As you have read and heard in the media, the economic crisis confronting our nation has a particularly strong impact on the New York State budget. More than 20% of New York’s annual budget comes from the financial sector of the state’s economy.

The continuing financial crisis has brought about immediate reductions in New York State funding to all state agencies, including the State University of New York. Over the past several months we have seen our university operating budgets cut 4 times by staggering amounts, forcing SUNY and its campuses to take some very hard budgetary actions. These actions have included: across the board budget allocation reductions, a freeze on all open positions and a complete ban on all unessential travel.

Given these cutbacks and in particular the extraordinarily rigid travel restrictions, it is our unfortunate responsibility to inform everyone that we are cancelling the SUNY 2009 Technology Conference previously scheduled for June 7-9 2009. State restrictions will prevent conference attendees from participating in the event.

We were very enthusiastic about holding STC 2009 at the Hilton Rye Town. It is an excellent venue for us and would have provided the close collaborative environment our attendees and sponsors have been looking for. It is our sincere hope that once the current financial crisis has passed and travel restrictions are lifted, we will be able to resume our talks with the Hilton Rye Town to prepare for a future SUNY Technology Conference (STC).

Sincerely,

The SUNY Technology Conference Committee