President Tripathi charged me with leading a campus conversation to determine how best to achieve UB’s ambitious goals. For this process, we are developing a statement of institutional direction; we are referring to this exercise as Realizing UB 2020. This exercise will be complete in May 2013 and the results are expected to transform UB. We are motivated to act efficiently due to the window of opportunity provided by NYSUNY 2020.

The following draft sections of the statement are now available at http://www.buffalo.edu/ub2020/realizing-ub-2020.html for your review and feedback:

• UB’s Mission and Vision – UB 2020
• The Planning Context
• Institutional Goals
• Values
• Strategies for Realizing UB 2020
  • The Academic Strategy
  • The Student Success Strategy
  • The Research and Scholarship Strategy

To facilitate conversation among faculty, staff and students, I have appointed a Campus Advisory Committee (CAC), chaired by SUNY Distinguished Professor Bruce McCombe with representatives from the Faculty Senate, the Professional Staff Senate and a student liaison, as well as a Faculty Liaison Committee(FLC), chaired by Professor John Thomas with representatives from each of the 12 decanal units. The CAC’s and FLC’s roles are to encourage and provide feedback from the larger campus community on the draft Statement of Institutional Direction. The Realizing UB 2020 website provides the opportunity for you to email the CAC directly and/or post a public comment for others on campus to read.

Open Forums regarding Realizing UB 2020 are planned for January 23 and January 24. This is an opportunity for the campus community to discuss together the various aspects of the Realizing UB 2020 process and for me to hear from you directly.

Your creative engagement of this process is critical to its success. I look forward to working with you for the benefit of UB.

Best,
Chip

Charles F. Zukoski
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs