Meet Elizabeth "Betty" Deutsch Capaldi, UB's new Provost–or in other words, #2 in command here, and the university's chief academic officer. Capaldi, 55, is not only the first female provost at SUNY Buffalo, but also the highest ranking woman in the history of this school. She assumed her position on July 1, replacing Interim Provost David Triggle, who withdrew himself as a candidate for the permanent position and resumed his former post as dean of the graduate school.

Capaldi comes to UB from the University of Florida (Gainesville campus), where she served as Provost from 1996 until October of 1999 when she resigned from her position along with the school's president, John Lombardi, amidst some controversy (see sidebar). Capaldi is a 1965 graduate of the University of Rochester, who got her Ph.D. in 1969 from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught as a professor of psychology at Purdue University from 1969-1988 before leaving for Florida, where she served initially as a professor and then as an administrator.

She is known as an incredible scholar within the field of psychology, having written four books, along with hundreds of articles and book chapters. Capaldi is also known as an expert when it comes to university budgeting, which should be particularly welcome at UB, an academic institution that has of late been plagued with fiscal problems and frustrations.

The fourth provost in less than five years, Capaldi was quick to make great strides since she assumed her post this summer. The College of Arts and Sciences' (CAS) $2.5 million budget deficit and hiring freeze, perhaps the biggest black eye to UB in recent history, was resolved soon after her arrival. CAS is now able to implement "focused hiring."

For the most part, UB faculty and administrators seem excited to have Capaldi here. The Gainesville Sun quoted a press release from President William Griener: "Elizabeth Capaldi possesses a rare blend of qualities that are essential for this position… She is an accomplished scholar who is nationally renowned in her field–psychology–and she is a seasoned academic administrator with experience at a major research university. She comes to UB highly recommended by her peers at the University of Florida, where she was an important leader during a decade in which that university rose to national prominence in its sponsored-program activity."

"Morale is low here, and the faculty needs a cheerleader," Peter Nickerson, Chair of UB's Faculty Senate, told The Buffalo News. "I believe we have what we need in Dr. Capaldi."

Generation tried for weeks to secure an in-person or even a phone interview with the new provost, but failed to get past her assistant. She informed us that Capaldi was just too busy with her administrative responsibilities to meet with us, and that we should try to contact her via email. Skeptical (to say the least), I eventually gave it a try, and during this past week or so, the two of us passed messages back and forth online. Each time, she made sure to respond within 24 hours, even once taking time to write quite extensive responses to about fifteen questions at 5:00AM.

Generation: What made you decide to come to Buffalo?

Capaldi: UB is a terrific school with a bright future that I want to be part of. Buffalo is a great place to live, and I was very attracted to the area. I am a native New Yorker (born and raised in Flushing, N.Y.), and a University of Rochester graduate. This is a home coming for me.

G: What are the main things you've been working on since your arrival?

C: I have met with each dean and vice president to understand their academic priorities, but mostly I have been working on the budget and getting that allocated. I have also been working on the memorandum of understanding with the SUNY system, and I have been meeting as many faculty, students, and staff as possible.

G: What personal and professional goals do you have, both for yourself and the university as a whole, now that you are here?

C: Our aim is to bring the university to new levels of excellence. We can do that within the parameters set by the system, which would like us to focus on increasing the undergraduate student quality and on graduate education and research. Undergraduate education is a central mission for UB, and students who come here benefit vastly by our graduate education research mission. The facilities, computing support, equipment, labs, and faculty you are exposed to here would not be possible without our graduate education/research mission. Here, you meet people at the cutting edge of their discipline. Undergraduates should get to know the faculty and work with them on their research and scholarly projects. That is a true benefit of being at UB. We will grow our enrollment at the graduate level and use the funds generated by enrollment growth to improve our quality of education at all levels and increase our research and scholarly activity. It’s an exciting time to be at UB.

G: How much do you know about the fiscal problems faced by CAS last year? How has your office played a part in working towards a solution? What will that solution be?

C: The solution has already occurred. We have eliminated the budgetary problems in the College, and they will be able to do focused hiring this year. That was one of our priorities when we did the budget this year.

G: What exactly does the term "focused hiring" mean?

C: Focused hiring means that the hiring needs to fit within a plan for reaching national status within the department or to cover expanded enrollments, or for some other strategic reason. Dean [Kerry] Grant [of CAS] is working with the departments to determine where hires will occur. Focused just means we are not doing across the board hiring, or hiring that doesn’t fit within an academic plan, nor would we ever. This is the normal procedure.

G: As UB's chief academic officer, do you feel that money has been spent on athletics, aesthetics, and extracurricular activities, which should more appropriately have been spent on academics? In other words, should CAS hiring have stopped while the university pumped money into moving the athletics program to Division IA?

C: The College of Arts and Sciences will be hiring new faculty and athletics has a balanced budget now. All great universities have athletics programs. Indeed, the Ivy League was a term originally used for a football league. Much of the learning that occurs when you go to college occurs outside of the classroom. You meet people who are different from you–your peer classmates bring new perspectives to you. By having the residence halls, the Commons, and other ways for students to interact, we are improving your educational experience.

G: You are the fourth Provost in less than five years. What are your feelings regarding the work done by your predecessors? What kind of shape did they leave things in for you to take over?

C: I think my predecessors laid a wonderful groundwork for my activities. Each of us plays a part in building this place, and the strong institution that is here now is the result of contributions by many people. Each of the provosts before me contributed to the quality that we have now.

G: What sort of role has [former Provost, now Dean of Graduate School] David Triggle played in getting you started here?

C: He has been terrific in every way, including leaving his files and office in a very organized state and giving me the background on all the issues I need to deal with. He is an outstanding person.

G: Where is UB headed in terms of the balance of professors doing research and professors teaching in the classroom?

C: All professors are expected to do research and scholarly activity and teach. These are different sides of the same coin. Indeed it is very hard sometimes to separate these activities. When I am in my laboratory with my graduate students, with an undergraduate taking an independent study course, am I doing teaching or am I doing research? The truth is these activities are intimately tied. Professors are expected to do research and scholarly activity so that they are up to date in their fields and provide the very best education we can to all students.

G: In what ways have you sought student input as to the state of this university?

C: Because I came in the summer, I have not had much chance to meet with students because they weren’t here. I would like to obtain constant student input. We have started an initiative to make our processes more student friendly, and will be having some student focus groups to let us know how our processes look from your point of view. I have asked to have meetings with all student leaders and groups, and I hope to do that on a regular basis. At Florida, I had an excellent relationship with students and learned much from them that enabled me to do my job better. Because our main purpose is to provide a quality education and to enable each student to invent themselves here, we need to learn from you whether we are doing this well.

G: If students have questions or comments for you, whether in response to this article or just in general, how can they contact you?

C: I am available by email just about 24 hours per day. Please feel free to write me any time at capaldi@buffalo.edu.

Darker Days (sidebar)

Unfortunately, despite the glowing reports of faculty and administrators here at UB, and the quick impact Capaldi seems to have made, her resignation from her post as provost at the University of Florida was surrounded by scandal.

Just before she left, University of Florida President John Lombardi approved five-figure pay increases for four administrators, including Capaldi, whose salary jumped by $28,789 per year according to The Gainesville Sun. As a result of the pay increase, which brought her annual salary up to approximately $270,000, Capaldi would have not only been making more than Lombardi himself, but also more than Florida Chancellor Adam Herbert. Herbert was not informed of the raises until Lombardi had already approved them. This caused a controversy that ultimately led to Lombardi's resignation as president of the school (which occurred right around the same time as Capaldi's). Lombardi was previously on six months probation for calling Herbert, who is African American, "an oreo," The Sun Tallahassee Bureau also reported. When the publication asked Herbert if the raises angered him, he replied, "Yes, they did… (but) there's little I can do about it."

According to a May article in The Buffalo News, "Controversy Follows New UB Provost," Capaldi was also involved in another questionable fiscal move. "During Capaldi's three years as Gainesville provost," The News reported, "funding for the Florida Studies Center jumped from $39,053 to a proposed $849,896, purportedly to prepare for staff changes–among them the creation of directorship posts for Capaldi and Lombardi… In 1997, Lombardi–whose presidency was embroiled in troubles of its own–took over control of the university's Florida Studies Center, with the help of Capaldi, his close aide. The center, which is an interdisciplinary collection of studies and research about the state of Florida, was nearly defunct at the time and had a very small budget." When Lombardi was ready to step down as president, the two planned on taking posts at the Florida Studies Center, earning more than $250,000 each per year.

According to the same Buffalo News article, UB President Greiner knew Lombardi for quite some time, and learned of Capaldi as an available candidate for the open provost position through him. Greiner proposed her as a candidate to the provost search committee, comprised of faculty, alumni, students, and administrators, but then withdrew himself from the selection process.

UB Senior Vice President Robert Wagner told The News, "Since it was pretty publicly reported that John Lombardi was required to step down, President Greiner was absolutely aware of the issues."

Generation asked Capaldi about the controversy during her tenure as provost in Florida. "Florida is a very political state and the local newspaper in Gainesville became caught up in the politics and printed many inaccurate stories," she said. "The Buffalo News picked up one of those stories, and then made incorrect inferences based on an initially incorrect story. My salary when I became provost at UF was precisely the same as that of the man who preceded me, and there was no controversy about his salary. There is a strong sexist streak in the South. The funding for the [Florida Studies] center was that approved by the Board of Regents as part of the retirement package for the president at the University of Florida. There is no story to be written about either topic."

When asked if the Florida controversy had impeded her ability to work with UB faculty at all, Capaldi responded, "No one here has paid any attention to the story, because they obtained references about me from many individuals and know there was no truth to the story."

Capaldi, however, refused to voluntarily disclose exactly how much she would be making here at UB.