions of these colleges — research to be pursued, admission standards, standards for completion of degrees and which academic programs are offered are determined by the statutory college's private institution. There are five statutory colleges: four located at Cornell University and one located 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 legislative language refers to the state-supported colleges as "statutory or contract" colleges.^[1]

1 At Cornell University
2 At Alfred University
3 Roles of the state and the private university
4 Other affiliations between New York State and private universities
5 Outside New York State
6 See also
7 External links
8 Notes

[edit] At Cornell University

See also: Organization of Cornell University

The four statutory colleges located at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, are:

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 statutory 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 statutory college in New York.

Statutory college status is not permanent. Indeed, the State Legislature terminated funding for the NYS College of Forestry at Cornell (which was founded in 1898), resulting in its dissolution.^[2] The Hotel School started in 1922 as a department within Home Economics, but became a separate, endowed college in 1954.^[3]

[edit] At Alfred University

The statutory college located at Alfred University in the Town of Alfred, New York is:

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 with an interim unit head) for the fiscal support of the state programs and the NYSCC mission. The unit head assists with budget preparation for the two aforementioned AU schools and the NYSCC-affiliated Scholes Library of Ceramics (part of the campuswide, unified AU library system), and acts in a liaison role to SUNY.

The School of Art and Design, technically a subunit of the College of Ceramics but autonomously-run with its own dean, is further subdivided into divisions. Alfred's School of Engineering (also autonomously-run with its own dean) currently has four state-supported programs and two privately-endowed programs.

[edit] Roles of the state and the private university

The statutory colleges are not state-run; they are operated by a 'contracted' university. In the present arrangement these universities are Cornell and 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.

The State Education Law does give the SUNY Board of Trustees the following authority: the Trustees must formally approve Cornell's and Alfred's appointment of the deans/unit heads of the statutory colleges, and control of the level of state funding for the statutory colleges resides with SUNY. (In addition to money allocated by SUNY, the colleges may be 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: the statutory college should consult with SUNY when it sets tuition rates. SUNY also exercises a "general supervision" over the statutory colleges. However, Cornell and Alfred have interpreted this 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. 'In-state' residents attending a statutory college pay a separate reduced rate, in contrast to their 'out-of-state' counterparts' rates.

Statutory college employees are covered by a separate pension plan and have separate pay scales and fringe benefits than their endowed college counterparts. Most of the statutory college buildings and facilities are owned by New York State.

In addition, SUNY performs a fiduciary role for dispersal of state funds to the statutory units. This may require periodic audits of the use of state funds within the private universities.

There is some debate 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, as currently affirmed by court rulings, are private, nonprofit employees. An analogy to this relationship is 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 do not operate as "state agencies." The fact that each of the statutory colleges contains "New York State" in their official names does not alter the private nature of the statutory colleges; however, the importance of state funding is an important factor in the private vs. statutory unit relationship.

There are two state-supported university systems in New York State: the State University of New York (SUNY), which has degree-granting units 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 New York 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 institution that was (and still is) 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, there is the New York State Psychiatric Institute, 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. As such, it remains an institute of the state.

[edit] Outside New York State

Outside of New York, the privately-run Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) has a financial-arrangement structure that is somewhat similar to that found in New York’s statutory colleges. BCM’s Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) program charges in-state Texas residents a lower tuition rate than that charged to non-Texan residents. This arrangement dates from 1969, and was fostered by the state of Texas realizing, at the time, that it needed more physicians, coupled with Baylor University's awareness of this need and its trying to help alleviate it.

Baylor University’s (BU's) medical school, which had been part of BU since 1903, became an autonomous entity in 1969 and adopted the aforementioned tuition dichotomy at that time. The state of Texas’ support of BCM is just to allay the cost of tuition for in-state students, and the state does not assist BCM with significant ongoing funding for research or outreach/extension purposes. The divestiture of BCM from BU was necessary to avoid legal conflicts which would ensue from a religiously-affiliated BU accepting ongoing State funding. (BU is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, whereas BCM has been nonsectarian since its divestiture.)