Dear University Community,
Walking across campus, among the hustle and bustle of students and faculty rushing to class and friends happily greeting each other, there is a palpable feeling of excitement in the air. It is the kind of excitement that only the new academic year can bring.
With the start of the academic year brings many new faculty and students to our university. This year we welcome 102 new faculty from across the disciplines to the University at Buffalo. Looking at our undergraduate student population, I am proud to note that our Class of 2009 is the most academically talented class and most geographically diverse class in UB's history. Our approximately 3,200 freshmen students hail from 29 states and 34 countries. We have over 2,600 new graduate and professional students from across the country and world joining our UB community this year.
The University at Buffalo has much to offer our new and continuing undergraduate, graduate and professional students - our promising scholars. A research university, by its very definition, exists to create new knowledge and it is our faculty who lead the intellectual discourse evident throughout our campus. It is through infusing our faculty's research, scholarship, and creative activities into curricula that our students are educated to become our next generation's artists and poets, historians and senators, scientists and teachers, and industry and business leaders. It is in the formal and informal campus environs that our students, under the sage tutelage of our faculty, can contemplate and impact some of the most compelling issues of our time.
It is with the commencement of the academic year that opportunities - whether intellectual, leadership, scholarly, service, or social - are presented for our students to pursue. During this academic year, I would encourage our undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to seize at least one of the many opportunities UB affords. I would encourage our students to work with a faculty mentor on a scholarly project whether in the sciences, arts, humanities, social sciences, or the professions; to immerse yourself in a new culture by studying in one of our many study-abroad programs; to contribute to the betterment of our neighborhoods through participation in a community service program; to gain professional work experience through interning in your chosen field; and to make lasting friendships with other students.
The University at Buffalo has myriad resources and I encourage our new and continuing students to seek out these resources - whether an academic advisor, faculty mentor, teaching assistant, career advisor or our robust electronic resources - to assist you with successfully navigating your academic career. These university resources are here to help you achieve your academic, career, and life ambitions.
It is my hope that this academic year is filled with inquiries and discoveries, challenges and successes, and many pleasant surprises. I wish you fortitude in your pursuit towards achieving your educational ambitious.
Best wishes for a successful semester,
Last Modified: Friday January 04 2008