Statutory college

In higher education in the US state of New York, a statutory college is a college or school that is a component of a university which is officially designated a private university, but such component receives significant public funding from New York State and is administratively also part of the state university system. The term "statutory college" derives from the fact that each of these dually-affiliated colleges/schools was created by an act of the New York State Legislature. (Statutory colleges are also called contract colleges and statutory units. To the private institutions which have these statutory entities, the terms "statutory college" and "contract college" are the preferred terms. The term "contract college" derives from the relationship where a private institution, under contract from the state, receives public funds to provide an educational service.)

Cornell University in Ithaca, New York has four statutory colleges: New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; New York State College of Human Ecology; New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations; and New York State College of Veterinary Medicine. These four statutory colleges are part of both Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY). The non-statutory colleges of Cornell are referred to as "(privately-) endowed colleges" or sometimes as "(privately-) endowed units." More recently, they have also been simply known as "non-statutory" colleges or units.

Alfred University in the Town of Alfred, New York has one statutory college: New York State College of Ceramics. The College of Ceramics is divided into two schools: the School of Art and Design, and the School of Ceramic Engineering and Materials Science. This statutory college is part of both Alfred University and the State University of New York. Alfred University's non-statutory colleges, to designate such status, go by similar categorization names used by Cornell (see prior paragraph).

Since statutory colleges at Cornell and Alfred Universities receive significant state funding, this often translates into lower tuition costs to attend these colleges (as opposed to other units within their respective universities), especially for students from New York State. The statutory colleges, while part of SUNY and state-supported, are not state-run; they are operated by Cornell and Alfred Universities. Statutory college employees legally are employees of Cornell and Alfred Universities, not employees of SUNY (see next paragraph); this has even been affirmed by case law from several court of general jurisdiction and administrative law rulings.

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 the Board of Trustees also controls the level of state funding that the statutory colleges get. (Funding for the statutory colleges comes from, in addition to funds allocated by SUNY, from tuition and fees, as well as from some grants and contracts from state agencies, plus some special state legislative funding directly given to the statutory colleges.)

Additionally, the Education Law does mandate a consultatory role for SUNY in a few areas, such as requiring consulting with (but not requiring any form of formal approval from) SUNY in regards to statutory college tuition rates. The Education Law does mandate that SUNY exercise "general supervision" over the statutory colleges. However, the way that this has generally been interpreted by Cornell and Alfred Universities is that SUNY does not have the right to create highly 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 regards 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 not had to be used so far.

One may wonder whether the statutory colleges are actually "public" or "private, nonprofit" entities. Legally and technically, they are private and nonprofit; the whole of Cornell and Alfred Universities are legally and technically private, nonprofit institutions, wherein such status would extend to all of these universities' components, including their statutory colleges. 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.

Related to this, the employees of the statutory colleges would be, legally and technically (as affirmed by, as mentioned, legal rulings), private, nonprofit employees, since they work for private, nonprofit institutions (regardless how much public money the particular subdivision they work for gets). However, in a functional way, it could be said that the statutory colleges, and the employees who work for them, are, if not public in nature, at least "heavily quasi-public" in nature. Furthermore, the students enrolled at Cornell and Alfred Universities whose academic major lies within a statutory college are, legally and technically, getting a private education, but in a functional sense, getting a "heavily quasi-public" education.

This heavily quasi-public nature among the statutory colleges and their employees and their students' educations would, understandably, stem from: 1) not only the fact that the statutory colleges get significant public money, but 2) the lower tuitions charged by the statutory colleges for students with New York State residency, and 3) the statutory colleges' SUNY affiliation. One could also add 4) the focus of much research and significant extension/outreach services designed to benefit New York State conducted by faculty of each of the statutory colleges, often assisted by staff. (Cornell's Cooperative Extension program, closely allied with the NYS College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the NYS College of Human Ecology, has many extension agents scattered throughout New York State.) Furthermore, 5) New York State holds title to the buildings and property used by the statutory colleges, although Cornell and Alfred have custody and control over their use. Finally, arguably, one could even add 6) the fact that a majority of the students in the statutory colleges, collectively, are from New York State, and 7) the fact that each of the statutory colleges' names contains "New York State" in them, showing the obvious state/public connection.

It can be noted that New York State has two state-supported university systems: 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 all affiliated with SUNY as their state-supported partner; none of New York State's statutory colleges are affiliated with CUNY as a state-supported partner. (It can also be noted that CUNY gets significant financial support from both New York State and New York City; as such, if an administrative component of a private university were also part of CUNY, it would be more appropriate, and quite possibly more likely, to see such a component called a "statutory/municipal" college, or something similar.)

Very close proximity or even a close working relationship of a state degree-granting or state research institution to a private institution of higher education in the state does not automatically make the state-supported entity a statutory college. For example, the main campus of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) is next to private Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and SUNY-ESF students even rely on Syracuse University for dormitory housing. However, SUNY-ESF is an autonomous institution that is a campus of the State University of New York, but not also an academic unit of Syracuse University. Additionally, the New York State Psychiatric Institute, a research facility of the New York State Office of Mental Health which works closely with, and is on the campus of, private Columbia University in New York City, is not a statutory college. This is, it appears, primarily because the New York State Psychiatric Institute does not grant degrees, despite being closely allied with (although legally and technically independent of) Columbia and its psychiatry department.

However, a precedent for a non-degree-granting institution in New York State having "statutory unit" status exists: the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, which was established in 1882 and became affiliated with Cornell in 1923, had been classified as a separate statutory unit. It may not have been called, according to available information, a statutory "college" — this is presumably because it did not grant degrees; it was never part of SUNY or another umbrella organization during its pre-Cornell affiliation days. (The five existing statutory colleges were also not part of any umbrella organization until 1948, when by law, they became affiliated with SUNY, which was also created in 1948.)

External links

New York State Education Law governing the statutory colleges:

• Definition of statutory/contract colleges, and statutory college employees' exemption from New York State Civil Service Law (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=30&a=15) (See Sections 350[3] and 355-a[1][a])

• Law exempting the statutory/contract colleges from categorization as state agencies (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=94&a=6) (See Section 73[1][g]) (Same text also appears here (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=48&a=189) in the New York State Consolidated Laws in Section 810[4])

• Laws specific to Cornell University (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=30&a=107)

• Laws specific to Alfred University (http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=30&a=110)

Court of general jurisdiction case law dealing with statutory college matters:

• Important case governing whether confidential Cornell statutory college records can be obtained through New York State's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) (http://www.law.cornell.edu/ny/ctap/I99_0156.htm)

Administrative case law dealing with statutory college matters:

• Ruling stating that the NYS College of Ceramics is not a public (state) entity (http://www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/shared_files/decisions/dde/2003/3-RM-779.pdf) (causing the college's employees to not fall under National Labor Relations Board [NLRB] jurisdiction specifically encompassing state or political subdivisions) (pdf)