CANTON – SUNY Canton’s president favors the way SUNY Central plans on allocating support for the Canton campus by rewarding growth.

Following a statewide SUNY conference call and a joint leadership meeting with SUNY Potsdam, Interim President Carli C. Schiffner said she was in support of SUNY's proposed budget allocation model and the future of the colleges' shared services efforts.

"SUNY Canton's incredible growth over the past several years would be extremely beneficial under the new proposed budget allocation model," Schiffner said. "Under the new guidelines, we would benefit from that growth and be funded more appropriately for a college with an enrollment that has grown to approximately 3,800 students."

President Schiffner also noted her optimism overall when the new budget model is combined with the savings the college anticipates through continued shared services efforts with SUNY Potsdam.

"Our Chief Financial Officer Natalie L. Higley has done a masterful job in recognizing and creating opportunities to save money through shared services efforts and sound business practices," said Schiffner. "The recent praise she received at our latest College Council meeting from SUNY Central CFO Brian Hutzley highlighted many of those accomplishments. We anticipate both colleges will continue to take advantage of these savings as Natalie and the respective leadership teams continue to initiate shared resources. "

Schiffner said the college will target future growth in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Those areas were identified in SUNY's proposed budget allocation model and correspond well with the college's engineering and technology programs.

"The new budget model is ideal for the growth of programs within our Canino School of Engineering Technology," said Schiffner. "In the past few years, we've added several new bachelor's degrees in these areas, so we are effectively aligned to benefit from this model."