After a tumultuous year of SUNY budget cuts, a shocking announcement made on the first day of classes will further affect UB's future. On Monday, John B. Simpson, the university's 14th president, announced his plan to retire after the fall semester.
Simpson's tenure will end on Jan. 15, 2011, when he will return with his wife, Katherine, to his family on the West Coast. Following Simpson's retirement, Scott D. Nostaja, current Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of UB, will serve as interim president.
As expressed in his written statement as well as the press conference, Simpson made his decision to retire based on personal reasons. However, as he made clear in his comments, Simpson also mentioned his decision was made easier by the state legislature's inability to give UB the policy reforms it needs to complete UB 2020.
Many students feel left in the dark about his decision and are confused with the timing of the press conference.
"It's just strange that Simpson would wait until the first day of school, when everyone is running around getting things ready for the semester and have a million things on their minds," said Matthew Anguish, a junior management major. "He could have done this at any point before the year started and I think it would have given students and faculty a much more reassuring start to the school year."
As the spearhead of the UB 2020 plan, students feel Simpson is abandoning their university in a time of need. Additionally, the UB community is questioning if Simpson ever planned to see the initiative through.
Still, others were supportive of his decision to retire and are more concerned with the future of our university.
"I believe President Simpson's reasons for leaving were legitimate," said Alicia Musilli, a senior accounting major. "Let's just hope his successor can work through the budget cuts and fulfill the hopes and dreams that Simpson had for the UB community."
Nostaja, who is set to take over when the spring semester commences, responded to some questions that the UB community may have.
"There is never a good time to leave an organization," Nostaja said. "If you try to time your planned retirement on a calendar, there will always be something that precludes or prevents you from doing so. [Simpson] spoke to the [UB Council] this past Monday and did not want to hesitate making the announcement public after announcing it to the council."
Nostaja, a fellow West Coast native, worked primarily in the entertainment industry for years and held prestigious positions such as Senior VP at Universal Studios. Nostaja began his own consulting firm in 2001 and the majority of clientele were higher education establishments. This included the University of California at Santa Cruz, where President Simpson assumed the role of Provost.
Shortly after beginning his own firm, Nostaja came to UB in 2004 as a strategy consultant for the university and helped design what ultimately became the UB 2020 vision. In 2006, he assumed the role of Vice President of Human Resources and expanded the position as the President's Chief of Staff. Currently, Nostaja is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer where he helps craft strategic plans and advises the university financially.
"We've taken a $60 million reduction in our budget over the last two years and I've been closely involved in how we, as a university, operate in a way that allows us to maintain our mission as a university [in light of the budget cuts]," Nostaja said. "We have to be smart and we have to be strategic."
With rumors that the UB 2020 program is in defeat as a result of Simpson's retirement, Nostaja assures UB and the Western New York community that the plan is alive and well.
"We have a leadership team in place that is fully committed to [UB 2020] and we have a community that is fully committed as well," Nostaja said. "It has become a community initiative as well as a university initiative and community leaders have strongly expressed, within the past 24 hours, their desire and interest in continuing to pursue the ideals of UB 2020."
UB 2020 has taken on a larger role within the SUNY enterprise and Nostaja hopes that those in the SUNY system will continue to march forward in their legislative agenda to incorporate the goals of the plan.
"This idea started as a vision that Simpson created and lead but along the way, [UB 2020] has been embraced by such a broad audience that it now has a life of its own and its stakeholders are beyond a single university president," Nostaja said. "I think you'll see actions in the future that will be visible and tangible signs of UB 2020 moving forward."
Simpson was unreachable for comments this week but has reserved time in his schedule for an interview with The Spectrum for the upcoming week.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
