Two major searches for key vice presidential positions are underway and the vice provost position for faculty affairs has been filled, according to UB officials.
President John Simpson said on Tuesday the searches for a vice president for research and a vice president for health services have been narrowed down to a selective pool of qualified candidates.
Lucinda Finley, a UB faculty member since 1990 who has worked as a professor in UB's Law School, was hired on Jan. 31 as vice provost for faculty affairs.
Simpson said the two other searches are moving quickly.
"Generally the searches are going very well and both are national searches," Simpson said. "There are various gauges in each search."
The search to fill the research position is moving quickly and has been narrowed down to four final applicants from an original pool of 50, Simpson added. Howard Federoff, the first candidate for the position of vice president for research, will speak and take questions at a public forum Friday at 10 a.m. in 280 Park Hall. The final four candidates will visit UB throughout the next two weeks.
Unlike many of the candidates for previous searches since Simpson's arrival, none of the four finalists are from a Californian or West Coast school. In assembling his staff, Simpson has often sought out candidates from schools and states where he worked.
"I want to see somebody who is a senior accomplished faculty member, someone we can collectively work with and who has good academic values," Simpson said.
The first candidate to visit UB will be Federoff, senior associate dean for basic research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
The other finalists are Myron Salamon, associate dean of the college of engineering at the University of Illinois; Joseph Glorioso, chair of the department of molecular genetics and biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and Jorge Jose, chair of the department of physics at Northeastern University.
Jaylan Turkkan, former vice president for research, left UB this summer "on her own grounds, in order to pursue other options," Simpson said in an interview with The Spectrum last semester.
Simpson, who was formerly employed at universities in California and Washington, said he saw these universities benefit from the leadership in the research area.
"It's a very important position, and I'm looking for ways the university can do research in the community," Simpson said. "I'm requiring knowledge in dealing with the community and industrial organizations."
According to the position profile Web site, the vice president for research will be required to provide leadership in the development of a strategic plan to raise the profile of UB's research platform and dramatically increase the amount of money procured to support UB's research, as well as oversee and provide leadership for different offices and research issues.
Robert Genco has served as interim vice president for research since Turkkan left UB this summer.
The second of the national searches for a vice president, that of health services, is also moving towards its final stages.
"It's going great," Simpson said. "It's a specialized position. We need someone who is a (medical doctor) and an administrator. It's a demanding job."
There were more than 40 candidates who applied for this position, and the group of applicants has been narrowed down to a little more than a dozen, according to Simpson.
The vice president for health services position has existed for at least 30 years, and Simpson said in the past it's been occupied by the dean of the Medical School. With a candidate to be hired in April, however, the two will function as completely separate jobs.
"There's a major commitment in health science in Buffalo, and the university can play a role in the Buffalo medical community," Simpson said.
According to the position profile Web site, the vice president for health services will be required to provide strong leadership in health sciences or hospital administration, and to maintain strong working relationships with UB's academic research partners and clinical affiliates.
Margaret Paroski is currently serving as interim vice president for health affairs in addition to her current position of interim of dean of medicine.
Though the search for vice provost for faculty affairs was also conducted on a national scale, Tripathi announced that Lucinda Finley, a member of the law school faculty, would take the job.
The vice provost for faculty affairs will occupy a new position, and will work on several different faculty-related issues.
"(Finley) will be responsible for coordinating the faculty promotion and tenure review process, and creating and delivering services that assist in faculty retention, underrepresented faculty recruitment, faculty development, special faculty-hiring initiatives and faculty-recognition programs," Tripathi said in a UB News Services article.
Simpson added he wants to increase the leadership of the Faculty Senate, and has asked the Senate, in conjunction with Tripathi and now Finley, to come up with a code of conduct for the faculty.
"When I first came here, this was an area I noticed was particularly lacking," Simpson said. "This is for the faculty and the professors, and things professors do and do not do. I wanted to work with the Senate to come up with a good code of conduct, to put down in one place what appropriate behaviors are for faculty."
