New York Times: "Effort to break the shackles that SUNY was born with is long overdue"

An article in The New York Times reports on "The Power of SUNY," a plan developed by Chancellor Nancy Zimpher to revamp and rebrand SUNY, which the article calls "the unloved colossus that is the biggest comprehensive system of public higher education in the country." The article looks at the university system's history and the proposed empowerment legislation that would give campuses greater autonomy, including the ability to set their own tuition, and has become the fiercely contested point of contention in passage of the state 2010-11 budget: "To advocates, the effort to break the shackles that SUNY was born with has long been overdue. For the largest SUNY campus, the University at Buffalo, such self-determination is an essential part of its ambitious growth plan, 'UB 2020,' which local officials say would create thousands of jobs, expand the campus to downtown and foster new ventures with industry," the article states. The article also appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.