Reporter Volume 25, No.13 December 2, 1993

President invites more "future portraits" of UB

Editor:
It was a great pleasure to read Chuck Trzcinka's letter in the
November 11 issue of the Reporter. His "bottom-line" response to my
September 14 address to the voting faculty is a convincing and
inspiring way to describe the UB that we must become.
All of us throughout the UB community should take up the challenge
offered in that letter by seeking to refine and redefine Professor
Trzcinka's description of what it means to be "a damn good
university." Personally, I think that we already are such a
university; as I have indicated, I would set our sights higher. But I
do think the measures of success that Professor Trzcinka suggests are
just fine as measures of progress.
Professor Trzcinka's letter provides exactly the kind of
forward-looking, thoughtful statement that fuels significant
discussion. An academic community full of smart and creative people,
such as ours, should generate a whole range of visions that will help
us set our sights where they need to be. Developing such visions and
sharing them publicly is the first and most important step in our
progress; in order toJmove ahead, we must be able to say clearly and
honestly where we want to go.
I hope that many others among our faculty and staff will follow Chuck
Trzcinka's lead. The more individual expressions of our goals we can
generate, the more we pass such expressions among ourselves, and the
more we debate themQstanding at our mailboxes, in our departmental and
decanal meetings, among our various governance bodiesQthe closer we
come to a collective understanding of the task before us. 
Every faculty member, staff member, and student in our academic
community can undoubtedly paint at least one "future portrait" of a
successful UB. Let's create as many such portraits as we can, so that
our gallery of choices reflects the full strength and wisdom of our
entire university. Keep 'em coming!

			Sincerely,

			William R. Greiner