The Daily Bulletin Archive

Provost’s Corner

Buffalo State President Muriel A. Howard and University at Buffalo President John B. Simpson recently announced the formation of a University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College Joint Exploratory Task Force. The charge of the task force is to explore opportunities for expanding existing collaborations between the two institutions and to identify emerging areas for the creation of new partnerships.

Inclusive areas for consideration are academic as well as administrative and business. A preliminary report with recommendations is expected around March 1. Impetus for this initiative originated from conversations in the past few months and is also linked with the work of theGovernor’s Commission on Higher Education.

Representatives of the University at Buffalo on the Joint Exploratory Task Force are:

• Satish K. Tripathi, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Beth Del Genio, Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost
• Scott Nostaja, Special Assistant to the President and Interim Vice President for Human Resources
• Michael E. Ryan, Professor and Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education
• Myron Thompson, Executive Director, The Graduate School

Buffalo State participants will include:

• Dennis Ponton, Provost
• Dorcas Colvin, Associate Vice President, Policy and Planning
• Voldemar Innus, Vice President and Chief Information Officer
• Kevin Railey, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
• Janet Ramsey, Dean of University College and Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Education

The Joint Exploratory Task Force will be co-chaired by the provosts.

Information on our current collaborations with colleagues at the University at Buffalo is being assembled. This includes items such as research collaborations, joint publishing, classroom exchanges, ongoing guest lecturer arrangements, service on graduate student committees, joint student initiatives, and other types of professional interactions. I invite members of the Buffalo State community to bring examples of these current interactions to my attention by sending me either anelectronic or written message. In some general conversations, existing collaborations have surfaced that I was unaware of, and I want our inventory to be as comprehensive as possible.

Your suggestions for emerging areas that we consider as we explore new collaborative opportunities and possibilities for our two institutions are also welcome. I expect a late semester Provost’s Corner will be used to provide feedback on the efforts of the Joint Exploratory Task Force.