First of Four Forums on Comprehensive Physical Plan to be Held

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The first of four public forums on the comprehensive physical plan being developed by UB in conjunction with its plans to grow by 40 percent by the year 2020 will be held Tuesday in the UB Downtown Gateway -- the former M. Wile Building recently purchased by the university -- at 77 Goodell St.

The forum on the third floor of the building will feature a formal presentation from 10:30 a.m. to noon that will be part of an open house from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Limited free parking will be available in surface lots surrounding the building. Shuttle service also will be offered on the hour from the North and South campuses.

The goal of Tuesday's forum is to gain public input on development of the plan to supplement feedback that has been gathered through 115 meetings between UB representatives and individuals and organizations in recent months. More than 2,000 people have participated in those meetings.

"We want to hear from our various constituencies and this is one of the ways we have to hear from them in addition to individual meetings," said Robert G. Shibley, professor and director of the Urban Design Project in the School of Architecture and Planning who, as senior advisor to President John B. Simpson, is overseeing UB's ongoing master-planning process.

Members of the university community received an invitation to the forum earlier this month from James A. (Beau) Willis, executive vice president for university support services.

At the same time as seeking input on the master plan, the university administration is reaching out to, and seeking input from, faculty and staff with expertise in subject matters relating to development of the plan.

In a communication employees received on Tuesday, Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, noted that as a major public research university, "UB possesses an enormous wealth and diversity of expertise that can help guide this planning work. And, in order to tap this resource, 'Building UB—the Comprehensive Physical Plan' is issuing this call for participation by faculty subject-matter experts to advise on the development of the plan.

"The scope for this call is broad," added Tripathi. "Experts in architecture, planning, engineering, landscape architecture and allied fields, or specializations like energy production and use will have an important insight to offer to this process. Moreover, a broader array of specializations reaching into every school (from Law to Public Health, for example) and nearly every department in the university (from Biology to Visual Studies to Anthropology) also have something to contribute to the plan."

Tripathi said faculty and staff subject-matter experts should nominate themselves on a voluntary basis, along with a brief description of their expertise and the range of their subject-matter interests, by email to bhovey@buffalo.edu. A roster of experts will be compiled; experts will be notified by email about the availability of new work products for review and the time frame for commentary, Tripathi said. Draft work products also will be available at www.buffalo.edu/ub2020/plan for review by all members of the university community.

Tuesday's forum is the first of four being planned in conjunction with the development of the comprehensive physical plan for UB's North, South and downtown campus centers. The focus of the forum will be guiding principles and key issues of the plan. A forum planned for April 22 on the North Campus will focus on campus concepts, while a draft of the plan will be the topic of a forum on the South Campus on Nov. 19, 2008. Plan implementation will be the focus of the final forum on April 22, 2009.

UB's comprehensive plan is an integral part of the UB 2020 initiative that will transform UB into a model 21st-century public university that will rise among the ranks of the nation's public research universities. The plan will accommodate UB's plans to grow by 40 percent, increasing enrollment by 10,000 and faculty and staff ranks by more than 2,300. The goal is to create three distinctive campus environments tailored to their respective suburban, urban and downtown settings, better connecting them with one another and integrating them with their surrounding neighborhoods.

The presentation at Tuesday's forum will open with comments by President John B. Simpson and Tripathi. Shibley will report on the current status of, and next steps in, the planning process. Also speaking will be Frederick A. Bland, managing partner with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, the internationally known team chosen to work with the "Building UB" team and lead development of the plan. Brief presentations also will be made by representatives of other firms working on the plan.

Work in process on the plan will be the subject of posters, exhibit materials and virtual models of campus centers and neighborhoods projected in real-time animation that will be displayed during the open house from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Representatives of the university and firms working on development of the comprehensive physical plan also will be available to answer questions and receive input from those attending the open house.

To register for Tuesday's forum, call 645-3705, ext. 223, or go to http://www.buffalo.edu/YourUB.