University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Faculty member Jonathan Katz (right) makes a point during a conversation with President John B. Simpson (left) and faculty member Bruce Jackson (center) during a reception before Tuesday’s annual meeting of the voting faculty. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI

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• “Faculty leaders like you have the responsibility to see this plan through. The greatest asset this university has, without question, is its faculty.”

  President John B. Simpson

By LAUREN NEWKIRK MAYNARD

Published: November 4, 2010

President John B. Simpson delivered his seventh and final address to the voting faculty on Tuesday, sending the firm message that he continues to believe in UB and its “clear and present” potential to become one of the most pre-eminent public research universities in the world.

Following a reception with faculty, Simpson greeted the senators, many of whom he has considered friends, advisors, partners and “co-conspirators” over the years. He looked to them, he said, to continue the work of UB 2020. “Faculty leaders like you have the responsibility to see this plan through,” he said. “The greatest asset this university has, without question, is its faculty.”

As he mentioned at his final community address earlier this year, Simpson said that UB 2020 “transcends any one presidential administration… It is a great promise, a great vision” that, he said, does not belong to him or to any specific timetable.

It is, he continued, a four-part plan to move UB into position to compete against any top-tier public research university: an academic plan, an academic support plan, a master physical plan (Building UB) and finally, a growth plan for UB. “It is not an economic development plan,” he noted, adding that to truly become a major engine in local economic growth, UB would require more revenue sources.

Simpson cited the progress the university has made during his tenure, despite the financial situation in Albany and cuts to the SUNY system: Four hundred new faculty hired, new campuses and buildings established, new programs developed, a “reinvigoration” of undergraduate education, higher test scores for incoming freshmen and business operations that have been streamlined and improved.

He also noted a cultural change he has observed during the past seven years, where UB’s self-image and what he called a “broad-based belief in UB by the community” have improved greatly from when he first moved to Buffalo from California. “I get asked all the time by members of the community, ‘How are things going?’ and by other university presidents, ‘How did you do this?’ And I say, having a plan like UB 2020 has helped give us a new sense of self-confidence that wasn’t present when I arrived in 2004.”

Simpson went on to thank Provost Satish K. Tripathi, one of his closest colleagues and advisors at UB, for his leadership and for “protecting UB against Albany’s short-sightedness.” Indeed, Albany continues to be on Simpson’s mind; he called the state’s tuition policies “draconian” and likened UB’s reaction to the ongoing cuts to SUNY to being a marathon runner with a sprained ankle, saying, “We know we have to run this race in four hours, but we may not have all the resources we once had at our disposal to get there.”

Threats to the viability of all public higher education do exist, Simpson acknowledged, including lack of state support and the weakened national economy. For UB and SUNY in particular, these also include policy restrictions, “gross underfunding” exacerbated by further cuts, and SUNY’s “bankrupt” model of centralized control. But, he continued, there still are remarkable opportunities for UB. UB 2020 has helped the university step up as a leader in Western New York, and Simpson said, “We need to seize on this opportunity.” He also urged faculty to build upon UB’s traditional strengths, such as growing its international presence to make it a truly “internationalized university,” not only in its student population, but in how UB students and faculty can take advantage of the university’s global connections through study abroad and research collaboration.

Simpson ended by saying that he and his wife, Katherine, will leave Buffalo for Seattle later this year with “bittersweet” emotions. “We are leaving our home—you have helped make this a real home to us for the past seven years.”