Producing the next generation of humanitarians, innovators, scientists and artists is President Satish Tripathi’s vision for the future of UB students.
Friday morning, President Tripathi gave his third annual State of the University Address in Slee Hall to an audience of students, faculty, staff, members of the UB Council and Foundation, alumni and Mayor Bryon Brown. Tripathi reminded the university of initiatives like UB 2020 and what steps the university has taken and will be taking in the future to improve UB. He also emphasized UB’s goal to create a bond between the university and the City of Buffalo.
“We are a great university,” Tripathi said. “But great universities don’t stand still. Every day we must set our sights higher for the sake of our students, communities and the world around us. That is the heart of our mission as a public research university.”
He credits UB 2020, the university’s plan to provide students with the best education by refining UB in both academia and physical appearance, for being the driving force of progress the school has made.
With programs like Finish-in-4, the Academics, discovery seminars and the Honors College, Tripathi said students have the opportunities to “gain valuable global experience.”
Tripathi said he sees the success of these programs through projects like the mechanical engineering students who were able to test their design in NASA’s near-zero-gravity facilities or the environmental science students who plan to spend their winter break restoring the wetlands on the Louisiana coast.
Research funding has reached an all-time high, with an annual fund of $388 million, and $205 million of the annual fund is from the federal government, he said.
This past academic year, UB has acquired 110 new faculty members and 157 new staff members. Within the past five years, UB has added the largest amount of new appointments to the SUNY distinguished faculty, the highest faculty rank awarded in the SUNY system.
Tripathi said UB has made improvements that expand beyond the increase of research funding, faculty and staff.
UB’s freshman-retention rates have improved and this academic year has the highest number of freshman admittances. Tripathi said the university’s four-year and six-year graduation rates are higher than the national average, with a graduation rate of 52 percent and 72 percent, respectively.
Another goal of UB 2020 is to build, renovate and transform the infrastructure on all UB campuses. Tripathi said the UB community can see the development, especially on the medical campus downtown.
“We’re not just transforming our university, we’re transforming our larger communities, regionally and globally,” Tripathi said. “That’s why engaging in our communities near and far is our priority.”
As much as Tripathi acknowledged accomplishments UB has made since he became president three years ago, he also recognized the steps the university needs to take to achieve its goals as a public research institution.
One of the ways Tripathi plans to improve UB’s academia is by redesigning the general education curriculum, which UB announced earlier this semester.
He hopes the proposed gen ed program can bridge the gap between research and liberal arts, creating a multidisciplinary curriculum to produce well-rounded students.
UB has also been active in the state’s plan to revitalize Western New York. Last spring, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to build Buffalo’s Institute of Genomics and Data Analytics, a collaboration between UB and the New York Genome Center to provide innovative research in the field of genetics. The university’s participation in START-UP NY will offer students the opportunity to work for research companies who have relocated to Buffalo by the start of the spring 2015 semester.
“We can make Buffalo a national model of how to transform the rest of the region into a vibrant, world-class destination,” Tripathi said.
The construction of the medical campus downtown, as well, plays an integral part in Tripathi’s plan to transform Buffalo. He hopes the new campus will “propel UB to the forefront of medical education, basic care and research,” while creating opportunities in the region.
Tripathi created a report – supplied to the audience in a pamphlet – to show the progress UB has made and the steps it plans to make in the future. The progress report carefully outlines the direction the university is headed in to create the “world-class research university” Tripathi said he hopes UB will become.
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