During 1974-76 the campus of the State University of New York at Albany engaged in an elaborate decision-making process that resulted in the phasing out of some academic programs and the loss of many faculty and staff. To comply with externally mandated budget reductions the university found it necessary to set priorities among its programs and to discontinue its across-the-board program development by focusing its resources on areas of quality, need, and opportunity. Here the events that made those decisions necessary, the consultative process used, and the rationale for the negative determinations on each program are presented. (MSE)