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University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
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State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly known as the University at Buffalo or (UB), is a public research university which has multiple campuses located in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, USA. Offering 84 bachelor's, 184 master's and 78 doctoral degrees, it is the largest of the four comprehensive university centers within the State University of New York (SUNY) system. From its inception until 1962, the private school was known as the University of Buffalo.
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Encyclopedia
State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly known as the University at Buffalo or (UB), is a public research university which has multiple campuses located in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, USA. Offering 84 bachelor's, 184 master's and 78 doctoral degrees, it is the largest of the four comprehensive university centers within the State University of New York (SUNY) system. From its inception until 1962, the private school was known as the University of Buffalo. Once it became a state university, the name was changed, but many alumni still refer to it by the former name.
According to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the University at Buffalo is a Research University with Very High Research Activity (RU/VH). Buffalo was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1989. UB's alumni and faculty have produced a President of the United States, astronauts, Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and other notable individuals in their fields. The University houses the largest state-operated medical school and features the only state law school, architecture and urban planning school, and pharmacy school in the state of New York.
History
Initial years
The University of Buffalo was founded in May 1846 as a private medical school to train the doctors for the communities of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and surrounding villages. Dr. James Platt White was instrumental in obtaining a charter for the University of Buffalo from the state legislature in 1846. He also taught the first class of 89 men in obstetrics.
The doors first opened to students in 1847 and after associating with a hospital for teaching purposes, the first class of students graduated the medical school in July 1847. The first chancellor of the University was future President of the United States Millard Fillmore. Upon his ascension to the presidency after President Taylor's death, Fillmore stayed on as part-time chancellor. Fillmore's name now graces the evening and continuing education school Millard Fillmore College located on the South Campus as well as the Millard Fillmore Academic Center, an academic and administrative services building at the core of the residential Ellicott Complex, located on the North Campus.
Early development
After many expansions to the college medical programs, including the addition of a pharmacy division, UB acquired the Buffalo Law School from Niagara University in 1891 and formed the University of Buffalo Law School.
In 1909 the University acquired property (the "Erie County Almshouse") from the county of Erie, which became the first building on what would later become UB's initial comprehensive campus. Although the South Campus (also called the "Main Street" campus) is often referred to as the "original campus", the South (Main Street) Campus is not actually the University's oldest property. UB was originally housed in a leased building, the First Baptist Church which had also served as a post office from 1836-1846.
In 1915, the then University of Buffalo formed the College of Arts and Sciences, formally departing from its tradition of teaching only for licensed professional fields. During the late 1960s, the College of Arts and Sciences was divided into three separate schools: arts and letters, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences. During the 1998-1999 academic year, the three schools were reunited to re-create the existing College of Arts and Sciences.
In 1950, the Industrial Engineering department branched off from the Mechanical Engineering department. In 1956, a Civil Engineering Department was formed under Lehigh University graduate Dr. Robert L. Ketter, who went on to become Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and later President of the University.
In 1959, WBFO was launched as an AM radio station by UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and run by UB's students. The station has since become the launching pad of two modern National Public Radio personalities: Terri Gross and Ira Flatow.
In the early 1960s, the private University of Buffalo was purchased by and incorporated into the SUNY system, and became known as the University at Buffalo.
In 1961, the Western New York nuclear research program was created. This little known program installed a miniature, active nuclear fission reactor on the University's South (Main Street) Campus. This program was not particularly active, nor could it compete with government-run research labs operated by rival UC Berkeley. Consequently, the programs performed in this facility were abandoned somewhat shortly after its inception. This reactor was formally decommissioned in 2005 with little fanfare due to material security concerns.
In 1964, UB acquired property in the northern Town of Amherst for future development of a second campus catering to most non-medical disciplines at UB. This would later become the North Campus, and the center of most non-medical UB activity.
UB 2020
Started in 2004 under President John B. Simpson, UB 2020 is a massive strategic planning initiative to develop and implement a vision for the university over the next 15 years. The centerpiece of UB 2020 is to add about 10,000 more students, 750 faculty members and 600 staff, increasing the size of the University by about 40 percent. UB 2020 also recognizes the university's contribution to the surrounding region. The most recent estimates of UB's impact on the local and regional economies of Western New York report approximately $1.50 billion are brought into the local economy from the presence of UB, whose annual budget is currently $96 million. Both of these figures are also expected to rise by 40 percent, corresponding with UB’s institutional growth.
The five major principles that guide UB 2020 are promoting academic excellence (i.e.: the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and the development of vital intellectual communities); promoting a united and accessible university campus that features three strong, distinctive and seamlessly interconnected centers and facilitates social interaction; reflecting the university’s responsibility to the community by respecting public plans and policies; providing the basis for long-range capital programming and stewardship of university resources; and establishing UB as a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
The four main components of UB 2020 are "Excelling in Academics," "Strategic Strengths," "Building UB: The Comprehensive Physical Plan," and "Achieving Growth".
The Comprehensive Physical Plan
The University at Buffalo has accumulated 27,700 undergraduate and graduate students, as well as 14,000 employees, across three campuses in the last 160 years. In order to accommodate both students and faculty, the university is currently implementing a $4.5 million Comprehensive Physical Plan to help in growth as well as to best utilize and enhance current facilities. Connecting all three campuses, as well as the facilities UB uses, is also a major element of the project. The firm granted the contract to lead the project is Beyer Blinder Belle.
The comprehensive physical planning process is broken into four phases. Currently, UB is implementing "phase one" by seeking input from the local and university communities to pinpoint issues, opportunities, and concerns related to this expansion. The project recognizes UB’s potential for excellence, in regard to the university's physical environment, by highlighting and evaluating various positive and negative attributes of the three campuses, including housing, circulation, functionality, landscape, and community interface .
Campus
The University at Buffalo is the state’s largest and most comprehensive public university and is spread across three campuses: North Campus, South Campus, and Downtown Campus.
North Campus
Construction of this campus began in the 1970s. Many academic programs, including the entirety of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University at Buffalo Law School, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the School of Management, the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Graduate School of Social Work, and the Graduate School of Education, as well as Lockwood Memorial Library, Capen Library, and many administrative offices, are located on UB's North Campus in Amherst, NY.
UB has facilitated the creation of a system of inter-campus buses providing 20 hours a day transportation from the North Campus in Amherst township to the South Campus on Main Street in Buffalo (a distance of four miles), and is solely responsible for running the UB transit system. The North Campus includes , 146 buildings , 10 residence halls and 5 apartment complexes. There are dormitories situated as far as a quarter of a mile from the academic buildings and a bus system to provide students transportation between the dorm complexes on the North Campus and the academic sector of the same campus. The North Campus' immense size also necessitated the creation of a shuttle system circling the academic sector and surrounding areas including the administrative complex, located nearly a quarter mile from the central academic area.
The North Campus offers a variety of entertainment programming and activity for students. It contains the Student Union, which houses offices for the Student Association and student-interest clubs; Slee Hall, which presents contemporary and classical music concerts; Alumni Arena, the home-court for University Athletics; the UB Center for the Arts, a non-profit presenter of a wide variety of professional entertainment and UB Stadium, the 30,000 seater Football Stadium. Students on the North Campus often venture into the diverse environment of the South Campus in city of Buffalo to enjoy its urban diversity.
South Campus
The South Campus is located on the former grounds of the Erie County Almshouse and Insane Asylum, of which four buildings still remain (Hayes Hall, the former insane asylum; Wende Hall, a former maternity hospital; Hayes D; and Townsend Hall, a former nurses' quarters). The college was designed by architect E.B. Green in 1910, and was intended to resemble Trinity College, Dublin. The initial campus, it is located at the edge of the northeastern most part of Buffalo NY. It is now the South Campus of the University at Buffalo and includes 53 buildings on . and six resident halls. This campus is served by the northernmost subway station on Buffalo's Niagara Frontier Metro Rail system. Today, it is the home of some of the University's specialized academic programs including the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the School of Public Health and Health Related Professions, the School of Nursing, the School of Dental Medicine, and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. UB is currently in the planning and design phase of relocating the School of Pharmacy to Acheson Hall on the South Campus with 2010 as the target year. In addition, the University at Buffalo South Campus is the home of the WBFO radio station, the University's biomedical science research complex, the Health Sciences Library and certain administrative offices. Additionally, 20 percent of UB's resident population continues to live in the original residential complexes located on the South (Main Street) Campus. Adjacent to the UB South Campus is the UB Anderson Art Gallery, a former elementary school converted with an all-glass atrium exhibit space.
Downtown Campus
In 2002, UB commissioned Boston firm Chan Krieger to create a third campus center. The downtown campus is the site UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Science, which partners in research with UB's Ira G. Ross Eye Institute as well as the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute to compose the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. Also located in the downtown area is UB's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA), Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) and the Jacobs Executive Development Center (JEDC). The campus includes six major properties and a total of 43 buildings, counting shared lease space .
In September 2007, UB added the former M. Wile Co. building on the southeast corner of Goodell and Ellicott streets and the former Trico Products Corp. building complex on the northwest corner of Goodell and Ellicott streets to its properties downtown. The UB Regional Institute, Center on Rehabilitation Synergy, and a number of pre-K-16 initiatives related to UB's civic engagement mission, such as the UB-Buffalo Public Schools Partnership office, are set to relocate to the first site. The latter location has been purchased to house additional biomedical- and life science-related businesses connected to the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus.
Teaching hospitals
UB's teaching hospitals include the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), Millard Fillmore Hospital, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Veterans Affairs Western New York Health Care System. Additional facilities include free clinics such as the Kaleida Health's Niagara Family Health Center and the Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic, a program run by UB medical students.
Organization
Schools and colleges
UB consists of the following:
- The School of Architecture and Planning: UB is the only school within the State University of New York system that offers both pre-professional and accredited professional degrees in architecture and urban planning. In academic year 2005-2006, the School of Architecture and Planning awarded 99 baccalaureate degrees and 108 master's degrees.
- The School of Dental MedicineSchool of Dental Medicine Founded in 1892
- The College of Arts & Sciences
- The Graduate School of Education: One of the largest graduate schools at UB, composed of four academic departments; counseling and educational psychology, educational leadership and policy, learning and instruction, and library and information science. In academic year 2005-2006, the Graduate School of Education awarded 416 master's degrees and 48 doctoral degrees.
- The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences: offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in six departments. In 2004-05, they conferred 498 BS (and 13 BA), 39 MEng, 330 MS, and 63 PhD degrees.
- The UB Law School: Has new concentrations in Labor and Employment Law and in Technology and Intellectual Property. The University at Buffalo Law School is ranked as one of the top 100 law schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Reports.
- The School of Management:For the fourth consecutive year, the Wall Street Journal has ranked UB’s School of Management as one of the world’s top business schools for the fastest return on MBA investment according to BusinessWeek. Forbes magazine ranks the UB School of Management as one of the best schools for its apparent "return on investment" it provides MBA graduates. The undergraduate program at the UB School of Management is ranked No. 73 by U.S. News & World Report—higher than any other SUNY undergraduate business program. This designation is a testament to the quality of the School of Management’s graduates and the excellence of the management faculty. Indicative of its national leadership, the School of Management recently established a certificate program and an MBA option in information assurance and an MS program in financial engineering (in cooperation with the Department of Mathematics). The School of Management has also recently established an MBA option in biotechnology management. This program is designed to integrate the school’s mission in business education with the university mission as it relates to technology-based entrepreneurship.
- The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: Now 161 years old, the founding faculty of the University.
- The School of Nursing: Maintains membership in the national honor society in nursing, Sigma Theta Tau, Inc., through the Gamma Kappa Chapter. The School also holds membership in the National Student Nurses Association.
- The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: The second-oldest component of the University at Buffalo and the only pharmacy school in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It is consistently ranked among the top pharmacy schools in the United States.
- The School of Public Health and Health Professions: Created in 2003 by combining the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the UB School of Health Related Professions. The school's goal is to create an environment in which researchers, educators, public health and other health professionals, and students can work together to explore problems and produce innovative solutions to address emerging health needs for populations and individuals.
- The Roswell Park Cancer Institute: Founded in 1898 by the preeminent surgeon Dr. Roswell Park, it is the oldest comprehensive cancer center in the world.
- The Graduate School of Social Work: Founded in 1924.
Facilities
Libraries
UB has nine libraries on its North(Amherst), South(Buffalo), and Downtown(Buffalo) campuses. The Libraries' 3.6 million+ print volumes are augmented by extensive digital resources, including full-text electronic journals, databases, media, and special collections, which include the world's single largest collection of James Joyce manuscripts and artifacts.
Nomenclature
Since early 1998, the State University of New York at Buffalo form has evolved, and there are three names deemed acceptable by the university according to "The University at Buffalo Visual Identity", with a fourth acceptable for reference to athletic programs:
- University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. This is the full name, used by the university for formal communications to national audiences.
- University at Buffalo. This is the less formal name, used within the university, and with many outside groups that are familiar with the University at Buffalo.
- UB. This shortened term "UB" is the preferred casual term to refer to school.
- Buffalo. This is the standard name for the University at Buffalo athletic department.
Academia
UB's admissions process is described by U.S. News & World Report as "more selective." This is particularly true for out-of-state applicants. In recent years an increasing emphasis in both publicity and financial consideration has been placed on the development of a thriving community of research scientists, mostly centered around an economic initiative to promote Buffalo and create the Center of Excellence for Bioinformatics and Life Sciences as well as other advanced biomedical and engineering disciplines. The university's Center for Computational Research (CCR) is one of the most powerful academic supercomputing sites in the eastern United States, which once ranked 22nd out of the top 500 supercomputing sites in the world; as of November 2006, it was ranked 87th.
Like most research institutions, UB gives its faculty great incentive to research alongside their teaching obligations. Although this practice is very widespread, and practiced at virtually every university in America (and all SUNY Universities), some students criticize the system, claiming it guarantees tenure to faculty with questionable teaching capabilities. SUNY as a system has received fluctuating funding from the State of New York over the past 20 years as the result of much political debate by State politicians (though this may be more reflective of the volatile nature of the New York legislature than anything else). UB, like many other institutions , has had to take matters of ensuring future success into their own hands. The result are decisions to begin investments into fields of "commercial benefit" such as medicine, biotechnology, and bioinformatics.
Historically, UB has been a pioneering force in many aspects of technology. For example, UB was one of the first universities to offer a bona fide Computer Science major (distinct from a mathematics major). It was also an early pioneer in providing generous mainframe computer facilities and twenty-four hour terminal labs as an integral part of the undergraduate experience; during the early 1980s, for example, most UB students (regardless of their major) were proficient in the use of the campus mainframe, a gigantic VAX/VMS cluster. Additionally, UB's role as a crucial internet hub for the eastern seaboard during the internet's inception cannot be overstated.
Total R&D expenditures rose from $186.8 million to $259.0 million for FY 2001–04, ranking 58 under New York University (NYU). It rose to $297,909,000 for the year 2006.
The 2008 America's Best Colleges ranked by Forbes.com placed Buffalo at #436.
Buffalo ranked 77-107 worldwide among universities in the social sciences in 2008 by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
University at Buffalo academic and professional faculty are represented by United University Professions. The two UUP chapters at the University at Buffalo are: Health Sciences and Buffalo Center http://uupbuffalo.org/ of United University Professions, which has over 34,000 members at 29 campuses of SUNY.
UB also has a comprehensive library system offering information resources, technologies, and services for UB students, faculty, and staff, as well as residents of the Western New York area.
The University at Buffalo is also one of only two public schools in New York to have a medical school and a dental school, the other being the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Student body
UB has a total student capacity estimated around 30,000 total students, a number which is quite common among other "super university" schools, though the school has never seen this many enrolled students. The University at Buffalo is the largest public university in U.S. northeast (comprising New England and New York State). Student enrollment trends reported by the University at Buffalo's Office of Academic Planning and Budget reflect UB's growing student population:
| University at Buffalo Student Enrollment |
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| Fall 2007 | 28,054 | | Fall 2006 | 27,823 | | Fall 2005 | 27,220 | | Fall 2004 | 27,276 | | Fall 2003 | 27,255 | |
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Greek life
Fraternities
Sororities
Cultural fraternities
Cultural sororities
Educational fraternities
Student life
Associations and activities
UB boasts three student-run periodicals: The Spectrum, Generation, and Visions. All three publications are distributed on campus, while Generation, founded in 1984 by Eric Francis, also sees additional distribution throughout the greater Buffalo area. UB also has a student radio station WRUB, which can be listened to on campus cable 7 and on the internet at its homepage. WRUB broadcasts all UB home football games and select road games, as well as most UB men's and women's home basketball games.
UB annually hosts the world’s largest mud-volleyball game know as “Ooz-fest.” Teams of at least 6 students compete in a double elimination volleyball tournament at “The Mud Pit” each April. Fire trucks are brought in to saturate the dirt courts to create the mud. Awards are handed out to not only the victors, but the most creatively dressed. In the past, students have worn business suits and even dresses to the tournament.
UB contains The Entrepreneurship Association - TEA, which started up in the Fall '07 semester.
Speaker and entertainment lineup
In September 2006, the 14th Dalai Lama came to the University at Buffalo for a three-day visit to speak about world peace and to meet with select groups of students.
2005-2006 Speaker/Entertainment Lineup included Colin Powell, Conan O'Brien, Brian Greene, Juelz Santana, Fat Joe, T.I. and Kanye West.
2006-2007 Speaker/Entertainment Lineup included Al Gore, Anderson Cooper, Guster, Jason Mraz, Camron, Clipse and Sean Paul.
2007-2008 Speaker/Entertainment Lineup included Michael Moore, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, All-American Rejects, OneRepublic, Trapt, Akon, T-Pain, Nas, Ludacris, BiZ Markie and Mims .
Athletics
- For full article, see Buffalo Bulls
The school's sports teams are known as the Buffalo Bulls. However, the women's teams were originally called the Buffalo Royals.
In 1958, the football team won the Lambert Cup, emblematic of supremacy in Eastern U.S. small-college football. That led to the team's first bowl invitation, to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida against Florida State University. But the Bulls would be allowed to participate only if backup defensive end Mike Wilson and starting halfback Willie Evans, who were black, did not play. The team stood behind the two, and refused the bowl offer; Buffalo did not receive another bowl invitation until the 2008 season.
Several UB football stars from the 1950s and early 1960s went on to play professional football, including quarterback John Stofa with the American Football League's Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, and defensive lineman Gerry Philbin with the AFL's New York Jets. Philbin is a member of the AFL Hall of Fame and the All-time All-AFL Team. Philbin and UB's Willie Ross were the only UB graduates to play on professional football championship teams: Ross with the 1964 AFL Champion Buffalo Bills; and Philbin with the 1968 AFL Champion New York Jets, who also won that season's AFL-NFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl III).
Since 1996, the UB teams have participated in the NCAA's Division I (I-A for football), in the Mid-American Conference. The mascots are 'Victor E. Bull', a blue bull with a gold nose ring, and his sister 'Victoria S. Bull'. After several years of poor performance in the two most popular college sports, men's basketball and football, the university's men's basketball team has recently begun to show some promise. In March 2005, the team fell short by only 0.5 seconds (for the Mid-American Conference Championship) of clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The school's football team, however, performed poorly that year, winning just one game during the season. At the end of the 2005 season, football coach Jim Hofher was dismissed from his position.
With the hiring of Turner Gill as head football coach, UB is the only Division I-A school with an African American Athletic Director (Warde Manuel), Men's Basketball Head Coach (Reggie Witherspoon), and Football Head Coach (Gill).
The university is home to the Thunder of the East marching band. The band performs at all home football games and travels to both local and national parades and competitions. Along with the student group "True Blue" the Thunder provides the epicenter of the game day experience.
Jamey Richard, 2008 graduate of the University of Buffalo, plays in the National Football League and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the 7th round, with the 236 pick of the 2008 NFL Draft.
Trevor Scott, 2008 graduate of the University of Buffalo, plays in the National Football League and was selected by the Oakland Raiders. He recorded two sacks against the New York Jets and future hall of fame quarterback Brett Favre.
Buffalo has three fight songs Victory March, Go For a Touchdown, and Buffalo Fight Song.
Victory March
Traditional Lyrics
Fight, fight for Buffalo
Be proud to fight for your dear Blue and White.
So Hit 'em high, Hit 'em low, Throw 'em high, Throw 'em low
Fight for your dear old Bulls. (Go! Bulls! Go!)
Cheer, cheer for Buffalo
Our spirit will be with you 'til the end...
So play the game as best you can
For the glory of our dear Buffalo.
Current Lyrics
Fight, Fight for Buffalo
Be proud to fight for our dear Blue and White
So, thunder through, Go Blue!
Give a cheer, never fear!
Don't stop 'til we have won!
(Go! Bulls! Go!)
Cheer, cheer for Buffalo
Our spirit will be with you 'till the end
So show your colors proud and true
For the glory of our dear Buffalo!
- Current lyrics written by James Mauck, director of UB Athletic Bands
- Current lyrics are often ignored by a majority of the student fan base who prefer the original lyrics.
Student housing
Student residence halls are located on both the North and South Campuses. In 1999, the university built its first apartment complex for families and graduate students at Flickinger Court. Since the success of Flickinger, UB has developed South Lake Village, Hadley Village, Flint Village, and Creekside Apartments. Most students who wish to still live on or near the North Campus but enjoy the lifestyle of apartment living take advantage of these apartments. Students also find housing in private locations. Those locations are generally situated in the University Heights district of Buffalo, and other areas close to the North and South Campuses. The school assigns rooms based on a lottery system.
Images of the Ellicott Complex
Notable faculty and alumni
UB in popular culture
The first season of the MTV show Fraternity Life and the second season of Sorority Life were filmed at UB. Also, the NBC show Jesse starring Christina Applegate took place in Buffalo, and external shots for the show were filmed at South Campus.
See also
External links
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