FSEC hears call for more grants

By MARA McGINNIS
Reporter Assistant Editor

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee expressed concern at its Sept. 1 meeting about the feasibility of an administration goal that calls for the university to double over the next five years the total dollar amount of research grants it receives annually from external sources.

Provost David Triggle, who called the goal "potentially achievable" but "exceptionally challenging," told senators that a university's external research funding determines "the league that you play in" and expressed confidence that UB could succeed in reaching the goal.

"Last year we had an enrollment problem, this year we don't," he said. "These things can be achieved."

Triggle added that the amount of funding a university receives for research "determines to some extent the caliber of the faculty you get, the attractiveness to at least certain groups of students and the reputation of the university, both within and outside the state."

Dale M. Landi, vice president for research, talked about UB's status in terms of sponsored research and what might be done to make progress toward the goal, which he called an "ambitious undertaking."

He reported that although UB's sponsored research increased slightly during the past year, the university experienced three previous years of decline in both research dollars and proposal activity. Landi added that UB's record of decreasing dollars for research in recent years could not be attributed to a trend since peer institutions, both within and outside SUNY, gained in sponsored research during that time.

With a total of $73 million in funded research for 1998-99, he noted that UB would have to increase that amount at a rate of 15 percent per year to achieve the administration's goal of almost $150 million at the end of five years.

Landi said UB's absorption of the Research Institute on Addictions will help somewhat in increasing the amount of research dollars coming in to the university, but said that the only way to really increase this year's numbers would be to focus on "strategic investment" and to "recruit faculty who bring grants with them."

According to Landi, there have been years at UB during which a significant number of senior faculty have left the university and are replaced by junior-level faculty who, since they are at early stage of their career, often must work seven or eight years before they bring in significant grants.

Dennis Malone, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, suggested that the university "let those particularly good researchers concentrate on doing it and relieve them from less profitable, immediate obligations." However, Landi said he believes some faculty members are "maxed out" and that UB needs to look at how to "best enable those who are willing."

Senate Chair Peter Nickerson said that steps the university needs to take in order to try to achieve this goal probably would be one of the major issues to be explored this year by the senate's Committee on Research and Creative Activity, chaired by Harold Strauss, professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics.

Strauss, who came to UB from Duke University, said that although teaching responsibilities are greater at UB than in a private-school setting, UB has "tremendous resources" and while "some turnover is good," the university needs to "focus on what can be done to keep faculty here."

Triggle said that a tenured faculty position is equivalent to a $4-$5 million endowment and to "squander it on appointments that don't work out is a very serious matter."

He added: "We will be looking very, very hard at what we do with appointments because, in principle, these appointments will affect the university for the next 30 years."

John Boot, professor and chair of the Department of Management Science and Systems, said that he had "substantial difficulties" with what he referred to as "changing the rules of the game." He maintained that for the past seven years, faculty have been encouraged to focus on teaching and public service and that "funded research was never mentioned."

President William R. Greiner responded that such a notion was "appalling," adding that although he believes public service is understated at UB, it was never intended that it be emphasized over research and scholarship.

In other business, the FSEC discussed the delay in the administra-tion's implementation of the Faculty Senate's resolution on grade replacement due to a lack of resources in Computing and Information Technology because of priorities that include Access99 and the potential Y2K problem.

The new policy allows students to repeat courses in which they have received a grade of C plus or lower and counts only the grade earned the second time in the computation of the student's grade-point average. It has been accepted for immediate implementation by Greiner and Triggle, and is outlined in the most recent UB undergraduate catalogue. The FSEC passed a motion asking Greiner to address the issue immediately.

The Sept. 1 meeting also included a brief presentation on WBFO 88.7 FM, the National Public Radio affiliated operated by UB. Carole Smith Petro, associate vice president for university services, and Jennifer Roth, WBFO station manager, reported that the station hit all-time highs in both membership and business contributions in 1999. The annual membership drive contributions totaled $432,000, a 37 percent increase from 1998.

Roth added that WBFO has increased significantly its market share by adding 40,000 new listeners since 1989.