Memorandums

Graduation provides opportunity for reflection on past academic achievements and increased focus on future challenges May 3, 2005

Dear Colleagues:

Later this month, we will be conferring degrees upon the approximately 4,500 undergraduate and graduate students who are about to become UB's newest alumni. In important ways, these students represent the future of the university. They are the most visible manifestation of our mission as a public university, and whatever paths they will pursue after graduation, they will carry with them our university's ideals of academic excellence, service, and leadership. Their experiences here at UB represent the combined efforts and contributions of every member of the university community, from those who maintain our academic facilities, to the scholars, educators, and researchers who make use of these facilities, to those who oversee and support campus operations. They likewise reflect the endeavors of those who contribute to the richness of campus life, from those who provide counsel, support, and academic advisement to our students, to those who motivate, guide, and support our scholar-athletes on the playing field. What all of us do each day as a university community–from our most specific daily actions to our large-scale operations–shapes and defines the academic experiences of our students.

With the end of the academic year fast approaching, I want to take this opportunity to pause and reflect upon our accomplishments of the past year. Together we've achieved a tremendous amount, and I want to commend the entire university community for the sustained and dedicated efforts that have made this possible. As the academic year unfolded nearly eight months ago, we defined an aggressive agenda to move our campus forward. Clear and tangible results of this initiative have already begun to appear. Building on the university's very strong academic foundations, we have set in motion the strategic, deliberate process by which we are working to fulfill our promise as a premier higher education institution of the 21st century.

We established the Office of Faculty Affairs in the Provost's Office, responsible for coordinating the faculty promotion/tenure review process, and creating and delivering services that assist in faculty retention, underrepresented faculty recruitment, faculty development, special faculty-hiring initiatives and faculty- recognition programs. In addition to appointing Professor Lucinda Finley of the Law School as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, we defined two other new vice provost positions to oversee key academic areas. Following the conclusion of internal searches, Professor Michael Ryan of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering was appointed Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, and SUNY Distinguished Professor Bruce McCombe of the Department of Physics was appointed Vice Provost of Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School. As we continue to assemble our strong academic senior leadership team, we named two new deans–Professor Maurizio Trevisan was named the Dean of the School of Public Health and Health Professions, and Professor Nancy Smyth was named as Dean of the School of Social Work. We also recently have announced the appointment of our new Vice President for Research, Dr. Jorge José, who will officially join the UB community on August 1st, 2005. National searches for our new Vice President for Health Affairs and Vice President for External Affairs are well underway.

In terms of faculty development, we have aggressively added to our already deep faculty resources and will continue to do so by hiring approximately 100 new faculty members over the next academic year. In an effort to be more responsive to the research needs of our faculty, we have commissioned a task force charged with developing specific recommendations for providing better support, assistance, and guidelines to aid our faculty in the identification, acquisition, and administration of research contracts and grants.

By the end of this academic year, Provost Tripathi and I will have visited with the faculties of nearly 50 academic departments, and we both will look forward to continuing to meet with faculty across campus in the coming year. Each visit confirms our belief that UB has an outstanding faculty deeply committed to their fields of study, passionate about their students, and highly motivated to make UB a premier public research university. Through our conversations with these faculty members, we have gained valuable insights into departmental priorities, and we have appreciated the opportunity to hear from faculty throughout the university about their expectations for how these priorities will impact and be shaped by university-wide strategic planning efforts. Across the disciplines, UB's faculty are playing a leading role in extending the frontiers of their respective academic fields. Their work continues to point the way toward exciting new intellectual terrain.

Across our campus, our faculty, staff, and students are making laudable contributions to their respective areas and to our university community at large. In 2004, six UB faculty members were awarded the rank of SUNY Distinguished Professor, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, or SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor. 2004 SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence were awarded to a total of 17 faculty and professional staff members, and 13 UB students were recently honored with 2005 Chancellor's Awards for Student Excellence. We were glad to have the opportunity to recognize these and other achievements of our faculty, staff, and students at the university's Celebration of Academic Excellence on April 29th, and we also look forward to celebrating outstanding members of the university community at this year's commencement festivities this month. We are making substantial progress with several undergraduate and graduate education initiatives as well. In an effort to attract and matriculate the most talented and ambitious post-baccalaureate students, UB has initiated a plan to increase teaching assistant stipends to more competitive levels, starting with an increase of $2,000 this year. We enhanced a number of facilities, programs and services benefiting our students, including the completion of an $8 million remodel of several residence halls, increases in disability awareness programming, and the creation of a Parents Association to establish ties between the campus and families.

To support the continued development of these academic initiatives, we have formulated a 5-year capital plan of over $200 million, as well as strategically examining potential sources of support beyond state funds. Already, we have taken significant steps forward in this regard. For example, we secured $27 million in state funding for renovations that will enable the School of Pharmacy to move to the South Campus, and a $25 million Òchallenge grantÓ from New York State that will go a considerable way toward securing the total funds required to construct a new engineering building. We have also obtained a commitment from the state for an additional $20 million both for faculty recruitments in the life sciences and for infrastructure improvements to the medical campus, and the university's Educational Opportunity Center received $12 million in the state budget to fund the construction of a new facility.

All of these achievements are framed and shaped by marked progress with our university-wide strategic planning process. In the past semester, we completed the first phase of the most comprehensive and inclusive strategic planning process in the University's history: UB 2020. We have made significant progress in the second phase of UB 2020 both by further defining our academic strengths and by advancing several initiatives to improve our academic support services. For example, we completed a comprehensive strategic and operational plan for the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, and we completed our first-ever community engagement plan that will help guide our future interactions and relationship with our communities. Perhaps most importantly, we have continued to take measures to ensure that this planning endeavor unfolds through an inclusive process, mediated by campus-wide dialogue. Toward this end, we have taken several steps to advance our goal of acting more institutionally, including the creation of a monthly forum for all deans and vice presidents to share information and debate institutional priorities.

All that we have achieved as a university community in the past academic year, and all of our plans for the years ahead, demonstrate our institutional determination to set our sights very high, striving for nothing less than excellence in everything we do. One common mission, therefore, unites all of the achievements enumerated above: our pursuit of academic excellence. I am proud of the accomplishments set forth above, and I firmly believe that these achievements illustrate the solid progress UB can make when we put our collective minds together. More work yet remains before the university fully realizes its true potential. As an institution, we must work together to couple our strategic thinking with strategic action, and do so in a spirit of collaboration.

In keeping with the rich heritage of our university, I believe that we have fostered an environment here at UB that actively encourages spirited debate about the issues that affect us all, personally as professionals and collectively as a scholarly community. We've been given the remarkable gift of a 21st century American research university, and its course is ours to determine. Our university's past academic achievements are considerable, and they set the stage for our present and future pursuit of excellence. The challenge before us now is to fully realize the extent of our great potential. Working together as an academic community–a community that includes all of our faculty, staff, students, alumni, volunteers, and university friends–we have both the opportunity and the responsibility of determining the shape and direction that future will take.

Sincerely, signature
John B. Simpson
President