UB embarks upon major growth plan
by NICHOLAS J. PRIMERANO Ken-Ton Editor

John B. Simpson

University at Buffalo President John B. Simpson has unveiled a new plan for growth which encompasses all three campuses, North, South and City.

The plan involves adding 750 faculty members and 10,000 students over the next 15 years and assessing how each of the campuses links with its host neighborhoods.

"Making sure we are more thoughtfully linked to the Amherst, University Heights and downtown communities is one of the very top priorities of this effort," Simpson said Thursday at the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

The president spoke to civic, business and religious leaders, as well as the university's distinguished alumni.

"This is a historic undertaking of major proportions," Simpson said. "It is the first time since the construction of the North Campus in the 1970s that UB has undertaken such an ambitious plan."

The president focused on the master planning process, which he said will commit UB to providing safe, modern and attractive spaces for current and future students. He said the process will be an inclusive one and include input from community leaders, elected officials and municipal planning bodies.

"We have already sought the advice and input from a range of local leaders, with many more to come," Simpson said.

The plan to link the three campuses will be undertaken by Robert Shibley, a professor in the UB School of Architecture and Planning.

Shibley, the architect behind the "Queen City Hub: A Regional Action Plan for Downtown Buffalo," will spend much of his time on the university's master planning process.

Simpson stated at the meeting, that while UB is a strong university, it aspires to be one of the nation's leading public research universities, and to help it reach that goal, the university more than two years ago began its UB 2020 strategic planning process.

UB 2020 is the university's plan to identify strategic strengths in which to invest and build academic excellence and to reorganize academic support services to align with academic goals.

"UB 2020 is our vision for achieving enduring academic excellence and our roadmap for getting there," Simpson said. "I know of no other school that is undergoing such an ambitious transformation process."

Simpson's 2020 plan will be completed over the next 15 years.

"A bigger UB, just like a stronger Western New York economy, will bring more new-economy jobs, more tax revenue, more research dollars, more exposure and more potential for the commercialization of innovations that take place right here in Buffalo Niagara," Simpson said. "UB's growth will be a catalyst in the transformation of the local economy from one based primarily on manufacturing to one based on knowledge and technology.

"There are no great cities without a great hometown university." he said.