James A. “Beau” Willis is executive vice president for university support services.

UB is preparing Building UB, its first comprehensive physical plan since the North Campus was conceived in the 1960s. Where are we in the process and where will it take us?

We have come a long way and we have a long way yet to go. We are now in the second of four phases of the campus planning process—a stage when we will begin to consider some of the concepts that will guide the plan. On April 22, the entire UB community will have a chance to see and comment on those ideas in an all-day public workshop in the Center for the Arts. Next fall, we will present a draft plan for further comment and a year from now we will turn our full attention to implementation of the final plan. In reality, though, we have been working on this plan since President Simpson first arrived here in 2004. This is because the plan to increase the size and quality of our student body, our faculty and our research output, and the plan to expand and improve our campuses are all part of the same effort. We are in a fierce competition for talent and we know that the quality of our facilities will make a difference in whether the best faculty and the best students decide to come to UB. The ultimate goal of the Building UB effort, therefore, is to create campus spaces for learning and living that are attractive and compelling, and that will allow us to become a model research university for the 21st century.

What will people see when the go to the forum on April 22?

What people won’t see is a final plan. But they will see some of the ways we might address the challenges that were outlined in the first phase of our work. This will include physical growth strategies for North, South and downtown campuses; ways to solve our problems with transportation and parking; approaches to improving the natural landscapes and urban public realm of our campuses; ways we can deal with the weather; and ideas for creating a new generation of 21st century learning spaces that support the way students learn today. It’s important to note how important input from the public and the UB community has been. Nearly 700 people attended our Dec. 4 public forum at the new UB Downtown Gateway facility. Our Web site has received 25,000 unique hits in a year. Our planning team has met nearly 140 times with a wide range of UB and community constituency groups. Also, staff should know that they do not need to charge personal leave to attend on April 22.

Doesn’t the change in the governor’s mansion put this project in some peril?

I don’t think so. Gov. Paterson has confirmed his commitment to the economic revival of upstate New York. He shares our view that UB, as a premier public research university, is crucial to that enterprise. But more than that, we are beginning to understand that UB 2020, including Building UB, is an effort that rests on shoulders much broader than any single individual. This isn’t John Simpson’s initiative. We are finding that the whole community understands why UB is important to our region and is embracing this work as its own.

What about this year’s difficult budget picture?

As tight as things are right now, we believe we will still get our share of capital projects money. But more than that, we have to look at the plan implementation process, not in the context of any single budget year, but as an ongoing process. One of the remarkable things about Building UB is the longer periods of time we’re looking at. SUNY is now working in five-year capital-planning cycles. Our plan is actually looking out three or four five-year cycles and taking into account a range of funding sources from the state, philanthropy and private entities. This makes a couple of tough budget years much less important to our long-term success. It’s also important to remember that we haven’t slowed down one bit in the implementation of capital projects that UB needs to move forward. New facilities for engineering, pharmacy and athletics; new housing for students; expanded child care facilities; and the restoration of Founders Plaza are all moving ahead in careful alignment with the principles of Building UB.

What’s your vision for UB?

We all share a vision of UB as a place of academic excellence, a truly vital intellectual community characterized by interdisciplinary scholarly enterprise. From my position as the university executive with responsibility for our physical facilities, however, my vision is even simpler. UB has to be a great place, not only with high-quality, state-of-the-art facilities, but with places—indoors and out—that draw people to them, which people truly love. That will make all of the rest of the vision possible.