UB Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Minutes of October 1st, 2008

(unapproved)

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee met at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008, in the Jeannette Martin Room of Capen Hall (567) to discuss the following:

Approval of the minutes of September 10, 2008
Report of the Chair
Report of the President/Provost
Update on Comprehensive Physical Plan – Robert Shibley and Bradshaw Hovey
Old/New business
Executive Session (if needed)
Adjournment

Item 1: Approval of the minutes of September 10, 2008

The minutes were unanimously approved.

Item 2: Report of the Chair

The UB Council met this past Monday. The chair could not attend so will provide an update at a later date.
The faculty Senate website is in progress. There will be an open discussion board, a free for all to allow an exchange of ideas but also a more confidential input section where faculty will not have to identify themselves, the chair reported.
The Chair pointed out that UB President John B. Simpson was quoted in the online version of the Chronicle of Higher Education (Oct 1, 2008) in an article entitled “As NY goes, so goes the country?” which discusses whether NY is setting a trend for the country.
The Financial Management Advisory Group met this morning: The group, Hoeing said, received a lot of responses from all constituencies on campus. The point of the committee is to provide a broader representation of the UB community, i.e. the members on the FMAG do not represent any individual units, but the University as a whole, and the FMAG is not, as some seem to think, an “axing” committee, the chair emphasized.
The chair encouraged anyone who missed the President’s third annual address to the Western New York community to watch the online video.

Item 3: Report of the President/Provost

The Provost offered to answer any questions the senators may have. Senator Peter Bradford inquired about the SUNY Board of Trustees’ Finance & Administration Committee that met two days ago. Tripathi responded that their meeting was more like a hearing and that nothing was offered that hadn’t been talked about before. SUNY Trustees, the provost added, are particularly concerned about the effects the financial crisis on Wall Street may have on the SUNY system. “They did suggest that some of the regulations be eased so that we can do things differently.” The Provost also said that the Wall Street financial crisis was not part of the budget projection that they had made two months ago. He further reported that SUNY leaders were also considering taking $26 million of the previously mentioned $96 million in SUNY-wide budget cuts from the central budget. This could reduce the overall reduction to $70 million. Nevertheless, such a cut, he said, would still drain vital funds from SUNY’s capital funds budget since this is money UB gets to do things whether it is equipment money or maintenance money. The Provost also mentioned that any money projection was based on the situation of the state two or three months ago and that more than likely, the cuts were not done. There was, he reported, a lot of discussion about a potential tuition increase and whether that would make up for the other budget cuts that may occur.

In response to a question about the timing of the hiring freeze dated for October 15, the Provost said that these were not referred to as freezes per se, but as a “moratorium” on new hiring and purchases of more than $5,000. The goal, he emphasized, is not to have a central freeze but rather to give flexibility to the units. Senators also wanted to know what kind of political forces needed to line up to permit the SUNY reforms that the President has been pushing for to happen. President Simpson said that state lawmakers seemed, in light of the economic situation, more receptive to his suggested reforms. These include allowing UB
1/ to sell or lease state land,
2/ to employ third-party developers on construction projects,
3/ to eliminate the state attorney general’s pre-audit of institutional purchases
4/ to gain more control over the university’s own tuition policies.

Simpson also said that these were really nothing more than what was in the Commission on Higher Education document drafted under Spitzer and which had been “repackaged in a way that suits the university right now.” He added that the fact that these were without cost to the state and “that they are being put up in a time where there is increasing desperation on the part of the governor to find anything to save money, there is a reasonable possibility that one or more of them will be accepted.” Simpson concluded by saying that he felt more optimistic day by day, since “the more the budget crumbles, the more we are going to be able to have these conversations. It is a mixed blessing.”

A discussion ensued about a potential tuition increase and its implementation. Only once in the SUNY system, senators recalled, was an increase implemented in the spring. Dr. Baumer asked the president about the possibility of making the university a public benefit corporation, a move Baumer himself strongly supports. Gayle Brazeau mentioned that the university could gain an additional resource revenue by working more collaboratively with the pharmaceutical industry. Chair Hoeing asked the President whether there had been any notable reactions from the community to his Annual Community Address. The President outlined that the purpose of his talk had been twofold: first, to tell the community that 1/ if our plan is going to succeed, it is going to because it is a community initiative 2/ that community pressure works through voters. This is an issue legislators need to support because of voters. The talk was well received, the President said. In response to a senator’s suggestion that UB’s out of state tuition be increased, the President confirmed that UB’s out-of-state tuition is indeed one of the lowest around. “A PA resident pays more to go to a state university than as an out of state student at UB,” he said.

Item 4: Update on Comprehensive Physical Plan – Robert Shibley and Bradshaw Hovey
(Faculty Senate Facilities Planning Committee also present.)

Robert Shibley, Professor of Architecture and Planning and the person in charge of overseeing UB's master-planning process, offered a powerpoint presentation on the status of the physical Master Plan. The plan is, he emphasized, the first comprehensive physical plan for the university in 25 years. “The philosophy that is guiding us in this financial unsure time,” he further said, “is that there there has never been a more urgent need to assemble a flexible, comprehensive, physical vision for our campus that matches where we are headed…. The best time to do disciplined planning is during tough times.” Shibley then explained where the project was in terms of the timeline, now that it was 16 months into its two-year planning process. He identified the upcoming 19 November meeting as the third major milestone in the process: this is “when and where the rudiments of a draft plan will be delivered,” he said. A more precise of description of campus direction and purpose would be provided at the meeting, which--while still open to comments--would be much closer to a real course of action. Shibley emphasized that the specific array of proposals that will be offered at the meeting would “set the foundations on which core decisions will be made” but that they would nonetheless still constitute a first draft and that a lot of discussion and critique was expected. He then proceeded to outline the particulars of the comprehensive physical plan developed to “build” UB. He confirmed that “growth remained the vision” as the core decisions emerging in the plan were slowly confirmed and the plan was being implemented. He also underlined the importance of community’s role in implementation.

Shibley then outlined the 7 categories that the physical plan encompassed:

1/ Growth (we need to be bigger to be better) and Academic location were tied, he said. The plan therefore entailed redesigning the 3 campuses with

Downtown = Academic Health Center, including Nursing, Dental Medicine, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Public Health and Health Professions to the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. Shibley acknowledged that it may be 30 years before pharmacy and dental medicine for instance, moved downtown but that the plan included a long-term vision.
South Campus = Professional and Civic Engagement Center with Education, Social Work, Law, and the School of Management
North Campus = CAS center

2/ Urban Design Development strategies: Shibley outlined plans to strengthen the academic spine and connect the Ellicott Complex to the main part of the North Campus as well as connect the spine to Lake La Salle; enhance the historic quads and escarpment on South Campus; improve the Bailey and Main street face; secure the Main street lawn; integrating the campus downtown with surrounding neighborhoods, the Fruit Belt, Allentown and the Home Ownership Zone, and strengthening each, in turn. The plan, Shibley added, aims to improve street environments, connecting member institutions with a system of public spaces and with adjacent neighborhoods.

3/ Quality of place and quality of life by creating memorable places and environments to support vibrant, intellectual communities such as a new learning landscape that extends beyond the classroom and that connects the space between classrooms. Shibley emphasized the importance of developing facilities and spaces that support UB’s academic aspirations and academic directions. He also mentioned a facelift for Allen Hall, renovation of Acheson Hall for the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, a new South Campus home for the UB Child Care Center, as well as heating work on the South Campus and critical maintenance to Founders Plaza on the North Campus.

4/ Comprehensive Student Housing Plan whether it is on or off campus. Shibley reported that 35% of UB students want to reside on campus but that UB’s relation to the rest of the student population needed to be part of the equation as UB is proceeding with the master plan.

5/ Sustainability: Bob Shibley underscored that a a major focus of Building UB is the environmental sustainability of facilities, public spaces, landscaping and modes of transportation. He reminded the senators that in 2007, President Simpson signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment and that UB would be working to achieve climate neutrality and reducing carbon emissions from buildings (the largest contributor of pollution by far). Storm water management, energy-efficient building renovation, and North Campus Naturalization are part of the plan, he said. A Committee on Environmental Stewardship, chaired by Shibley himself, has also been created to address the issue of sustainability as a university-wide effort.

6/ Transportation Structured parking in our future:
Shibley said that right now, the top priority and consideration on campus was going to car drivers who drive themselves to campus and park, but that the order needed to be reversed with the top priority going first to the pedestrian, then bikes and shared transportation, followed last by the car driver. Public transit has to play a bigger role in the life of our campuses, he added, with better bus service to the whole region and improved shuttle service. Bicycling should be promoted as an alternative also, including through the creation of safe routes and bike paths, and last but not least, the issue of the safety of the pedestrian environment and issues of comfort and weather protection needed to be addressed. North Campus thoroughfares and roadways, Shibley added, were oversized and could be “downsized,” while better entrances to our campus could be built with large traffic circles.

7/ Campus/community connections
Shibley identified the need to improve our connections with the surrounding communities both physically and programmatically. He emphasized the role UB needed to play in stabilizing and redeveloping the University Heights neighborhood for better housing, business districts, and public safety.

The Senators emphasized the importance of developing safe sidewalks to Maple from campus. Marilyn McMann Kramer said that she had been here long enough to remember that “the last time we hit really bad financial time, the first thing that went was maintenance.” Senator Henry Durand inquired about on campus conference facilities, mentioning that Niagara Falls had hosted 26 University at Buffalo conferences last year and that many of our competitors had on campus conference facilities. Bill Baumer commented that while the focus on green space was nice for summer session and the fall, for most of the academic year, an emphasis on improving internal public spaces would be more logical. Peter Bradford mentioned the changes undertaken at Albany whose Biology Building was transformed because of a new façade on the Eastern side. This was a minor change, the senator said, but one which made a “spectacular difference.”

Bradshaw Hovey, associate director of the Urban Design project in the School of Architecture and Planning and a staff member for “Building UB” concluded by reminding senators of the November 19 meeting that would be taking place in Allen Hall on South campus.

Item 5: New/old Business

Item 6: Executive Session (if necessary)

Item 7: Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 4:02 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Carine Mardorossian, Secretary of the Faculty Senate

Attendance

(P = present; E = excused; A = absent)

Chair:
Robert Hoeing (P)

Secretary:
Carine Mardorossian (P)

Architecture & Planning:
TBA

Arts & Sciences:
Robert Adelman (P)
Sampson Blair (P)
Stanley Bruckenstein (P)
Melvyn Churchill (P)
Stephen Dyson (P)

Dental Medicine:
Thomas Mang (P)

Educational Opportunity Center:
TBA

Engineering & Applied Sciences:
Paschalis Alexandridis (E)
Sargur Srihari (P)

Graduate School of Education:
Janina Brutt-Griffler (A)

School of Law:
Mark Bartholomew (P)

Management:
Hodan Isse (P)

Medicine & Biomedical Sciences:
David Ellis (A)
James Hassett (A)
Charles Hershey (A)
Peter Ostrow (A)

Nursing:
Sherry Pomeroy (E)
Linda Steeg (E)

Pharmacy:
Gayle Brazeau (P)

School of Public Health and Health Professions:
Robert Burkard (P)

Social Work:
Robert Keefe (P)

SUNY Senators:
William H. Baumer (P)
Peter Bradford (P)
Henry Durand (P)
Marilyn McMann Kramer (P)

Parliamentarian:
William H. Baumer (P)

Ex-officio:
Peter Nickerson (P)

University Libraries:
Dorothy Tao (A)

Guests:
Satish Tripathi (Provost)
Peter Nickerson (School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences)
Janiece Kiedrowski (Professional Staff Senate)
Kevin Fryling (The Reporter)
G. Kannar (Law)
J. Adams-Volpe (Libraries)
Charles Lyons (Libraries)
David Bray (EDAAA)
Karen Spencer (Law Library)
R. Wetherhold (Factuly Senate FP)

Tel: 716-645-2003
Fax: 716-645-2717
Email: faculty-senate@buffalo.edu
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