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Simpson pleased with state budget proposal
By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Staff Writer
President John B. Simpson spoke about the impact of the state budget proposed Tuesday by Gov. Eliot Spitzer on UB and UB 2020 at yesterday's meeting of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC).
Despite the fact the state is faced with a huge deficit, Simpson says strong financial support remains for UB's current capital projects, as well as the university's plans to grow by 40 percent as it works toward the goals set forth in UB 2020.
"I have a pretty clear sense that now is potentially a very favorable time for higher education, particularly public higher education," he said. "I'm actually very pleased at what's in the budget."
Aside from a brief reference to Stony Book University, Simpson noted that UB was the only university named by Spitzer in his State of the State Address. The governor's comments—as well as those of his State of Upstate address last week—appear to acknowledge that UB 2020 is a long-term project in need of long-term support, not a one-shot deal, he said.
"What we ought to be thinking about is the prize that's some years out, which the governor says he supports, rather than the vicissitudes of a very preliminary set of [proposals] from the governor right now in what could be a long budget process," Simpson said.
Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, added that the 2.5 percent cut in funding for SUNY and CUNY proposed in the budget is significantly lower than reductions called for at other state agencies, which could face cuts between 5 and 10 percent.
"The governor has actually spared SUNY and CUNY much better than other state agencies," Tripathi said, noting that universities across the country are starting to tighten their belts in light of the current economy. The University at California is facing similar cuts as high as 10 percent, he pointed out.
In other business, Robert Hoeing, chair of the Faculty Senate and associate professor in Department of Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences, announced that a search committee has been created to seek a replacement for John B. Clark, interim chancellor of SUNY, who took over the position with the resignation of Chancellor John R. Ryan last June. Simpson will serve as a member of the panel.
Also speaking at yesterday's meeting were Scott Nostaja, interim vice president for human resources; Jennifer Bowen, assistant vice president for human resources; and Kathie Frier, director of wellness & work/life balance, regarding UB's efforts to become a great place to work, as well as the activities of Wellness & Work/Life Balance, a new unit within University Human Resources created as part of the university's ongoing HR Transformation initiative.
The third-place showing by Wegmans on Fortune magazine's list of the 100 best places to work in America reinforces UB's fledging efforts to foster a strong sense of trust, pride and camaraderie in its employees—the cornerstone of a great place to work—by gathering information from focus groups consisting of faculty and staff on ways to improve the university, said Nostaja. He added that wellness programs presented by Wellness & Work/Life Balance are some of earliest results of this ongoing research.
In addition to the programs that launched last week, including employee discounts to local gyms and a campus-wide fitness challenge, Frier said Wellness & Work/Life Balance is now working on providing faculty and staff with more advanced services, such as health-risk assessments, motivational counseling, smoking-cessation programs, personal-safety workshops and access to a more robust Employee Assistance Program.
"What we're going to do next is focus on behavioral changes that create a campus culture of health and wellness," she said. "This is just the beginning of what we consider to be the more sophisticated component of the wellness program."
Gayle Brazeau, associate dean for academic affairs, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, praised the efforts of Wellness & Work/Life Balance, but also noted that traditional methods of reaching out to staff might be less effective with faculty members because they're "fiercely independent" by training, as well as frequently reluctant to identify themselves as university employees.
"We've mostly been focusing on the staff so far," Nostaja said of the focus groups, "but we're going to be shifting soon to the faculty."
In other business yesterday, the FSEC discussed the duties of the senate's Facilities Planning Committee in order to reactivate the group after it disbanded last spring following the resignation of its chair, Joseph Zambon, professor and associate dean for academic affairs, School of Dental Medicine. The primary purpose of the group likely will be as a faculty voice on facilities projects related to UB's comprehensive physical planning process, according to FSEC members.
Robert Wetherhold, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has offered to serve as interim chair of the committee, conditional upon the specifics of the duties, Hoeing added.
Additional nominations for committee chair were discussed in an executive session.