It has never been clear in my four years at the University at Buffalo why the administration makes a decision to do one project over another. How do we, the students, know which projects are really necessary and which ones are not? Figuring out the reasoning behind decisions being made at UB is no easy matter. It’s not as if you can just walk up to President Simpson and demand answers. There is always something going on at UB and keeping up with all of it is nearly impossible. The only way to figure out the decision-making process is to start asking questions about the decisions being made.
An example of a decision recently questioned by the student body is the confusion over the changes to the promenade outside of Capen Hall, which has now been renamed “Founders Plaza.” The column-like sculptures confuse people—especially when they are randomly placed in a wide-open space. Those monolithic, flower-filled urns seem to dangle precariously at the top of the pedestals. The sculptures are only on loan, but the rest of the changes cost money. So, why the big changes for Founders Plaza? Why not something else?
The real problem is that none of the ongoing campus projects are contained in a single place. When one project is started and completed, the members of the department or area of the university it benefits nod their heads in approval, leaving the many other departments left to shake their heads in disbelief. Sean Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Academic Planning and Budget, has a big title to fit the monumental task his job entails—to explain why projects are being planned the way they are.
In his position, he has the unique ability to see that projects at UB are not done linearly—in other words, it is not a “one at a time” kind of thing, said Sullivan. “There are multiple parallel conversations going on,” he said. “There are a number of people working on a number of issues concurrently.”
Sullivan explained that certain projects and approaches to situations have different life cycles. Reasoning behind why things get done in a particular order has to do with money and time. Another theory is that each department has its own infrastructure and is concerned about its own issues. This makes Sullivan’s job difficult. “What I’m trying to do is bring those conversations together,” he said.
Sullivan is trying to bring all of the different projects going on under one roof, so that each department can not only be managed better, but also be more widely advertised. According to Sullivan, the goal is to answer the questions about projects at UB before they are asked. “We really want to bring them together so the university can speak very clearly. We want to tell you before you ask,” said Sullivan.
Though this helps to clear the picture of how and why things get done in a certain order, it does not completely clear the fog. It still leaves major issues unexplained, such as why would Founders Plaza be upgraded before a sprinkler system is installed in the Ellicott dorms? By 2010 the dorms are required by law to have sprinklers in place.
Jim Guy, Fire and Life Safety Manager in Environment Health and Safety, answered some of these questions. As someone who spent 33 years in fire service and 12 years as the deputy fire coordinator for Erie County before coming to UB, Guy is the reigning expert on fire safety. “I know they are still working on it. It’s a very expensive undertaking and I suspect that’s really what’s holding it back,” Guy said. If Sullivan succeeds, the implementation of large projects will be more transparent to the UB community.
Robert Shibley is the Senior Advisor to the President and a man who is the definite keeper of the keys behind the background activities at UB. Shibley explained that the university is “doing a full risk assessment…over and above what is required” when it comes to the Ellicott sprinkler upgrade. If that is not enough, in a direct comparison between the sprinklers to the Founders Plaza upgrade, he explained that foundation of Founder’s Plaza was indeed dangerous and needed to be replaced. The other upgrades, like the sculptures, he described as a “coat of paint.”
Making small changes to improve things overall is one of the things Shibley is good at. He never forgets, however, that “this campus has and always will err on the side of safety. We are unequivocal about that.” At the same time, to not make any changes until big projects like a sprinkler system can be done is a waste of resources. Small improvements, such as those to Founders Plaza, not only enrich the atmosphere at UB, but also develop its appearance while removing potential dangers for walkers, bikers, skaters, roller-bladers, and wheelchairs alike. Shibley noted, “That’s using your maintenance money smart.”
As Shibley explained, the University at Buffalo is currently doing a Facility Condition Audit. For some time, New York has been undervaluing the assets of UB (read: the buildings and other state-owned property). What happens when the state short-changes the university is that not all of the maintenance needed for the buildings can be done. Though corners are never cut regarding safety, other projects are left hanging. As for major upgrades? The state only supplies enough money for very basic maintenance. The audit will allow UB to stand up to the state and show them what the experts say about the value of the buildings. As Shibley put it, “We’re going to have a number that’s going to be hard to argue with.”
In part, there is a lack of money needed to make many improvements at UB. This is one of the reasons President John Simpson announced that tuition should be increased—much to the dismay of many. Sullivan explained the situation fairly simply, however, by stating that the tuition increases have been in exchange for lower taxes, which is not right. Sullivan said, “[There needs to be an] appropriate balance between what the tax payer pays for and what the student pays for.”
President Simpson made it clear that it truly is a simple matter. Simpson said via email that “UB is funded at rates considerably less than our public and private peers, and increasing either state support or tuition would ameliorate this and put us in the position of offering an even higher quality education.”
He not only explained how state support for higher education has decreased and how tuition and loans have increased, but furthermore how a simple plan to fight this would be through a predictable tuition revenue stream—also known as increasing tuition little by little instead of in large unpredictable spikes. Simpson says, “A predictable tuition revenue stream would also allow universities like UB to engage in multi-year planning, empowering us to invest a significant portion of this additional revenue right back into improving the quality of your UB education.”
This is where and when the confusion explodes for most people at UB. President Simpson has fully explained his comment about the tuition increase and it even seems plausible. One thing to take from the quote above is “improving the quality.” How exactly does the President plan on doing so? As he said, “You have to pay for something that’s better than something that’s not.”
The additional revenue would feed directly into the President’s ultimate vision for UB, through a project called UB2020. What the plan actually is has left complex questions for many, and it has been touted by many as the reasoning behind every one of the school’s improvements.
UB2020 is still in its infancy. The university is absorbing information, opinions, conducting conversations with local government officials and others to form a plan to improve UB by the year 2020. No recent projects, however, have been proposed under UB2020. Improvements that are made today may be able to facilitate UB2020 when it takes off.
Improvements will continue at UB and there are always many in the works, but UB2020 will take UB to the next level of higher education. At a presentation given by Shibley, he showed different areas of campus and pictures from other universities highlighting how varied the other campuses are. Following those pictures, he revealed drawings of what certain areas, such as Founders Plaza, could potentially look like. The improvements will still continue for Founders Plaza and other areas, like as for now Shibley said, “It’s still bleak, but it’s not so bleak [as it was before].”
The main point of UB2020 according to Shibley is that, as he says, “We can do better.” The plan will utilize the already existing space at UB, as well as build new areas and new buildings. Increasing the number of students and faculty while still upgrading the existing equipment and spaces sound like an impossible task. Shibley carefully showed how most improvements are minimal but have the ability to change a space dramatically. “None are ‘high priced’ items, but they change how you perceive the campus,” he said.
A goal of UB2020, aside from major improvements to the campus, springs from the idea that, according to Shibley, “A great university and a great region go hand-in-hand.” He explains,“Our campus has to be connected to the surrounding community.”
In a momentous and unprecedented meeting, UB officials sat in the same room with NFTA (Niagara Frontier Transit Authority) and Amherst officials to discuss the potential of UB’s North Campus being the next place for a light-rail line to be built. Though Shibley acknowledges that there are many obstacles, he would be the first to tell you that bringing so many factions together is certainly a start. The improvements definitely do not end at North Campus, either. If anyone remembers what Allen Hall on South Campus used to look like, its new façade is a definite improvement. In addition, our Downtown Campus will also be getting a facelift. UB2020 is an encompassing plan that will have all of UB seeing many changes.
Still, the answer to the question of why things are done at UB in the order they are done is entirely unclear. Is it time? Is it money? Is it UB2020? Is it the state undervaluing our buildings? Is it tuition not being increased enough? Turns out it is every single one of those and probably more beyond the scope of the information disclosed. Even as frustration will no doubt still exist for some time at UB about which department receives a project or about the order of improvements, Sullivan said of potential tuition increases that, “Our mission is to maintain accessibility and affordability for every qualified student.”
With that in mind, even if students have to pay more for UB, they should be getting a lot more out of it. Project plans are literally mind-blowing. If Shibley could sit down and show every student and faculty member just what UB and President Simpson have in the works, he would. For those who leave UB soon, it will be quite interesting to return to UB in 2020. Shibley said something about the president that really put all of these hatching plans into perspective, “John Simpson didn’t come to UB to run a campus, but to build one.”
Eli George is a senior English major and a Features writer for Generation.
