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Simpson tells FSEC he's working to improve UB's U.S. News ranking
By DONNA BUDNIEWSKI
Reporter Assistant Editor
President John B. Simpson told the Faculty Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday that he is making a commitment toward improving UB's ranking in U.S News and World Report.
Simpson said he is concerned because he believes the rankings sell the university short and that "it's fundamentally wrong to ignore them" because they carry considerable weight in terms of perceptions within the university and in the public, especially among prospective students and parents.
The most recent rankings placed UB well below the University of California, Santa Cruz, where Simpson was provost and executive vice chancellor before being named president.
"I surely don't believe that's the case," he said of the difference in rankings between the two schools, based on the quality of UB's faculty, programs and students. While Simpson said he'd never be comfortable with any ranking system, UB's ranking was an issue that can't be ignored and that it's important to focus on improving areas of the university. "I'm going to do what I can to turn those scores around," he said.
Simpson also told FSEC members that, in consultations with SUNY Chancellor Robert King and the SUNY Board of Trustees, he is exploring the possibility of enhancing the role of the UB Council so that it will function more like a local board of trustees.
Simpson also reported that the search for a new provost is going extremely well, with the first group of candidates expected to be on campus for initial interviews next week.
In other business, Kerry Grant, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the graduate school, presented an overview of the functions and responsibilities of the Office of Academic Affairs.
Grant emphasized the accountability of Academic Affairs, both from a legal standpoint—UB and its officers, as a public institution, are subject to the constraints of the federal Constitution—and with regard to four operational standards, or attributes, that he described as equal protection or equal opportunity, due process, educational quality and academic services.
Private institutions, he noted, are not accountable to the same constitutional or operational standards as public institutions. For example, tenure is characterized legally as a contractual agreement between a private institution and its individual faculty, but at a public university or college, tenure—once earned—becomes legally a property right of the individual faculty member. Improper dismissals of faculty members constitute a breach of contract at a private institution, but a breach of law at a public university, Grant explained.
The overarching principle of equal protection, Grant noted, "is that every student must be treated equally in the conduct of all academic affairs." "What is available to one student must be available to all. What is demanded of one student must be demanded of all," he said.
As Academic Affairs carries out its proscribed duties, it may come into conflict with other constituents of the university. One example of potential conflict Grant cited is in the assigning of grades. If a faculty member were to offer a student the opportunity to change a grade by requiring the completion of additional work, the grade change may be denied within Academic Affairs or the Graduate School because all students taking the course were not given the same opportunity to complete additional work for potential grade improvement after the end of the course. While assigning a grade is a protected right of faculty as an action of freedom of speech, said Grant, the evaluation must be made in compliance with the policies governing grading and not violate fundamental rights of other students who are entitled to equal opportunity to have their grades changed.
Due process is a clearly defined set of rules governing issues such as a grievance by a student against a faulty member, or academic integrity charges by a faculty member against a student. The university can be held legally liable for any violation of due process, Grant pointed out.
"Our office is currently working with the Faculty Senate Grading Committee on the processes for grievances and cases of academic integrity claims in order to simplify them into a single set for both undergraduate and graduate students," he said.
Academic Affairs also has a responsibility for overseeing the development of courses and academic programs, and changes to existing programs, which is carried out through undergraduate and graduate curriculum committees and ensures consistent quality of curriculum.
Another important role in maintaining educational quality and academic standards is the legal obligation the institution has to inform students when they are not making adequate progress toward a degree or not meeting graduation requirements. The university works closely with the Faculty Senate and the Office of Enrollment and Planning, said Grant, to establish and implement guidelines, policies and deadlines for a wide array of academically related processes, among them deadlines for incomplete grades and resignations from courses, and academic standards for dismissal and probation.
"My fundamental message is that as a public institution, we are subject to the laws and changing interpretation of law. The office and staff of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and the Graduate School have a role on behalf of SUNY, the university, the provost, the Faculty Senate—:which, in most cases, created the policies—the individual academic units and the individual faculty to ensure that actions taken at the university comply with the governing authority."
Also at yesterday's meeting, Robert Davies, associate vice president for university advancement, presented an update on the activities of the Office of Alumni Relations and efforts to strengthen its role in supporting UB by cultivating alumni support—reaching out to alumni and drawing them back to the institution, promoting legislative action and increasing mentorship opportunities in which students and alumni work together, as well as providing life-long learning opportunities for alumni.
Davies said there are more than 176,000 living UB alumni and of those, only 14,000 "remain missing," or without contact information with which the university could establish a relationship with them, noted Davies. He said more than 56,000 alumni live in Western New York, with nearly 40,000 living elsewhere in New York State and another 40,000 or so living in the U.S. About 8,000 alumni live outside the U.S. There are 20 active alumni chapters in the U.S. and 11 outside the country. Davies said the most recent chapter was added at UB for the 2,000 alumni who work at the university.