In downtown Buffalo on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Eliot Spitzer presented a plan that he hopes will give SUNY schools the finances they need to fuel an investment in higher education, with UB and its 2020 plan leading the way.
On the third floor of the former M. Wile Building (which UB purchased last year) on Goodell Street, beneath a ceiling of peeling pant and hanging wires, Spitzer discussed a $4 billion endowment for New York State public education that would help UB expand into the old buildings downtown, and possibly change the face of the city backdrop behind him.
"The UB 2020 plan will be bringing in upwards of 8,000 students, faculty and staff downtown," Spitzer said. "In about a year, this floor will be filled with students and faculty contributing to the vitality of downtown Buffalo."
The $4 billion endowment Spitzer proposed will allow for as much as $200 million to be given to New York's public colleges and universities each year.
This plan will keep the topic of SUNY funding away from the "volatility" of budget meetings in Albany "where there are political winds that blow in different directions and an economy that moves up and down," Spitzer said.
Some controversy surrounds Spitzer's means of funding the endowment by selling or leasing a part of New York's lottery revenues to a private company.
"Some folks say, 'we don't like being associated with gambling.' I'm sympathetic to all arguments," Spitzer said, adding that he encourages anyone with another idea to fund the endowment to come talk with him.
The endowment, which Spitzer proposed in his State of the State address in January, is part of a comprehensive restructuring of the SUNY schools.
Spitzer wants to add 2,000 new faculty members to SUNY and CUNY schools, 250 of which will be "superstars," a term he used to describe the professors who will "draw research dollars, graduate students....and generate excitement about particular entities."
Along with transforming New York's community colleges, Spitzer said an investment in infrastructure is necessary.
"We have so woefully underinvested in the buildings, the labs, the stadiums," he said.
UB will benefit from the plan by getting the financial resources to advance the UB 2020 project and expand the size of the school in terms of faculty, students and infrastructure.
"We at UB are pleased to accept the leadership role that a flagship university should provide for its city and its system," said UB President John Simpson at the forum.
The expansion of the University to downtown Buffalo locations is a move that Simpson and Spitzer hope will spark a revitalization of Buffalo's economy.
"Urban centers are necessary for our long-term economic growth," Spitzer said, comparing the impact that schools like Columbia University and NYU have on the economy of Manhattan.
The immediate gains of students utilizing downtown businesses, combined with the long-term benefits of having companies bring their capital to the region because of its highly-educated workers, creates "almost a moral compulsion" to build the SUNY system through this endowment, according to Spitzer.
Although dollar signs seemed to be the star of the talk, which was given to mostly UB faculty members, area educators, and a handful of students, Robert Hoeing, the chair of UB Faculty Senate, addressed what he considered the endowment's most important benefactors: the students.
"This endowment will enable UB...to compete not only nationally, but globally, by bringing in research dollars and intellectual capital that will help transform the state's economy and more importantly, nurture the minds of students who will be our future leaders."
Audience members responded favorably to Spitzer's plans.
"I think that the investment in SUNY system, especially in UB's downtown campus, will be huge for Buffalo," said Rebecca Hoffman, an urban planning and law graduate student. "I really believe in Buffalo. I know we're about to turn a corner and I want to be here and be a part of it."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
