President John B. Simpson will remain in office beyond his expected retirement date of Jan. 15 while the search for UB's 15th president continues.
Simpson announced his retirement on the first day of classes last semester during a press conference, citing cuts to the university and Albany's general attitude toward UB as being influential to his decision to retire. Additionally, Simpson noted that his plan to retire was motivated by his desire to be closer to his family on the West Coast.
Simpson has not given a specific timeline for continuing as president and has told local media that he is not receiving any financial incentives to remain in office. Simpson sent university officials the following statement on Jan. 5:
Dear Colleagues:
I was pleased to learn that the presidential search process is moving along well. Following discussions with SUNY officials and University Council Chairman Jeremy Jacobs, I have agreed to continue to serve as president for a limited period of time beyond January 15th while the search process moves toward a conclusion.
Sincerely,
John B. Simpson
President
Immediately after Simpson's retirement announcement, Scott Nostaja, UB's senior vice president and chief operating officer, was named interim president by UB. The announcement, however, was never made official by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and Nostaja withdrew his name from consideration after his credentials were challenged by the Faculty Senate. Simpson's decision to stay will not have to be made official by SUNY, nor will he be named interim president for the time being.
Josh Boston, the UB Council student representative, said that Simpson's agreement to stay in his role as president means that the process of finding the next president is going very well.
"A lot of universities our size would take a year or more to do this sort of process, but we're moving quickly so we can keep pursuing the UB 2020 goals," Boston said. "I think [Simpson] is staying because it is a short amount of time, but I think in large part it's because of the reaction of trying to appoint any sort of interim [president]…avoiding that process altogether is in the best interest of faculty, students and staff. We want something a little more seamless and streamlined than that."
According to a Jan. 4 update from Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of the UB Council and Presidential Search Committee, the search committee has "received nominations of exceptionally well-qualified candidates from some of the nation's best universities." Jacobs said that the committee continues to narrow the pool to the candidates in whom it is especially interested.
Peiwen Chen, a senior chemical engineering major, is glad that President Simpson has made the decision to stay.
"I think that [Simpson staying] would be a better alternative than if he just left and there was no one in the position," Chen said. "I think [the search committee] should look for someone to continue the projects that UB has going on currently so that we don't have an awkward power transition where all our projects, like the Ellicott building and the engineering extension buildings, don't stagnate."
Members of the presidential search committee were not permitted to speak on the matter and President Simpson was unavailable as of press time. Stay with The Spectrum for continued coverage on this story.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
