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Trustees approve budget request
The SUNY Board of Trustees on Friday approved a 2003-04 budget request that asks for base budget funding at the 2002-03 level, at the least, and recommends $80 million in additional funding—should resources become available—to cover costs associated with collective bargaining agreements, inflation and increases in SUNY enrollment.
Last year's core budget for state-operated campuses was $1.9 billion.
The budget resolution also recommends that SUNY be given spending authority to utilize additional tuition revenue, should that be necessary, to fund SUNY's 2003-04 budget proposal. The requested additional spending authority would be sufficient to accommodate an undergraduate tuition increase of up to $1,400, according to SUNY officials.
President William R. Greiner noted that trustees were "being prudential" in anticipating that Gov. George Pataki's budget, due to be released next week, could try to close an anticipated $8-12 billion gap by cutting allocations to all state agencies.
He also noted that the trustees will not make a final decision on tuition for 2003-04 until much later in the annual budget cycle since, under state law, the trustees may not set tuition in any given year until after the state budget is finally adopted by the legislature and governor.
Pointing out that there has not been a tuition increase since 1995, SUNY officials noted that the system's tuition and fees have risen just 13 percent during that seven-year period, while other public colleges and universities in the Northeast have raised their tuition and fees by as much as 61 percent.
Thomas F. Egan, chair of the board of trustees, noted that even with a tuition increase as high as $1,400, tuition at SUNY's four-year colleges and universities would be less than that at the universities of Vermont and New Hampshire, and at Rutgers and Penn State—SUNY's peer institutions in the Northeast.
Tuition at the state-operated campuses currently is $3,400 a year.
Moreover, SUNY officials say that many students from low-income families would see no increase in their tuition because the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) would cover the entire amount.
In presenting SUNY's budget request to trustees, King reported that "by every objective measure—from student body quality to research to academic excellence—we are continuing to move to the front rank of the nation's public universities."
King recognized some of the university's recent accomplishments, including an total enrollment at SUNY's 64 campuses of more than 403,000 students, the highest level in its history; more than $700 million in sponsored research on SUNY campuses, a robust 18 percent increase over the previous year, and the Centers of Excellence initiative that includes three of five centers located on SUNY campuses, including the Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics at UB.
Among the four high-powered SUNY faculty members that King mentioned in his presentation were UB faculty members Jeffrey Skolnick, a world-renowned scientist in the fields of computational biology and bioinformatics who is director of the UB Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics, and Carl Dennis, an English professor who was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Regents chancellor co-teaching UB course
Robert Bennett, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents, is co-teaching a three-credit graduate course at UB this semester that will address many issues of significance to urban school systems.
The course, "Policy-making in Public Education," is of interest to current and prospective school administrators and teachers, as it focuses on the analysis and implications of current federal, state and local policies that affect public education.
Donald J. Jacobs, associate dean in the Graduate School of Education (GSE), who is teaching the course with Bennett, says guest lecturers will include Marion Canedo, superintendent of the Buffalo Public Schools, and GSE Dean Mary H. Gresham.
Jacobs, who also is the founder and director of UB's Center for Applied Technology in Education, describes the course as "a thorough exploration and discussion of existing policy-making entities in education, including an analysis of the roles and responsibilities of federal, state and local governing bodies."
Oishei grants to benefit research
The John R. Oishei Foundation has awarded a total of $600,000 to two research projects in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences focusing on infectious diseases.
Two three-year, $300,000 grants have been awarded to Anthony Campagnari, professor of microbiology and medicine, for his work in the field of sexually transmitted diseases, and to Thomas A. Russo, associate professor of medicine in the infectious diseases division, who is studying E. coli infections.
Thomas E. Baker, executive director of the foundation, said that in each case, members of the Oishei board of directors approved the grants because they were "impressed with the high quality of the research proposed and its potential implications."
Campagnari will lead studies analyzing virulence factors and potential vaccine antigens of Haemophilus ducreyi, the etiologic agent of chancroid, a sexually transmitted disease. Infection from H. ducreyi significantly increases the risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.
"H. ducreyi infections are not only common in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, but in every country where the rate of infection with HIV exceeds 8 percent of the adult population," Campagnari said.
Data from the UB studies could lead to "the identification and development of a vaccine for H. ducreyi infection that would favorably impact the rate of HIV infection in third-world countries," he added.
Russo is seeking to develop a vaccine for extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli, the most common cause of extraintestinal infection in ambulatory, long-term-care and hospital settings. Typical infections due to E. coli include urinary tract infection, diverse intra-abdominal infections, pneumonia, surgical-site infection, meningitis and soft-tissue infections.
"The strains of E. coli that cause extraintestinal infection are under-appreciated 'killers.' Each year in the U.S., billions of direct health-care dollars are spent on millions of these infections, which are associated with thousands of deaths," said Russo.
The John R. Oishei Foundation's mission is to enhance the quality of life for Buffalo-area residents by supporting education, health care, scientific research and the cultural, social, civic and other charitable needs of the community.
A major supporter of UB and its community-focused activities, the foundation has given or pledged more than $8.2 million to The Campaign for UB for programs ranging from the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics to the Toshiba Stroke Research Center.
Social Work to house journal
The School of Social Work has been selected as the new home of The Clinical Supervisor, a journal that looks at aspects of supervision in the fields of psychotherapy and mental health.
Lawrence Shulman, dean of the School of Social Work, and Andrew Safyer, associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs in the school, will serve as editors of the journal, which will draw upon work in fields that include social work, psychology, counseling and educational psychology, nursing and other clinical professions.
The first issue of The Clinical Supervisor edited by Shulman and Safyer will be published this winter. The journal has been edited for 20 years by its founder, Carlton Munson, professor of social work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
The interdisciplinary nature of the journal is important, noted Shulman, because it allows readers to tap into a wider range of research.
"As we read through recent submissions in working to assemble our first co-edited issue, we were struck by how interesting it was to read of clinical supervision practice and research written by professionals in other disciplines," he said. "We could see themes that cut across disciplines providing the constant elements of clinical supervision and, at the same time, we could identify variant elements."
The peer-reviewed journal contains a blend of theoretical articles, qualitative and quantitative empirical research and reflective pieces intended to interest all readers, as well as specific disciplines.
It will feature special sections and special issues focusing on timely subjects, as well as book and conference announcements. In addition, the editors will solicit submissions from clinicians outside academia on particular supervision issues encountered in practice.
The journal's editorial board is composed of academicians and clinicians representing the fields of social work, psychiatry, counselor education, psychology and family therapy from universities, institutes and hospitals from throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Asia at Noon sets schedule
UB law student John Haberstroh will discuss "Japanese Wartime Forced Labor: Litigation by Korean and Chinese Victims" on Jan. 31 during the first lecture of the spring semester of the "Asia at Noon" brown-bag lunch series sponsored by the Asian Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
All lectures in the series will run from noon to 1 p.m. in 280 Park Hall, North Campus. The presenter will speak for about 20 minutes, with the rest of the hour devoted to questionsand answers and discussion. The audience is comprised of undergraduates, graduate students, interested faculty and members of the community.
The schedule:
Feb. 14: Roger DesForges, professor of history, "The Changing Functions of Walls in China Today"
Feb. 28: Shubha Ghosh, asssociate professor of law, and student members of the Asian American Law Students Association, "Beyond Black, White and Brown v. Board of Education: A Primer on Asian-American Jurisprudence from One Initiate"
March 21: Lawrence Fouraker, assistant professor of history, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, "A Yakuza Recession? Japan's Mafia and the Current Slump"
April 4: Jennifer Randall, doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, "How does Globalization Affect our Health? A Case Study in China"
April 18: Seon-Wook Kim, Republic of Korea, "Korean Democracy after the Presidential Election: A Philosopher's Viewpoint"
For further information, contact the Asian Studies Program at 645-3474.
CFA to present "Cinderella"
The Center for the Arts will present Fanfare Theatre Ensemble's original musical production of "Cinderella" at 2 p.m. Feb. 9 in the Mainstage theater in the CFA, North Campus.
Free children's activities will be provided one hour prior to the performance.
The performance is part of The Tops Family Adventure Series sponsored by Tops Friendly Markets, WGRZ-TV and WJYE-FM.
Fanfare Theatre Ensemble's original musical adaptation tells Cinderella's timeless tale. Lively songs and rousing dances combined with theatrical magic are certain to dazzle young audiences. The performance is recommended for ages 8 and younger.
Fanfare Theatre Ensemble has entertained children for more than 30 years with its wholesome brand of musical theatre and its ability to captivate the audience.
Tickets for "Cinderella" are $12 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and under and seniors. Audience members who present a Tops Bonus Card at the CFA box office will save $2 off all tickets purchased. Tickets are available from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the CFA box office and at all Ticketmaster locations.
For more information, call 645-ARTS or visit the Web site at http://www.arts.buffalo.edu.