SEPTEMBER 17, 1998-vol30n4:Greiner's report: past highlights, future initiatives

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 17 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1998

Greiner's report: past highlights, future initiatives

By SUE WUETCHER
News Services Associate Director

resident William R. Greiner reported on the highlights of the past academic year and looked ahead to the upcoming year and beyond in his annual address to the voting faculty on Sept. 9.

Among the major initiatives forecast for the 1998-99 academic year, Greiner noted the review and possible reorganization of the practice plan in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the incorporation of the Research Institute on Addictions as a free-standing UB center, the creation of a task force addressing issues affecting underrepresented groups and a shift in focus of the Office of the Provost toward graduate education and sponsored programs.

Before beginning his talk, Greiner advised faculty members that neither his report on the past year nor his observations of the future would be complete "because there is so much happening on campusthat there is no way to really effectively encapsulate" everything.

He then pointed out the numerous faculty members who have either retired, died or left the university for other positions. "We owe much to those people," he said, adding that vacancies such as these will leave UB with "extraordinary turnover"-700 to 1,000 appointments that might need to be made over an eight-or-nine-year period.

"When you look at the list (of people who are no longer at UB), you understand what a loss it is for the university to have people who have given so much to us over such a long time leave us," he said, calling it a "necessary aspect of a life cycle of an institution like a university.

"To those who leave, those who have helped to build the institution to where it is now, we have an obligationto leave this place better than we found it."

Greiner challenged faculty members to "take full responsibility for delivering on this obligationand at the same time take advantage of the opportunity for renewal of the university which it presents to us."

Using overhead slides to illustrate his points, Greiner detailed highlights of the past academic year. Among them were:

n Major academic appointments at the vice presidential and decanal levels. Joining UB were Michael Bernardino as vice president for health affairs, Lewis Mandell as dean of the School of Management, Jacquelyn Mitchell as dean of the Graduate School of Education and Lawrence Shulman as dean of the Graduate School of Social Work. Promoted to leadership positions from within the UB ranks were Dennis Black as vice president for student affairs, Barbara Ricotta as dean of students, Kerry Grant as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and R. Nils Olsen as dean of the School of Law.

These leadership appointments demonstrate that UB is "capable of attracting excellent people from outside and advancing excellent people from within," he said.

- Implementation of a new Resource Allocation Methodology by SUNY. Greiner called the new method for allocating state tax support to the campuses "a very promising development." Among the benefits, he said, is that under the new methodology, the campuses retain the revenue they generate, including tuition and fees.

- Implementation of a five-year SUNY capital program in which UB will receive $105 million. The new program allows for greater planning and flexibility on the campus level, he said.

-Creation of a new College of Arts and Sciences

-Re-establishment of a vice presidency for health affairs

-Program consolidation and collaboration, including the new Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the incorporation of the Department of Statistics as a biostatistical unit within the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the probable merger of the School of Library and Information Studies and the Department of Communication

- The ongoing academic planning process that was started by Provost Thomas E. Headrick and is being advanced by the deans and the faculty. "I think there is reason for enormous optimism about this institution given the kinds of planning efforts and choices that are being made at the level of the deans, the faculties and the schools," he said.

- Enormous strides being made on the information-technology front, particularly the decision to call for universal computing access for faculty and students by the Fall of 1999.

- Improved quality of campus life, including the opening of the Flickinger Court graduate-student housing, the construction of a daycare center on the North Campus and the hiring of a professional hotel/food service manager to run FSA.

Greiner then addressed major initiatives and key issues for the 1998-99 academic year. Among them were:

- Numerous construction projects, including a new math building, student-services building and undergraduate student housing on the North Campus and the Comprehensive Health Sciences Education Center, rehabilitation of Acheson Hall and renovation of the dormitory towers into apartment-style housing, all on the South Campus

- Efforts to get the SUNY trustees to support "financially and in other ways" what has been UB's "historic mission" as SUNY's comprehensive, flagship university known for its excellence in all programs, from undergraduate through graduate. "In order to do that, we're going to have to make choices.What we're going to pitch is that we're the only thing the State of New York has that looks like one of the great Midwestern universities."

- Review of clinical programs and practice plans by Bernardino. The practice plans "are extraordinarily important to faculty and the future of the departments in the medical school," Greiner said. With the numerous hospital mergers in Western New York, "it's imperative that our faculty be organized as a group. They function together. They present a powerful, effective and efficient force in terms of health-care delivery and patient care, which then provides a basis for building our future health-care education and clinical research. Right now, we are not realizing the potential that is there with our clinical faculty."

- The changing role and mission of the Office of the Provost. The provost's office has been a "surrogate" dean of arts and sciences and vice president for health sciences, Greiner noted. With the creation of the College of Arts and Sciences and appointments of Grant and Bernardino, the provost's office now can focus heavily on graduate education, especially at the doctoral level; quality control; analysis of the quality of programs, and sponsored programs administration, including strategic planning and research support for young faculty, he said.

- Affirmative action/diversity issues. A task force to address issues affecting underrepresented groups will be put in place within several weeks, Greiner said, adding that he has asked Nelson Townsend, former director of athletics, to "take a major leadership role" in the task force in his new position as special assistant to the president and associate vice president for student affairs.

- Refocusing campus programs and units "to better serve the community of which we are a part," including Western New York and all of New York State. Among these are the UB Business Alliance, the Center for the Arts and the University Community Initiative. UB also is negotiating to add the Research Institute for Addictions, a state agency affiliated with UB, to the university as a free-standing center, and is further developing partnerships with Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Health Care Industries Associates and Calspan.