When Satish K. Tripathi was told he had been selected as UB's next provost, he could hardly contain his excitement. Now, nearly five months later, he says his excitement is still on the rise.
"You're always excited when you're learning things," said Tripathi, who is UB's new chief academic administrator. "You're always excited if you're doing something, rather than waiting."
Tripathi may have had to wait two months to take office, but according to his colleagues, ever since he moved into the fifth floor of Capen Hall, Tripathi has been learning and getting things done in high gear.
"It's been an absolute pleasure to work with a man who's so committed to higher education," said President John Simpson, who praised Tripathi's good judgment. "I couldn't ask for anything more."
"I would say that with his arrival, the energy already set in place with the arrival of President Simpson is moved into high gear," said Kerry Grant, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "There seems to be a very clear plan and a willingness to move briskly forward and establish the base for realizing those plans."
Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs, echoed the sentiments of Grant and Simpson.
"I think we're excited to have him here," he said. "And in that short period of time, he's established some pretty serious goals for his office and he's undertaken a process to put the right people in the right jobs to achieve those goals."
Tripathi insists that his colleagues are being much too generous and that he is just trying to meet people and understand what UB is all about.
"My goal was really to align the provost office so that we can support the president's mission of achieving academic excellence," he said. "My initial goal was to understand the place, and I don't think I understand the whole campus yet, but I've made substantial progress."
"The president's goals and vision are what I've been working towards, and I have full faith in that," Tripathi added.
Tripathi isn't the only one who believes in what he and President Simpson are gearing towards here at UB.
According to Grant, Simpson and Tripathi have meshed very well in terms of working towards a university vision.
"We're in the midst of reorganization and even from the middle of it you can perceive the rationale for it and the gains that will be taken from it," said Grant. "One notable gain of that re-organization thus far is the establishment and the significant emergence of very strong planning and analysis function, which is essential to good planning and effective operations, and it simply didn't exist until they set about organizing things."
The components were there, said Grant, but not to the same degree and focus.
Tripathi, who previously served as the dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California-Riverside, replaced Elizabeth Capaldi, who left UB to become SUNY vice chancellor and chief of staff.
According to Tripathi, one of his biggest challenges will be identifying UB's "strategic strengths" so that UB can become a top flight public university.
"If we invest in everything, we don't have enough resources," said Tripathi.
"There's an obvious level of expectations for quality programs across the campus," Grant said.
Under President Simpson's administrative reorganization, Tripathi will also take on the title of Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. The extra title, however, will not change his responsibilities as provost.
"I see the office here as having a dual role of leadership and support," said Tripathi, who stressed the importance of a dialogue between students, student leadership, faculty and administrators.
Tripathi said he has been surprised by the quality and diversity of UB's student body, and he is enjoying the closer look he is now getting at UB's different schools and departments.
"The timing right now is great, and we have the best students ever," he said, referencing recent class statistics. "You sort of feel the university is on a very steep trajectory to go up."
One of Tripathi's many goals is to ensure UB's future in academic excellence. "Your steps may not be in a straight line, but you have to look at how you get there," he said.
Already, Tripathi and Simpson are establishing the Academic Planning Process, which will consist of several committees created to decide what directions UB should take in terms of finding revenue, funding research programs, and other university issues.
"UB is a fine public research university with a broad range of disciplines and programs," said Tripathi. "UB is not one of the top public universities, but it is a very fine one and we need to get it (to that level)."
What makes that process much easier, Tripathi said, is the obvious care the UB community has for its university. "I hope that UB will achieve its potential, and when we look at UB ten years from now, you will be able to see the remarkable improvement of UB as a research institution."
"You also have to remember that as a state university, we don't just have to provide quality, but access," he added.
Whether it's quality or access, its clear Tripathi has his work cut out for him this semester. So far it's been smooth sailing for the provost.
"He's come in here and put some serious thought into what we need to do and who is needed to do it," Black said. "You can clearly see why he was hired."
Tripathi stressed the importance of getting to know the university, and understanding the community's goals and aspirations.
"No academic plan can be successful if the faculty is not completely behind it."
