University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: December 7, 2006

By MARY COCHRANE
Contributing Editor

What would be required for UB to be recognized as one of the leading public research universities?

Provost Satish K. Tripathi answered that question in his address on the academic state of the university during Tuesday's meeting of the full Faculty Senate.

UB already possesses many of the elements of a top university, according to Tripathi, who noted that the best universities have faculties actively "participating in innovative and impactful research and scholarship."

Tripathi cited several examples of UB research that "not just follows the national agenda, but in some cases, is setting that agenda."

These included UB's participation in the landmark, 12-year Women's Health Initiative that showed the increased risk of heart disease, stroke and blood clots in post-menopausal women receiving estrogen-plus-progestin therapy; and a $6 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama in the Graduate School of Education to further develop curricula for the teaching of preschool mathematics.

Strong scholarship is the natural result of strong leadership among top-notch faculty members who support all aspects of providing their students a "distinctive and transformative education," Tripathi said.

"We need the academic leadership. We cannot go where we want to go without all the constituencies involved and working together," he said. "The leadership has to come from the faculty, the department chairs, the deans all across the campus; that's how we can really get to where we want to get.

"We have to have innovative and impressive curricula. We have to really think about how we attract the students, how we retain them here and how we deliver what we deliver to them. We also have to have a full investment in our academic enterprise and overall, we really have to have the sheer tenacity to achieve the goal we want to achieve."

UB also participates in "educating for a global citizenship" among its students, according to Tripathi.

"This is something that is being talked about all over the world: How do we educate our students in a global context? We all know that the world is flat, but actually it's not only flat, it is timeless. You have the connectivity that's instantaneous. Our campus has been a leader, both in terms of our study-abroad program—giving students perspective on the world—and also in terms of international students and how they are integrated here. As you all know, we are in the top 10 now in terms of numbers and we are number one among public universities in terms of the percentage of international students among our total students."

A top university also cultivates "knowledge and discoveries for the benefit of local and world communities," another practice found throughout UB, Tripathi said.

UB again has many faculty members whose research in their fields directly serves community residents, he said, among them Joseph A. Gardella, professor of chemistry, and his team of colleagues, who work with K-16 students in the Buffalo Public Schools to improve their knowledge of science and mathematics, and medical school faculty members, whose research discoveries are "being translated into medical devices and drug treatments to ameliorate the effects of the most debilitating illnesses."

While Tripathi applauds the impressive experience and knowledge of UB faculty and staff, he noted that "it is our moral responsibility" to channel this expertise to students of the university community.

As a result, Tripathi, along with the offices of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Vice President for Student Affairs, have announced the creation of two new programs to bring faculty closer to students: freshman seminars and "learning academies," a series of seminars in four topics, including civic engagement and community service, global affairs and international communities, research exploration, and creative expression.

"The one-hour seminars provide an opportunity for first-year students to build a relationship with a faculty member, get a glimpse of their research and maybe even encourage them to participate in undergraduate research/scholarship/creative activities," he said, adding, "We already do all of these things right now. This is nothing new. It's just that we haven't organized them in this way. There are students who do community service. There are students who actually have a global-affairs bent to what they do. We have research going on already. What we are trying to do is provide students with more incentive to participate in these programs but also more awareness that they are available."

Freshmen would receive credit for fulfilling the seminar requirements and could be recognized for their participation at the end-of-the-year Celebration of Academic Excellence.

"Our freshman seminar courses provide students with that critical entree to the exciting world of research and scholarship. I hope I can encourage you to take your research into the undergraduate classroom and introduce our students to this wonderful and vibrant world," Tripathi said. "The Celebration of Academic Excellence provides a wonderful forum to showcase the terrific work our students are doing with the help of your guidance and support."

Tripathi encouraged senior faculty members to consider teaching freshman seminars, which he himself will be doing this spring.

"And I'm encouraging those in the professional schools as well because when the undergraduate students come here, they are coming to UB and not just to a given department or academic program. Part of their experience will be to learn what kind of research goes on in the professional schools," he said.

Tripathi also would like to increase the number of UB faculty members who are members of the National Academies. Currently, there are five members, but several of these are professors emeritus at the university.

In addition, Tripathi listed increasing the ranking of UB's doctoral programs and increasing the amount UB receives in research funding by 60 percent as goals to making the university one of the top public research schools in the nation. He noted that the hiring of more faculty has begun, with 31 of the 90 faculty members hired this year being new positions, not just replacements for professors who have resigned or retired.

UB also will continue to provide high-quality facilities to accommodate the hoped-for increases in the numbers of faculty and students in the next 15 years, Tripathi said.

"With all these goals, we hopefully can achieve the national visibility we are talking about," he said.

Following Tripathi's remarks, James E. Campbell, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, complained that a lag-time in offering top candidates tenured positions puts UB at a disadvantage in hiring the best candidates. Tripathi and Lucinda M. Finley, vice provost for faculty affairs, replied that alerting their offices to the need for timely approval can help to speed up what can be a lengthy process for such hires.