POTSDAM -- The presidents of the two state college campuses in St. Lawrence County have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining services the two schools plan to share.

SUNY Canton Acting President Joseph C. Hoffman and SUNY Potsdam Interim President Dennis L. Hefner signed the memorandum Monday. System administration in Albany has been seeking ways to make the SUNY colleges more efficient by making better use of existing programs and functions.

The memorandum does not delve into specific programs, but sets out the procedure for implementing the plan to share administrative functions, to plan purchases jointly, and to find where academic programs can benefit from sharing.

The proximity of the two schools, 10 miles apart, makes them prime candidates for such an effort.

The memorandum of understanding is to “clearly define the shared services we’ll be working on in the next two years,” Hefner said.

Hefner said the areas they will concentrate on are academic programs, “back-office operations” or support services, and shared purchasing.

“While it is recognized that sharing services may result in realignment of duties for certain staff, there is a commitment from both campuses to avoid formal layoffs during the implementation of any shared service,” the memorandum says.

The memo also spells out a procedure for continual review and updating of the plan with meetinsg roughly every six months.