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Planning, growth key to success
By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Contributor
President John B. Simpson told members of the Professional Staff Senate on April 27 that strategic planning and growth are the means to UB being recognized as one of the nation's premier public research institutions.
The 10 strategic strengths and the goals set forth in the UB 2020 strategic planning process are the "framework" or "scaffolding" upon which UB will build over the course of the next 15 years and beyond, Simpson said during remarks at the PSS general membership meeting.
"What we are doing at the University at Buffalo is unique among major universities," said Simpson, who had just returned from the annual meeting of the presidents of Association of American Universities (AAU) institutions. "We are taking on and grappling with major issues about where we are going academically as a university, and from that point figuring out how to best meet those goals."
Not all universities in the AAU do strategic planning, he noted. Others are less comprehensive, falling short of the degree to which UB 2020 focuses on strategic strengths and considers major topics, he added.
"I think it's imperative—absolutely obligatory—to grow in terms of our size," he said. Based upon the objectives outlined in UB 2020, Simpson said he expects UB to hire 253 new faculty members during the next five years.
In terms of the overall timeline, Simpson said that although the professoriat agrees growth is needed, there remains some debate about how much to increase enrollment.
"Thirty-five thousand students produces a number of at least 500 more faculty than we have right now," he noted. "That puts us into the realm of those schools to which we would compare ourselves"—large public research institutions like Ohio State and the University of Pittsburgh.
But, Simpson stressed, UB will not take on more students unless it can guarantee support in terms of resources, such as financial assistance, staff and facilities.
Funds from the state, private investment, philanthropic donations and other sources will drive the achievement of these goals, Simpson said. "It is not a plan that is going on the shelf," he said of UB 2020. "We're doing it. The provost and the deans are committing hard resources."
Simpson expects government reinvestment in universities nationwide due to the fact that the world is centered more and more on intellectual property, which institutions such as universities generate. In addition, universities are crucial centers of innovation and research and development. In the 1960s, said Simpson, corporations such as GE, Bell Labs and Ford Motor Co. sponsored their own significant research-and-development activities. "Now that is all shifted to the universities," he said.
The research and development that occurs at universities has an important role in national competitiveness and national defense, he pointed out.
"There is a growing awareness in Washington that universities have a critical role in the future of this country."
In response to concerns expressed by some PSS members, Simpson said UB is in a "good position" regarding the 2006-07 state budget. He expects the state to provide UB with $24.6 million for a new engineering building—on top of $25 million appropriated last year—and $13 million for a building to house the Educational Opportunity Center in downtown Buffalo that is on top of $12 million appropriated last year. Moreover, according to Simpson, "TAP will be reinstated. The operating fund that was taken out of SUNY's budget will be reinstated."
He said announcements are anticipated soon in the searches for deans of the schools of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (see story on page 1 regarding the new SEAS dean). In addition, a committee is expected to be appointed this week to launch the nationwide search to replace College of Arts and Sciences Dean Uday Sukhatme, who has been named executive vice chancellor and dean of the faculties at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
Simpson also discussed several initiatives that target academic support issues in such areas as human resources and information technology.
A major review conducted last year found UB operates more than 70 independent phone systems and 700 independent servers, he said. "It costs a lot of money we don't need to spend. It's wasteful as a business model and we are a billion-dollar business," he said.
Simpson said an optimization and unification of support functions is required. Funds spent on inefficiencies are then not available for other important projects, he said.
He added there also are initiatives in the works to streamline the grant-and-contract process and foster professional development activities.
"Everything done should be understood in terms of supporting the academic enterprise," Simpson said.