Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Skelos, and Assembly Speaker Silver announced final agreement on a 2012 state budget.  Formal adoption will begin shortly.  This soon-to-be state fiscal plan contains significant changes to the state procurement law that will positively affect the ability of academic and research libraries to save money, improve collaboration, and gain needed [...]

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On Wednesday, February 1, 2012, NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer testifies before the Joint Legislature Budget Committee on Higher Education.  The committee is seeking input on the Executive Budget Proposal of Governor Andrew Cuomo. Kramer used the opportunity to state NYSHEI’s support of the procurement reforms included in the budget proposal.  Additionally Kramer asked the [...]

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The incomparable State Senator Hugh Farley (R-Schenectady) today returned to his role as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Libraries. The Senate Committee on Libraries was re-established on January 10, 2012 after a three year hiatus.   Senator Farley, Library Chair from 1978 to 2008, was immediately named Chair to the revived committee. “When the [...]

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The New York State Board of Regents Advisory Council on Libraries recently released the first draft of “Creating the Future: A 2020 Vision and Plan for Library Service in New York State.” NYSHEI, along with allied organizations has been asking the advisory council to be more mindful of the challenges and value of academic and [...]

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SUNY2020 Governor Cuomo signed the landmark NYSUNY2020 legislation.  This is a “game-changing” initiative that links nicely with our efforts to promote the importance of higher education in New York’s economic future.

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Governor Cuomo’s August 17th veto of the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act, the most prominent object of NYSHEI advocacy, was unexpected.  Though disappointing, our near-miss has opened a door on new paths to continued progress. **How Did We Get Here? In its short history, ARIA gained the support of Governor Spitzer, the Commission on [...]

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Under the leadership of Senator James Alesi (R,C,I – Perinton) the State Senate on May 17, 2011 approved ARIA by a vote of 61-0. To call attention to the passage Senator Alesi issued the following press release and offered this video testimonial. In a strong display of bi-partisanship, the New York State Senate today unanimously [...]

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NYSHEI Executive Director Jason Kramer has an article in the recent edition of the Journal of Collaborative Librarianship.  Titled, “Nontraditional Partnerships in Pursuit of the Information Infrastructure,” the article describes NYSHEI’s evolvution as an advocacy organization. The Journal is sponsored by the Colorado Academic Library Consortium, the Colorado Library Consortium, the Colorado Alliance of Research [...]

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Four weeks to election day, it is time to consider how the next Governor of New York may treat the Academic Research Information Access (ARIA) act that has been at the heart of NYSHEI advocacy. The underdog Carl Paladino has produced an agenda that keeps with the major themes of his “outsider” campaign.  The Paladino [...]

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This is your chance to help.  New York now has an innovation wiki.  NYSHEI has long argued that innovation is reliant on access to the “information infrastructure” that is the academic and research libraries.  I encourage you to use this wiki to make sure our partners in industry and across higher education are aware of [...]

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