Hitchcock: State Budget is Historic for University
By Joel Blumenthal
The 1998-99 New York State Budget "is a turning point in the history of the University at Albany," University President Karen R. Hitchcock said on April 15.
"Governor George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver all have demonstrated their dynamic vision for New York�s future by investing $3 billion over the next five years in the infrastructure of the University at Albany, the State University of New York, and the City University of New York system," said Hitchcock.
She cited key additional support from the Capital Region legislative delegation, led in the Senate by Bruno and Hugh Farley and in the Assembly by Ronald Canestrari, Paul Tonko and Jack McEneny. Hitchcock said, "We intend to respond to this investment by stabilizing and expanding the excellent programs of teaching and scholarship of our internationally-regarded faculty to better serve our students, advance knowledge, and improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the Capital Region and State."
Hitchcock added that the $130.1 million included for the University at Albany in the Higher Education Capital Construction Plan "will enhance the University�s reputation as a premier center of scholarship and research into the 21st Century. It also will ensure that the quality of our learning environment will match the outstanding quality of our faculty and students."
The Higher Education Capital Construction Plan includes funding for:
� A new wing for the University�s Center for Environmental Sciences and Technology Management
� A new Life Sciences Building
� Equipment, wiring and moving into the new library scheduled to open in 1999
� Renovation of Husted Hall on the Downtown Campus for academic use
� Renovation of the current Administration Building for academic use
� A new entry/admissions building
� A new art building/sculpture studio
� A new Public Safety Building
� New technologically advanced "smart classrooms," and
� Various infrastructure improvements, replacements and renovations
"The Legislature has demonstrated their confidence in this campus," said David Gilbert, director of Government Relations for the University. "To complete $130 million worth of construction in a five-year period will take a tremendous amount of work by everyone at the University. It is now up to us to prove them right."
Stephen Schafer, campus coordinator for the Master Plan, said the next step towards the plan�s implementation requires the University to obtain adequate spending authority for each of the plan�s provisions in a timely fashion. He added that the Master Plan committee and its various subcommittees were to be congratulated for producing a proposal that the Legislature found both sound and compelling.
"We are happy that the campus community, particularly the committee people working over the last 18 months, have seen their efforts rewarded," he said. "Together, they developed a series of recommendations and concepts which were a critical component to the successful presentation that went to the Legislature."
The budget also supports several University academic and economic development initiatives. These include the School of Business� Institute for Health Care Management; an International Studies Initiative; research on minority public health and minority student outreach in the School of Public Health; and the Center for Advanced Thin Film Technology and its joint bid with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to attract a Semiconductor Industry Association Focus Research Center to the region.
"University at Albany students, faculty and staff also will benefit greatly from the $127 million in additions that the Legislature has recommended to the State University system budget," Hitchcock noted.
These include new faculty lines; an increase in the maximum Tuition Assistance Program Award; increased financial aid for part-time students; a $65 book purchase credit for all full-time students; a 25% increase in "opportunity programs" such as EOP; and increases in funding for child care, business assistance teams, and Small Business Development Centers.
Gilbert said that a challenge the University now faces, but welcomes, is a way to give a physically expanding institution ever greater academic meaning. "With our capital appropriation for the next five years behind us at the legislative level, we will now be able to devote significantly more attention to initiatives of the faculty," he said. "These special academic initiatives will be on the front burner for the next budget cycle."
Disabled Student Services Hosts Gala Dinner with Kennedy
by Lisa James
Ted Kennedy Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the Gala Dinner for the Office of Disabled Student Services. The dinner will be held on May 2, at 6:30 in the Campus Center Ballroom. Tickets for the event are $75 each. Sponsor tickets are $100 and patron tickets are $150 each. The Gala Dinner is part of the Office of Disabled Student Services silver anniversary celebration.
Since losing one of his legs to cancer in 1973 at the age of 12, Kennedy has devoted much of his time working as an advocate for the civil rights of people with disabilities. He has lectured throughout the world about his experiences with cancer and his views about how to approach life with a disabling condition.
Kennedy now works on the research faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine and Law and as director of the New Haven Lead Safe Home and Community Health Project. In addition, he is finishing his third year of law school at the University of Connecticut School of Law. After he completes his degree, he will continue his career in disability and public health law.
"Since the Office�s inception, more than 600 disabled students have graduated and gone on to become productive citizens of the world. For many, the support they received from this office has meant the difference between staying in school and not staying in school and we are very proud of that," said Nancy Belowich-Negron, director of the Office of Disabled Student Services.
Many other programs have been planned for this remarkable celebration. It began with the Sophie Tucker Benefit, held this past April. The event was a huge success and raised more than $9,200 to launch their fund raising campaign. Other events include special Women�s Luncheon programs featuring women with disabilities as speakers. There will also be a Congratulatory Book, in which alumni and others can purchase space for messages, which will benefit the Disabled Student Scholarship Fund.
Stairways to be Rebuilt This Summer and Next
The stairs at the Fountain area (one shown here during Fountain Day) and some on the south side of the Academic Podium will be reconstructed during the summer, requiring the temporary removal of each current set of stairs.
The project is scheduled to begin on May 18, and the stairs are expected to be back in service on or before September 30. Alternate pedestrian access and routing around the construction will be identified, and signs are now being posted to indicate reconstruction sites.
Stairway work on the Podium will actually take place both this and next summer (1999), with those months offering both the lowest traffic, combined with the best weather for concrete reconstruction, according to Carl Carlucci, Executive Vice President. The Fountain stairs, the stairway to the west of the Humanities Building, and the one between the Education Building and the Campus Center will be done this summer; the stairway between the Campus Center and the Physics Building, and the one east of the Chemistry Building will be done in Summer 1999.
Deborah Willen Meier, School Reform Leader
Deborah Willen Meier will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the University�s undergraduate Commencement, Sunday, May 17, at the Pepsi Arena in Albany. The ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. Meier ranks among the most acclaimed leaders of the school reform movement in the U.S. She is the founder, in 1974, of the Central Park Elementary School in New York City and also two other elementary schools and one secondary school � all renowned for their alternative-learning curriculum. She currently serves as president of the Center for Collaborative Education, a network of nearly 40 elementary, middle, and high schools working for school reform in New York City.