The development of President John Simpson's long-term plan for UB has recently moved into "phase two," and for the first time, UB2020 will hold open forums on both campuses to discuss the group's initial report.
Both information and feedback sessions will go over the data collected during the summer in "phase one," according to officials. The first forum is in 105 Harriman Hall on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., and the second will be in the Student Union Theater on Thursday at noon.
Deborah Silverman, content manager for the UB2020 project, said she is urging both faculty and students to attend the forums.
"We are asking ourselves what we can do to make us the very best," said Silverman, who is also an assistant professor in the communication department. "The first phase was to look at ourselves and ask 'what we can do well?' and 'what are our strengths?' The most important thing that we can do is listen to the community and see what is important to them."
The aim of the project, as its name implies, is to create a new direction for UB to follow through the year 2020.
According to the UB2020 Web site, within the project there is also a Community Engagement taskforce that draws from 10 different departments and offices on campus to analyze and suggest how UB can improve its relationship and public services to the Buffalo community.
UB has played a large part in Buffalo, Silverman said, but community engagement has been fragmented and the university does not know exactly how many community projects UB students have been involved in.
"Part of what UB2020 does is to develop a systematic way to collect this information into one huge picture and capitalize on it," she said. "This is something which has been long overdue."
Ultimately, UB2020 plans to look at practically every aspect of UB from academics, libraries, and athletics to even the physical appearance of the campuses. According to Silverman, the feedback received from students, faculty, and the Buffalo community should be one of the key factors for UB2020.
Despite the increased profile UB2020 has been given on both the Buffalo.edu and MyUB Web sites, the project remains largely unknown to most students.
"I have known nothing about it," said Dan Jammal, a junior biology major. "I would have loved to have known about UB2020 sooner. I am definitely interested in making UB a nicer place to go to school."
Upon being told about UB2020, many said they thought the project seems like a good idea.
"I think UB would really benefit from UB2020," said Kristen McCann, a senior business major. "We are one of the top schools in the nation for research and our business school is in the top 50. But when people think of UB, they think of a state school, not like the same way that people think of Penn State or UCLA, which are also state schools."
"UB2020 is good for the future," said Salvatore LiMura, a junior Business major. "It would make my degree more reputable for my career when I am looking for a job in the future and employers see that I graduated from UB."
Some students who were newly informed of UB2020 said they were interested in attending the forums, especially considering the magnitude of the project.
"Even thought the results would be after I graduate, I still care about it and would have interest in learning more about it in the information sessions," said Casey Poinan, a junior psychology major.
With UB now looking at the next 15 years under Simpson, Silverman said UB has come a long way in the last 15 years.
"In the past 15 years, since 1990, UB has already made great strides," she said.
Silverman added she does not know how many stages UB2020 will go through until the project is complete. The final UB2020 documents with the community response information will be released in March.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
