Gov. Cuomo's guy at the top of SUNY

One of the many accomplishments in Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's successful first legislative session was a long-overdue change in tuition policy for the State University of New York. The governor and the SUNY chancellor, Nancy Zimpher, both envision the state university as an engine of economic development. And now Cuomo has his own man, H. Carl McCall, as chairman of its board of trustees. His appointment bodes well for SUNY.

This week is the first full meeting of the board under McCall's chairmanship. It's the latest addition to a sparkling resume that includes service as a state senator, United Nations ambassador, commissioner of the Port Authority and the state Division of Human Rights, president of the New York City Board of Education, and the first African-American elected state comptroller.

It's not that there was anything wrong with the chairman McCall replaces, Carl Hayden. He fought hard for the tuition change and played a major role in recruiting Zimpher. But he's not Cuomo's choice. Though McCall and Cuomo ran against each other in the 2002 Democratic primary for governor -- Cuomo dropped out -- McCall has recently worked closely with the governor on both the tuition and budget battles. So he's Cuomo's man on SUNY's board. And more vacancies will soon allow Cuomo to shape the board further.

McCall has a deep knowledge of New York politics, which should help SUNY navigate the rough waters still ahead. The new tuition plan -- regular increases over the next five years -- was necessary. But it barely begins to make up for the $1.4 billion the university has lost in cuts. Also, the tuition plan didn't help community colleges. Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), chairman of the Higher Education Committee, has said that 2012 will be the year of the community college. He and McCall go back a long way, and that should help in any negotiations over future funding, course offerings and administration of community colleges. We hope it will also be useful in getting Stony Brook, Farmingdale and Old Westbury the support they need.

One small complication for McCall is the matter of charter schools. As a member of the board of trustees since 2007, he has routinely abstained from voting on charter school matters. He maintains that it takes up too much time, and SUNY is busy enough with its 64 campuses. In fact, he doesn't seem to think that SUNY should be in the charter school business. But that issue has been resolved by the legislature and a succession of governors. The Board of Regents and SUNY are the state's two charter-authorizing bodies, and McCall has to accept that, now that he's not just a trustee, but chairman.

Zimpher has worked well with the governor on economic development -- including participation in the process of regional economic development councils that he launched -- and Cuomo put his weight behind the tuition legislation and created a $140-million challenge grant for the four university centers, including Stony Brook. So we hope Cuomo, McCall and Zimpher will be a mighty team to make our essential, but fiscally damaged, state university all it can and must be.