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Attracting top students
UB working to enroll more of most qualified students
By ARTHUR PAGE
Assistant Vice President
With admissions applications up 12 percent, the university is taking steps to assure that more of the most highly qualified high school students who apply to UB arrive on campus as freshmen next fall, the UB Council was told yesterday morning.
Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said proactive efforts to increase the yield of such students, including personal interaction of deans with top applicants, also will positively impact the university's retention and four-year graduation rates.
Tripathi added that steps also are being taken to improve those rates through creation of new initiatives aimed at freshmen, as well as other undergraduates.
For the first time beginning last fall and continuing this semester, freshmen have had the opportunity to participate in 16 one-credit seminars as part of the new "Discovery Seminar Program." The seminars—offered in addition to the UB 101 one-credit course introducing freshmen to UB and university life—include one taught by Tripathi on the topic "Data Mining: Myth and Reality."
To be introduced next fall are two "undergraduate academies," one focusing on civic engagement and the other on research exploration across the disciplines. The first will focus on applications of classroom-based theoretical learning; the second will offer mentored student participation in laboratory research, humanities-related scholarship and original creative activities.
President John B. Simpson reported that he continues to receive positive feedback and pledges of cooperation in his outreach to the community to discuss UB 2020, the university's plans to expand enrollment and the size of its faculty by 40 percent, and the master planning process focusing on the university's North, South and Downtown campuses and surrounding neighborhoods. Simpson is discussing those topics today in a presentation to the Rotary Club of Buffalo.
Simpson noted that he also has assured SUNY and the presidents of other campuses in the system, particularly those in Western New York, that plans to grow UB by 10,000 students will not negatively impact on them. Noting that a research university focuses on a different student population, he said a major focus will be on increasing out-of-state and international students.
He also said it's hoped that UB's new strategic partnership with the Buffalo Public Schools will not only improve the educational experience and outcomes for the district's students, but result in more graduates who are qualified to attend UB and interested in applying for admission.
Simpson reported that since the council last met, he had traveled to Asia twice. The first was as part of a UB delegation to celebrate and renew partnerships with three universities in Beijing, China, that date back 25 years and were the first such agreements with a U.S. university following normalization of relations between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China.
In the second trip, Simpson joined presidents from 11 other leading U.S. universities in a trip to Japan, China and Korea as part of a delegation led by U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. The purpose of the trip, he explained, was to underscore this country's interest in enrolling students from the three countries in American colleges and universities, and to focus on increasing overseas opportunities for U.S. students.
Marsha S. Henderson, vice president for external affairs, presented an overview of the work of her division, at the end of which she presented plaques for outstanding philanthropy to UB Council Chair Jeremy M. Jacobs, recognizing the contributions of Delaware North Companies, and to Councilmember Jonathan A. Dandes, recognizing the Rich Family Foundation.