Vision and Guiding Principles
The vision for Building UB: The Comprehensive Physical Plan is for UB to become a model 21st-century university — an open place of learning and a generator of new ideas that sets a standard of academic excellence and serves a diverse population in today’s knowledge-based society.
In order to achieve the vision, five basic guiding principles have been generated, reviewed with campus constituencies, and tested at the Building UB Public Forum in December 2007. These principles suggest we can achieve our vision if we…
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Promote academic excellence, the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and the development of vital intellectual communities.
The Comprehensive Physical Plan seeks to create a place where knowledge thrives. This means creating an environment that facilitates excellence in teaching, research, and service to the community. This principle is exemplified in the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, a major component of the downtown Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus that works closely with the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, researching genetics and pharmacology.
Promote a united and accessible university campus with three strong, distinctive and seamlessly interconnected centers designed to facilitate social interaction.
The goal here is to provide three distinct campus environments that are unified and accessible to all. The plan should provide seamless linkages that promote social and academic interaction between both internal and external communities. This will involve transportation system enhancements, improved way-finding strategies, integrated design programs, and technological innovations that will close the gap between campuses.
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Reflect the university’s responsibility to the community by respecting and being shaped, in part, by public plans and policies.
A great university cannot exist without the support of a healthy region. Building UB: The Comprehensive Physical Plan must support a campus that facilitates communication with Town of Amherst and the City of Buffalo, thereby addressing the concerns and aspirations of the surrounding communities.
Provide the basis for long-range capital programming and the prudent stewardship of university resources.
An important aspect of campus planning is the establishment of an organizational structure which will provide the phasing, prioritizing, funding, and reviewing of a long-term building program across disciplines. This will ensure the most cost-effective use of financial resources available to the university.
Establish UB as a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
As stated in the UB 2025 Proposal for a Greener Campus, the University at Buffalo should provide a "diverse, biologically rich, and less energy intensive place to learn, work, and live." It is under this premise that UB can exemplify best practices in environmental stewardship and sustainable development.