The Independent Student Publication of the University at Buffalo COMMENCEMENT ISSUE v April 18, 2011 Vol. 60 No. 75 v ubspectrum.com
UB Council and Graduate Student Association Election Results Pending Confirmation
today,” Mukupa said in an email. “As president, I want to utilize the experience and expertise of leaders within each department so as to sustain the representation and service of GSA.”
AMANDA WOODS Managing Editor
“I have three goals and one dream,” Ghazal said in an email. “As GSA vice president, I will work to raise awareness about employment opportunities and training for graduate students from different disciplines. The second is to open a more transparent channel of communication with the UB administration to address international student issues. Finally, [I will] continue to work with GSEU to get the pay bill approved for TAs, RAs, and GAs and get their appointments and responsibilities clarified.”
Results are in for last week’s UB Council and Graduate Student Association elections, but they remain unofficial as of press time, according to Mike Lewis, a student activities associate in the office of Student Life. Mia Jorgensen, who received 259 votes, is expected to be the new UB Council student representative. Her opponent, Joshua Boston, was not far behind with 231 votes. As Council representative, Jorgensen will be required to speak to top UB officials about students’ needs and concerns in meetings that are held at least four times per year. Jorgensen was unavailable for comment as of press time. Boston was surprised at the low voter turnout – something that he said should be improved in future elections – but he believes that Jorgensen is capable of taking over the position that he held this year. “I’ve already extended my services to Mia – any way she needs my assistance in transitioning to the role of the student representative next year – I’ve made myself available in that regard,” Boston said. “I’ll also make myself available to the administrators, because I’m just another voice between the administrators and the students.” As election policy requires, both Council candidates are allowed a two-day period to file complaints about the results before they become official. Candidates were informed of the results on Friday, giving them the weekend to file complaints. The new leaders of the Graduate Student Association were also elected – Grace Mukupa for president (147 votes), Rehab (Rubie) Ghazal for vice president (88 votes), and Jonathan Knights for treasurer (146 votes). Mukupa and Knights ran uncontested, but Ghazal beat her sole opponent, Joseph Steet, who received 57 votes. Mukupa is thrilled to be elected as the GSA president, and she is eager to continue advocating for the needs of graduate students, a task that she began as vice president of the GSA this year. “The news that I will be the next GSA president was humbling. It fueled me to work even harder for graduate students, who are the reason I am in this position
Pitman Named Dean of CAS E. Bruce Pitman, researcher and professor in the department of mathematics, adjunct professor in the department of mechanical and
With a last-minute decision to run and minimal campaigning only directed by her group of friends, Ghazal was surprised to hear of her win. Despite this, she has clear-cut goals for next year.
Steet was friendly with Ghazal throughout the election cycle, and he wishes her the best of luck in her new role. Despite his loss, he plans to continue be a voice for UB’s graduate population. “I will still be in the Senate and serving on all the committees I’m presently a part of, so it’s more or less business as usual in that respect,” Steet said in an email. “There are a couple of issues that have been brought to my attention during my campaign that I feel need to be addressed, and fortunately, Rubie and I agreed that we would work together on certain issues regardless of who ultimately won the VP slot.” Knights highlighted another important result of the election – the passage of the referendum that allowed the student activity fee to remain mandatory. An overwhelming 151 students voted in favor of the mandatory fee, and 38 voted against it. Additionally, 154 students voted for an $11 increase to the fee, while 35 voted against it. “Although I was uplifted that the vast majority of the voting population voted for me rather than abstaining, I got goosebumps when I received the news that the referendum (and the increase) had passed by a landslide,” Knights said in an email. “I really think the culture of our organization is healthier and more vibrant than ever.” During the summer, among other goals, Knights hopes to foster a stronger working relationship between the GSA and the undergraduate SA. The GSA election results, tentatively released Friday, will be made official Monday. Candidates are given a period of time during which they may voice their objections in accordance with the GSA Election Code, according to an email from the GSA Election Committee. If the results are not contested, all of the elected candidates will take office on June 1.
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aerospace engineering, and associate dean for research and sponsored programs in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named dean of the college on April 15. Harvey G. Stenger Jr., interim provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, made the announcement after an internal university search. Pitman, who joined UB as assistant professor of mathematics in 1989, succeeds SUNY Distinguished Pro-
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An interview with Tripathi revealed UB’s anticipated president’s goals for next year.
Tripathi Expected to be Confirmed Monday as 15th President
sity has to offer a competitive salary and must also keep the process private enough so candidates can retain their current positions, Tripathi said. He also explained some of the processes that UB followed in finding its next president.
Office in Charge has a national scope ANDREW WIKTOR Editor in Chief Officer in Charge Satish K. Tripathi is expected to be confirmed as UB’s next president by the SUNY Board of Trustees Monday afternoon. If all goes as anticipated, Tripathi will earn $737,315 between his $350,000 state salary and other compensation, according to SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s memorandum to the Board, dated April 18 (Monday). The expected state salary will be $85,000 more than former President John B. Simpson received from the state government in 2010. Although Tripathi is expected to be president at one university in Western New York, his mind is on national standards. If confirmed, Tripathi hopes to make UB relevant on a national level, improve as a university by expanding UB’s research capabilities, and avoid falling short inside of the classroom. “We are a research university; our emphasis should be [on research], but we are a university where we teach. I don’t think [research] trumps anything else out,” Tripathi said. “There are expectations for the faculty to do research. They don’t teach six or eight courses a year or 10 courses; their teaching is based on the fact that certain aspects [of what’s expected] is really producing knowledge, scholarship. I don’t think anything is changing in terms of what a public research university is…. I think we can do a lot more in research so the expectations are higher.” The former vice provost stated that that new discoveries can give the university notoriety on a national level and help attract better professors, who he hopes to hire in clusters if confirmed as president. Tripathi has been considered for other university presidential positions, making him no stranger to the search process. He stressed the importance of considering the selection process on a national level. In order to attract top talent, a univer-
fessor Bruce D. McCombe, who had served as dean of CAS since 2007. Pitman also serves as the chair for education and outreach at the Center for Computation Research and previously served as UB’s vice provost for educational technology from 2000 to 2003 and as director of graduate studies in the department of mathematics from 1997 to 1999, among other titles.
“There were forums for the faculty and students to get involved, and in the [search] committee there were student leaders, faculty, staff, alumni, and others,” Tripathi said. “It’s not anything different, actually; [UB’s search] may be even more involved than the other research university searches that go on…. If you look in the national context, it’s absolutely no different.” Tripathi was reluctant to further discuss the presidential search, mentioning that he was a candidate and not a member of the search committee. He acknowledged that UB bypassed some SUNY guidelines in searching for its 15th president and vaguely claimed that he plans to adhere to those guidelines while also doing what is best for UB. Pending confirmation, Tripathi has three main goals that he hopes to accomplish: excellence, engagement and efficiency. Tripathi hopes to achieve excellence in regard to students, faculty and the services that UB provides. He hopes to engage students, alumni, the Western New York community, the economy, and elected officials. Efficiency refers to getting the job done in a financially cost-effective manner. As a key proponent who worked closely in developing the UB 2020 bill, Tripathi also stressed the importance of having proper infrastructure to provide students with necessary services and to attract top-level faculty. Although he was unaware that many of the buildings on North Campus do not comply with the American Disabilities Act, he plans to follow all regulations as UB moves forward, and he said he will look into where UB is not compliant. As provost, Tripathi was responsible for setting the budget for each department within the university. He mentioned it was a difficult job with the budget cuts, but his main priority was to maintain academic excellence. “I’ve been dealing with [budget cuts] as provost – as chief budget officer for the campus…Usually, the budget officer gives money to spend, and I’ve been ‘taking money away,’” Tripathi said. “But, I have made sure [that] I had a committee of undergrads, graduate students, staff, [and] faculty to advise me to see what are our core values
certificate in computational science and two graduate courses in highperformance computing. He also organized an undergraduate degree and advanced certificate in bioinformatics and computation biology with colleagues in the departments of computer science and engineering and biological sciences.
He previously developed a graduate
Pitman received a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Northwestern University and earned
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Courtesy of Douglas Levere
[and] how will we sustain and retain the excellence.” In deciding on the budget, Tripathi wanted to make sure that students weren’t shortchanged on their education and that they were able to enroll in the courses they wanted. He also mentioned that the recent cuts haven’t allowed the university to spend more money on sports, but maintained that school spirit and athletics are an integral part of university life. Still, education remains at the forefront of his mind. “If we have a winning team we all are really excited about – I think we want to create that,” Tripathi said. “But remember, these students, they are scholar athletes – student-athletes; they’re not really athlete-students. We want to make sure their education is also being taken care of. We have a great team of our athletic director and coaches, and I think they have done tremendously with the limited amount of resources.” Much like the rest of the university, Tripathi wasn’t prepared for John B. Simpson’s retirement announcement on the first day of classes in late August. He also wasn’t ready to declare his candidacy right away. “[I decided I waned to be president] after the search began.…I sort of worked with different aspects of the university – education; undergraduate; graduate; faculty; budget, and everything,” Tripathi said. “It’s a great university; it is part of AAU – Association of American Universities – it’s in the top 60 in the country, so, I really fell in love with the university. We have a lot of potential here, we have done a lot of work here in the last few years, [and] I decided that I would like to try [to be president].” Tripathi himself is a product of public education and recognizes the importance of affordable higher education. He explained that the current UB 2020 bill, which he supports entirely, has provisions to protect students whose household income is less than $60,000 per year. Tripathi also mentioned that he is glad that students called for a rational tuition increase. “This is really amazing that students care about the quality of education that they get,” Tripathi said. g
Additional reporting by Senior News Editor Lauren Nostro.
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a Ph.D. in mathematics from Duke University in 1985. CAS is home to 25 departments ranging from the humanities, arts, social sciences and natural science, as well as 14 interdisciplinary programs. There are more than 15,000 students enrolled in CAS and 500 faculty members. g
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