Alumni key part of core UB community, volunteer leaders told at summit

Engaging with UB leaders. Gaining insights into higher education and defining what it means to be a UB volunteer. Learning how to help the university grow.

These were among the learning, teaching and listening opportunities that were part of UB’s second Volunteer Leadership Summit, held May 5-6 in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

The summit honored several alumni volunteers, while also providing a forum for volunteers to network across UB, learn from each other, and celebrate and inspire a continued spirit of volunteerism for the benefit of UB students.

Opening with an awards luncheon on May 5, the summit began with a conversation between President Satish K. Tripathi and Jeremy M. Jacobs, ’60, UB Council chair and chairman, Delaware North Companies.

“There is no industry in Western New York like this university, that touches every part of the community,” said Jacobs. “We are seeing such a convergence of technology, business and new and emerging fields of research, with much more to come. As a vital part of this community, we need UB to continue to move quickly to fully take advantage of these new technologies.”

Speaking about the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Jacobs went on to say: “The medical campus is an engine that I don’t think we have begun to harvest yet, what it will mean to this community. The interaction between medicine and education is implicit, and I think the medical school is going to be a real asset to all of us, in Western New York and beyond.”  

Following the opening conversation, Tripathi thanked members of the group for their contributions on campus and as UB ambassadors around the globe.

“Each of you embodies our mission, and each of you is such an important part of the fabric of our great university.

“Our challenge – and our great opportunity – as a leading public research university is to find the balance point: between staying true to our core academic mission and evolving that mission in new directions that allow us to expand our scope and reach even further,” he said.

“We thank you for your countless contributions here on campus, as UB ambassadors around the globe and for helping us expand our impact and attract more of the best and brightest students to UB.”  

The wide-ranging volunteer organizations represented at the summit included the UB Council, UB Foundation Board of Trustees, UB Alumni Association Board of Directors and chapter leaders, Alumni Association past presidents, deans’ advisory councils, UB Parents Advisory Board, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Advisory Board and UB Medical Emeritus Faculty Society Executive Council. Also participating were representatives of the board of the Science, Technology Transfer, and Economic Outreach (STOR), UB School of Management Accounting Advisory Council and Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness Advisory Council.

The summit was hosted by Jeremy M. Jacobs; Francis M. Letro, JD ’79, chairman, UB Foundation Board of Trustees, and partner, Francis M. Letro Attorneys at Law; and Mary Garlick Roll, MS ’88, BS ’84, president, UB Alumni Association.

In her remarks, Nancy Wells, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement, told attendees, “We are happy to see your enthusiasm for this event, our second Volunteer Leadership Summit. You are at the heart of its inception.

“UB has 2,000 volunteer leaders who support the university internally and externally, from members of the UB Council, the alumni association board and the dean’s advisory councils, to those who assist with one, two or several of the numerous activities and events UB holds throughout the school year.

“The Volunteer Leadership Summit is our way of saying thank you for all your work,” Wells said.

Three longtime alumni volunteers were recognized for their efforts and dedication to the university.

The Philip Wels Outstanding Service Award was presented to Jacobs. He was recognized for his long years of service and dedication to UB, and, in addition, the Jacobs family’s recent gift of $30 million to support the growth and expansion of the UB medical school to downtown Buffalo.

In recognition of this gift and the Jacobs family’s longtime generosity to UB, the school was renamed the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the first school naming in UB history.

In addition, UB alumni Ruth Kleinman, ’05, and Tim Lafferty, ’86, were honored as Outstanding Volunteers.

Volunteer leaders also took part in a discussion of UB’s new brand and identity strategy. Launched on April 12, the initiative drew strong positive reactions from members of the UB campus community, including students, faculty and staff; UB alumni from around the state, nation and world; potential students and their families; the Western New York community; and local and national media.

“This is a university-wide strategy that defines who we are, what we do and why it matters," said Nancy Paton, vice president for university communications.

"A brand is defined as a reputation, and reputation creates feelings about the university among our students, parents, prospective students, faculty, staff and alumni. At every interaction with them we create meaningful relationships that affect our reputation. These relationships are based on stories — shared stories, shared experiences.

“Our new storytelling framework, ‘Here is How’, is our inspirational and aspirational platform for telling our story to the world," Paton said. "UB is ambitious — we are an inclusive community of big thinkers and doers — and we are tenacious in pursuit of our goals.”

These traits are shared by the people and city of Buffalo, Paton told the group. “It’s in the way we do things, and it’s reflected in Buffalo’s renaissance and UB’s role in this renaissance.”

A screening of UB’s new brand-inspiration video brought the concept to life for the volunteer leaders, who came from Chicago, New York and Washington, among many other cities, to attend the summit. Many remarked that the video “evokes a sense of pride,” and compared to the best of others that they have seen from universities around the country.

Open discussion among the volunteer leaders, led by Paton and Ken Pasternak, managing partner of Marshall Strategy, which performed the research that formed the basis for the brand and identity strategy, brought out enthusiasm and strong support for the new brand. Ideas presented by the group included establishing a strong visual presence for UB’s new brand in key airports, linking presentations of the new brand to markets that are home to potential donors and building stories around alumni successes.

“Can we take the history of alumni achievements — decades of success — as a way to get the story out?” asked Navpreet Jatana, a member of the UB Alumni Association board. “The entire message is very compelling. Alumni ambassadors can take the UB brand and the UB story on the road, in meetings with our alumni across the country and around the world.”

Paton told the volunteer leaders the brand story is just beginning.

“Today’s review can be compared to a book,” she said. “We are just finishing the first chapter and we will have others to follow as we move forward to tell our story. There is so much more to come.”

In the summit’s keynote address, “Challenges and Opportunities of Volunteer Leadership,” Robert Bennett, MS ’76, former chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, spoke about the importance of volunteering. Bennett, who spent 23 years at the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County — the last 15 as president and CEO — observed that volunteering has long been a key characteristic of American society.

“Alexis de Tocqueville observed it in 1831 when he toured this country researching his famous work, ‘Democracy in America,’” Bennet said. “He observed that Americans were always ready to lend a hand, and if you asked for help, ‘It was seldom refused and given in great good spirit.’”

Bennet told the group that volunteerism has had, and must continue to have, a profound effect on our quality of life. He noted it is critical for volunteers to focus on the mission and getting it accomplished.