A lot can change in more than 4,000 days. While many current UB students will be long gone by 2020, their alma mater will remain, albeit in a somewhat different form.
If President John B. Simpson and his allies have their way, the University at Buffalo will be revamped and improved in just over a decade - a short amount of time to reform a university and revitalize a city.
Robert G. Shibley, senior advisor to President Simpson and one of the chief planners for UB 2020, doesn't think it impossible for the plan to be successful, assuming the right people take the proposal to heart.
"While President Simpson's leadership has been central to getting this started, it can't be his plan. It's got to belong to the student body," Shibley said.
The plan, which could add as many as 10,000 students and 1,600 faculty and staff to the UB population, has not received exclusively positive feedback.
Murmurs of dissent toward UB 2020 are spreading around campus, especially in relation to the aspect of population growth.
"This is a pretty big school already," said Elina Vaysbeyn, a senior English and anthropology major. "I wouldn't want any more students going here."
Administrators, on the other hand, feel that the growth goals are within reason for a research university like UB.
"I think that the goal to achieve our additional 10,000 students is a very positive thing for the University," said Patricia Armstrong, director of admissions and associate vice provost for undergraduate education. "That will increase our ability to support research and students."
As a part of Campus Concepts, the planning stage of UB 2020, Shibley sees a 30 percent growth in University buildings and facilities.
"We have about 10 million gross square feet right now," Shibley said. "We're probably going to add another 3 to 3.2 million gross square feet. That's a lot of building."
The idea of proportional growth pairs the physical growth of UB with the population growth, according to Shibley. However, the numbers may suggest that administrators are not planning ahead. Planners expect to induce 30 percent building growth and 40 percent population growth, which may not be as proportional as Shibley suggests.
"I have great faith in the fact that we will proceed at a rate of growth that can be accommodated," Armstrong said.
Despite the discrepancy, UB 2020 is merely in its discussion stage, which will conclude at the end of the Fall 2007 semester. After all ideas are recorded and considered, a physical plan will be created during the Spring 2008 semester. Yet, even while the Campus Concepts are being developed, the plan is still open to the community.
"We're keeping it open as long as possible so it (the plan) gets smarter and smarter and smarter," Shibley said.
The Student Association (SA) along with the UB 2020 planners are trying to get the message out to students through a series of meetings starting on Nov. 12. SA President Peter Grollitsch and his staff will be helping to improve the communication between students and administrators.
"(The UB 2020 planners) want as much student input as possible," Grollitsch said. "People don't know enough about it."
While a number of UB community members are participating in the discussion, the renowned architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle is leading the way developing the $4.5 million physical plan.
According to BeyerBlinderBelle.com, the firm has designed restoration plans for such buildings as the Apollo Theater, the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station. Indiana University and New York University are two of the schools that have used Beyer Blinder Belle's services in the past.
Despite all the capital investment, UB may encounter a roadblock when attracting new students. While the goal is to attract more talented students to UB with increased capital and research, many talented students will be attracted to other, more dynamic universities.
"That's a part of our challenge; we're working hard to increase on an ongoing basis the number of applications we receive," Armstrong said.
To that end, the Office of Admissions is spreading their efforts inside and outside of New York to increase the number of applicants to UB. And the numbers already show it: in 2000, 15,000 students applied for admission to UB and only 10,580 were accepted; in 2007, close to 20,000 students applied to the University and only 10,243 were accepted, according to Armstrong.
As the student population increases, Armstrong and her office will have more difficulty attracting top-tier students to UB because of financial hindrances.
"We more than likely would reduce the numbers of merit scholarships by increasing the parameters," Armstrong said in anticipation of the population spike.
Nevertheless, Shibley remains confident that UB will be able to attract more students with an increasingly diverse University. Not only does this include a multi-cultural dynamism, but also geographic variety.
"South Campus comes up strong and clear as an iconic campus," he said. "Then North Campus is this expression of modern, some would even say brutal, architecture. And Downtown is a very contemporary research face."
For so long, Buffalonians have seen the physical differences between the three campuses as something that hinders unity; outsiders and insiders alike have thought that there was too big a difference between the areas.
"That variety can be a part of what makes the University at Buffalo one university," Shibley said.
The next public meeting of SA officials and UB 2020 planners will be held on Nov. 12 in 330 Student Union from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
