UB hosts full SUNY Board of Trustees meeting

This week UB was host to meetings of the SUNY Board of Trustees held over two days on June 16 and 17. Presided over by Chairman H. Carl McCall, it is the first time in nine years the trustees have come to UB for a regular meeting; they attended a special meeting in 2011 at UB to confirm Satish K. Tripathi as UB’s 15th president.

Tripathi, representing the host institution, offered remarks on behalf of UB at the Open Formal Meeting on June 17, and said it was an honor to host the trustees and SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher.

Their visit, he says, came at a pivotal time for the university.

“The last decade has been a period of tremendous progress and institutional transformation for UB — a transformation continuing today,” said Tripathi.

“As we continue to rise in the ranks of the world’s great research universities, we were very pleased to have this opportunity to share with the trustees some of what we’ve achieved, as well as our plans for the future.

“The trustees were very impressed with the students, faculty and other UB community members they met with during their time on campus, and I think they came away from the visit with a comprehensive sense of the remarkable scope and impact of our university’s educational and research enterprise,” he said.

In addition to the Open Formal Meeting on the afternoon of June 17, the board met in several standing committee meetings on both June 16 and 17 where UB was invited to make presentations in three of the open committee meetings.

During the June 16 meeting of the Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Trustee Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Tripathi and Provost Charles F. Zukoski gave an overview of UB academic initiatives, and student Silvana D’Ettorre offered the student perspective on UB’s Undergraduate Academies.

Also on June 16, during the meeting of the Research and Economic Development Committee chaired by Trustee Marshall A. Lichtman, Alexander Cartwright, vice president for research and economic development, provided an overview of UB’s research enterprise, and Liesl Folks, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, briefed trustees on UB’s new “materials” research and curriculum. Marshall Scholarship recipient and 2014 UB graduate Phillip Tucciarone presented his experiences as an undergraduate materials researcher.

On June 17, during the meeting of the Academic Medical Centers and Hospitals Committee chaired by Trustee Eric Corngold, both Michael Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Anne Curtis, Charles and Mary Bauer Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, updated trustees on the construction of UB’s new medical school on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and other initiatives within the medical school. Kerri Pryce, a PhD student in pharmacology and toxicology, offered a student perspective.

The board met twice in executive session (once each day); all other meetings were open to the public and also streamed online.

The SUNY Board of Trustees meets at least six times per year, plus has at least two public hearings and occasional special meetings.

Over the past year, the regular meetings were held in June, May, March, January, November and September.

Zimpher said that she and the trustees are trying to have a trustee meeting take place at every SUNY campus.

To see a video of the meeting, go to:
http://www.suny.edu/about/leadership/board-of-trustees/.