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• “We’re hoping that the move downtown, and the greater visibility of that move downtown, will catalyze some different kinds of engagement.”

  Kathryn Foster

  Director, UB Regional Institute

By CHARLOTTE HSU

Published: October 22, 2009

The UB Regional Institute will continue serving as an important community resource as the research and policy center relocates from Beck Hall on the South Campus to UB’s Downtown Gateway, Kathryn Foster, the institute’s director, told members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at their meeting yesterday.

Foster said the move, scheduled for November, could help the institute, which applies evidence-based analysis to issues facing Buffalo Niagara and strengthens relationships with stakeholders outside UB. Foster and her colleagues already do outreach in the community, with recent activities ranging from co-sponsoring a public forum on “resurrecting Buffalo” to discussing workforce challenges as a participant in UB Business Partners Day.

Still, with regards to civic engagement, Foster said, “We haven’t done as much of this in the last year as we want, but we’re hoping that the move downtown, and the greater visibility of that move downtown, will catalyze some different kinds of engagement.”

Foster made those remarks to the FSEC as part of a broader presentation on the Regional Institute’s purpose and projects.

The center, which houses nine full-time employees, has a budget just shy of $1 million, with “soft money” accounting for about three quarters of that amount, Foster said.

Over the years, the institute has studied problems ranging from vacant properties to air quality, with an eye toward informing debates about good governance. Recent policy briefs on the effects of downsizing local government in Western New York and reorganization of school districts have generated news coverage, drawing attention to important questions. The institute’s Region’s Edge initiative focuses on such issues as binational governance and economic integration related to Buffalo Niagara’s unique status as a border region in a global world.

As staff members prepare for their move downtown, they are continuing work on old projects and exploring new opportunities. One project in the works, Foster said, involves examining why bridge traffic between Canada and the United States has fallen and whether the decline is permanent.