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Chancellor’s message for faculty and staff
On the occasion of the first anniversary of her appointment as SUNY chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher has a message for SUNY faculty and staff.
Dear Colleagues:
One year ago today, I began my job as chancellor of the State University of New York. What a journey it has been! From visiting every one of our campuses to meeting many of you throughout the strategic planning process, and even cultivating a "New York state of mind," I have learned a great deal in these 365 days.
Above all, I have learned that SUNY, while already providing access to an excellent education for New Yorkers and students from across the nation and around the globe, has truly astounding potential to do much, much more. It is this vast universe of possibility that makes this job both very challenging and incredibly exciting.
There’s no question that we have many challenges before us. We have already put in tremendous effort to develop The Power of SUNY, our roadmap for the next five years and beyond. We will be working hard to bring those “big ideas” to life. And the backdrop of New York’s economic crisis has created a new set of hurdles. But with your talent, expertise and commitment, we have the capacity to navigate these challenges and serve as a catalyst for economic revitalization—and a better future for our communities.
I’ve said many times that The Power of SUNY is our roadmap and that the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act is our license to drive. But you—the faculty and staff of this great university system—are the drivers behind the wheel. Every day, you do the work that makes it possible to provide a world-class education to our 465,000 students and to create economic opportunities across New York.
In the past year, we have come together as a united SUNY, eager to take on the world. I am grateful for the opportunity I have been given to lead these efforts, and as we travel down this path, I’m confident we will reach our goals.
Together, we are The Power of SUNY!
Rosenbaum receive ASCAP award
Virtuoso choral conductor Harold Rosenbaum, associate professor of music who conducts the UB choirs and heads the graduate program in choral conducting, has received the 2010 Victor Herbert Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in recognition of his contribution to the choral repertory and his service to American composers and their music.
The award was presented last week at the 11th annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards ceremony at The Times Center in New York City.
“I feel that this award is to be shared," Rosenbaum says, "because it is not just about me. It’s about all the wonderful composers around the world whose work has not been published for various reasons, but who continue to write music anyway because they have to–even with virtually no hope of being heard.
"Over the past 22 years in particular, I have gone over more than 5,000 unpublished scores and have been able to bring many of these works to performance. I am so grateful to have had that opportunity. It is my joy to do this," he says.
Rosenbaum, one of the most accomplished and critically acclaimed choral conductors of our time, is best known as founder, artistic director and conductor of two premier choral groups.
One is the award-winning, internationally celebrated New York Virtuoso Singers (NYVA), which Rosenbaum founded in 1988 and which is today America's leading exponent of contemporary choral music. The NYVS is regularly invited to perform with leading orchestras and at such prestigious institutions such as The Tanglewood Music Festival and The Juilliard School, and has premiered more than 250 works by major composers.
The second is Rosenbaum's critically acclaimed Canticum Novum Singers, one of New York's premiere choirs. Now in its 37th season, the ensemble has presented the music of all periods, with a special focus on early music in more than 450 American concerts and on four European tours.
UB to offer environmental geosciences BS
UB will add a major in environmental geosciences to its undergraduate offerings this fall, giving students another opportunity to study and research topics tied to the ever-changing environment of Western New York and the world.
The BS degree program in environmental geosciences is an interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Classes and research projects will prepare students for graduate school or jobs in environmental consulting firms, non-governmental organizations and governmental environmental agencies working on such problems as sustainable resource management, restoration, monitoring and mitigation. Undergraduates who choose this new major will work with faculty studying everything from the movement of pollutants in Western New York aquifers to the ability of reef corals to respond to climate change.
The environmental geosciences curriculum integrates coursework from the departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Philosophy, and Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. Students receive specialized training necessary for integrated analysis of environmental systems. The program allows majors to choose between three specializations: ecology and the environment, water and the environment, and environmental monitoring and analysis.
Graduates will have a solid foundation in biological, physical and natural sciences; mathematics and statistics; and analytic and geospatial techniques.
“The program helps fulfill an increasing regional and global demand for scientists with quantitative, interdisciplinary training in environmental geosciences in an age in which stewardship of natural resources has taken on heightened importance,” says Mary Alice Coffroth, professor of geology and director of undergraduate studies for the new program..
For more information on the environmental geosciences program, visit the environmental sciences website.
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