Published September 14, 2018 This content is archived.
Dear Colleagues:
As the fall semester advances, our campus community is infused with energy brought by students and colleagues to the new academic year. This year we are greeting more than 70 new full-time faculty members who join our excellent faculty to continue pushing the frontiers of knowledge and positively changing the world through scholarship, education and engagement.
More than 9,100 new undergraduate, graduate and professional students have joined our university community. Our freshman class of over 4,100 students is highly qualified and academically talented, with an average SAT score that is 12 points higher than last year, and is more diverse than previous years, as approximately 46% of the class are international students or students of color. These students bring tremendous energy and excitement to our classrooms, labs, clinics and studios this fall.
Increasing numbers of students are drawn to UB because of our growing prominence and the unique educational opportunities we offer. To meet students’ and society’s changing needs and expectations, UB is developing innovative ways of delivering education that include dozens of dual degrees programs, many of which create pathways from liberal arts majors to professional degrees in fields that include education and law; interdisciplinary degrees in high-demand areas such as neuroscience and computational and data-enabled science and engineering; experiential programs in social innovation and diversity innovation; and a variety of micro-credentials and digital badges. Schools across campus are embracing innovation as a way to enrich our current traditional programs in order to enhance student learning and success.
UB continues to grow our impact and thought leadership in our region, nation and world. Over the next two years, we will see a dramatic effort to bring in more philanthropic support to further empower our faculty, enhance our students’ educational experience, and improve our world through research, education and engagement. I invite you to learn more about our historic Boldly Buffalo capital campaign and the academic priorities we have established, and to find ways to participate to help us achieve our goals.
Faculty and staff perspectives and creativity are critical to UB’s continued impact and reputation. Thank you for everything that you do for UB.
Sincerely,
Charles F. Zukoski Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs