University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: September 22, 2005

By ARTHUR PAGE
Assistant Vice President

Work on UB 2020 has progressed substantially over the summer months as faculty and staff members have continued to contribute ideas and vision to the university's strategic-planning process.

Several of the planning committees in the 10 areas of strategic strengths identified during the first phase of the process have completed, or are completing, plans in which they outline ways to build on those strengths, including proposals for funding over several years to help accomplish that goal. Two of the plans have been presented to the deans and UB 2020 Academic Planning Committee, and five more are scheduled to be presented before the end of the semester.

Important progress also has been made by those working in the "transformation" of academic support services in the areas of information technology and human resources, as well as in the consolidation of Grants and Contracts Administration and Sponsored Programs Administration.

At the same time, UB 2020 is changing the way participating faculty and staff members view the university and their ability to make contributions in support of academic excellence and the goal of moving UB into the ranks of the nation's top public research universities over the next 15 years.

"As we move forward, UB 2020 will offer more than a roadmap for the future," said President John B. Simpson. "In important ways, it is also the road itself—the road to achieving meaningful, lasting institutional transformation that will enable us, in turn, to transform the world around us."

While UB 2020 looks to the future, Simpson stressed, it builds on many successes and initiatives that predate the planning process that began early in 2004.

Faculty participating in the envisioning retreats that began earlier this year for the strategic strengths have focused on ways to capitalize on the university's strongest academic and research assets. They have expanded their focus and thinking beyond traditional boundaries of academic departments and decanal areas to look at new and meaningful ways for multidisciplinary collaboration.

The "academic excellence" that is the hallmark of the strategic-planning process will translate into an ability for the university to attract outstanding faculty, who in turn will garner more research funding and bolster efforts to recruit the very best students.

The impact will not be limited to internal manifestations, but extend to the various communities that the university serves. In effect, UB 2020 is not just about advancing UB.

"As a public university, UB has a vital responsibility to meaningfully impact the larger communities we serve," Simpson said.

"We have a responsibility to increase the intellectual capacity of the state's citizens and through our research programs to improve the quality of the lives of the citizens of New York, the rest of the nation and countries around the world. In addition to being an economic engine for Western New York and upstate New York, we have a responsibility to provide leadership in public service."

UB's recognition as a top public research university, Simpson stressed, "is not an end in itself, but the pathway toward an even more meaningful goal. Ultimately, UB's mission of excellence is about bettering all of the communities we are a part of—regionally, nationally and globally."

The charge to the planning committees for each of the strategic strengths was to gather input from faculty, and in some cases staff members, working in the area to envision ways to leverage those strengths to distinguish UB nationally.

The groups have focused on identifying unique factors that differentiate UB or have the potential to set it apart from other research universities, as well as areas where the university should focus and invest to become a recognized leader. Their white papers will identify resources and capabilities UB possesses, compared with those that will be necessary to achieve success. Timelines and multi-year funding and growth plans with appropriate milestones are being included.

Ultimately, each committee is charged with describing its vision in a "white paper" to be presented to the deans and UB 2020 Academic Planning Committee. Various proposals in the white papers submitted by the end of December will be considered for funding in the 2006-07 fiscal year.

Under the leadership of Simpson and Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, UB's deans are working collaboratively to examine the proposals and ways in which they can bring various departments, centers and infrastructure together to achieve the visions described in the proposals. Future faculty hiring will be tied to the plans, with an emphasis on joint appointments and multidisciplinary efforts that cross decanal lines. In reviewing funding proposals, the provost will be looking for collaboration that transcends departments and schools.

Planning committees for two of the strategic strengths—Integrated Nanostructured Systems and Molecular Recognition in Biological Systems—made their presentations to the deans and UB 2020 Academic Planning Committee in mid-July and at the end of August, respectively.

It's anticipated that planning committees in five other strategic strengths will make presentations before the end of the year. They are Artistic Expression and Performing Arts, Civic Engagement and Public Policy, Clinical Sciences and Experimental Medicine, Extreme Events: Mitigation and Response, and Information and Computing Technology.

The planning committee for the strategic strength Literary, Cultural and Textual Studies held a retreat on May 3, but has yet to begin work on a white paper. An initial envisioning retreat has yet to be held for the strength Aging and Chronic Diseases.

A different approach is being taken in the case of the strategic strength Bioinformatics and Health Sciences. It will focus on distinguishing the university's academic strengths in this area from those of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. A group of faculty and staff members is being formed that next semester will examine UB's strengths in bioinformatics and health sciences as an area of academic and scientific endeavor, developing a proposal to leverage and support them using the same approach as with the other nine strategic strengths. With the university substantially invested in the Center of Excellence, the goal will be to avoid duplication of efforts and investment.

Over the summer, committees of staff members have been examining ways to transform strategically the areas of human resources and computer and information technology to improve services, reduce duplicative activities and better support the academic and academic-support communities.

In addition, those focusing on computing and information technology are looking at how to create capacity within current staffing that can be rededicated to new support efforts for the university's research and instructional programs.

In another "transformation" effort, the Sponsored Programs Improvement Initiative has recommended that Grants and Contracts Administration and Sponsored Programs Administration, the two offices that handle pre-award and post-award services for UB researchers, be merged to provide better service to faculty members seeking grants and other funding opportunities.

It has been recommended that the new, merged organization report jointly to the vice president for research and the executive vice president for finance and operations. It also has been recommended that three "life-cycle" teams aligned with principal investigators be created and supported by a central office within the new organization, and that a training function be added to the new unit.