Please join us for the webinar "For Staff: Using Microsoft Forms for Surveys, Collecting RSVPs, and More," presented by Rebecca Eggleston, staff assistant in the Professional Development Center, and Todd Benzin, educational technology specialist in Instructional Design and Training, on Wednesday, April 15, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.

With Microsoft Forms, you can create surveys, quizzes, and polls and easily see results as they come in. When you create a quiz or form, you can invite others to respond to it using any web browser, even on mobile devices. Results can be automatically compiled in an Excel spreadsheet in your OneDrive. 

This workshop will

• teach you how to use the application to create forms;
• illustrate how we have used the application to create surveys for feedback;
• collect RSVPs for events, and receive nominations or proposals for awards, programs, and events;
• show you how to view the results from the forms in Microsoft Excel for easy organization. 

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

The Buffalo State College community is saddened by the death of Roswell Park IV, former director of individualized studies, who died April 8, 2020. Dr. Park joined the college in 1979 and retired in 2019. He is survived by his wife, Debra. More information is available online.

Please join us for the webinar "Effectively Leading Committees, Teams, and Departments Remotely during Times of Disruption and Ambiguity," presented by Jonathan Hulbert, director of leadership and organizational development, on Friday, April 17, from 10:00 a.m. to noon on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. 

This interactive webinar will provide leaders of committees, teams, and departments with strategies to effectively manage projects, engage team members in collaborative work, create flexible structures and systems to align tasks and projects to meet expectations, and support the emotional well-being of team members during times of disruption and ambiguity. Participants will also learn tips, strategies, and tools from each other that can be used to further enhance team performance.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Join Weigel Health Promotions online every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. to discuss current health-related issues as well as the different services and programs available. 

Zoom meeting ID: 295 810 6779

For the most up-to-date events, programs, and information, please follow Weigel Health Promotions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

From the Chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee
Please note: the scheduled nomination and election process to fill the upcoming College Senate vacancies will proceed as planned.

Two at-large College Senate positions, one University Faculty Senate position, and one University Faculty Senate alternate position will become vacant on August 31, 2020. All full-time faculty and professional staff members are eligible to run for these seats provided they meet other eligibility requirements (see below).

At-large senators represent the entirety of the college. University Faculty senators are senators within both the Buffalo State College Senate and the SUNY University Faculty Senate. The alternate attends SUNY University Faculty Senate meetings only in the absence of the university faculty senator.

A call for nominations and information about candidates’ statements will be posted on the College Senate website. The call for nominations begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday, April 13, and continues through 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 17. Elections for these positions will run from 12:01 a.m. Monday, April 20, to 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 24.

Senate elections conducted by the schools of Arts and Humanities, Education, Natural and Social Sciences, and the Professions as well as the Professional Staff Caucus (PSC) should be concluded before the College Senate election cycle (April 20).

Eligibility: Current College Senate members who are completing two consecutive terms in their respective positions are not eligible for reelection. For additional information on eligibility requirements, please consult the College Senate bylaws.

Campaigning: The College Senate Elections and Bylaws Committee strongly discourages using college e-mail services for campaigning. Please limit campaigning to the candidate statement posted on the College Senate website, available to the college community on Monday, April 20.

Please note: Individuals running for a senator position in another election may not also run for at-large senator or university faculty senator positions while the other election is being conducted. If the other election concludes during the period when nominations for at-large or university faculty senator are still being accepted, eligible individuals may self-nominate for either position.

If you are interested in being a candidate, please contact Vince Masci, assistant to the College Senate, 878-5139. We look forward to your participation in the vital process of campus governance.

From the Chair of the College Senate
At its March 13, 2020, meeting, the College Senate passed a resolution (DOCX , 66 KB) concerning the College Faculty Bylaws. The college faculty will vote on the approval of the bylaws included in this resolution the week of April 20–24. For further information about these bylaws or this vote, please contact Julian Cole, chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee.

According to Section X of the State University of New York Policies of the Board of Trustees, the faculty of each SUNY college must have bylaws that specify a variety of important matters concerning the shared governance of that college.

In 2019, it was discovered that it was not clear that the Buffalo State College faculty had legitimate bylaws. More specifically, while the Buffalo State College faculty wrote and approved bylaws in the 1970s, at some point between 1977 and 1991, the local practice developed of referring to those bylaws as the “College Senate Bylaws.” This practice gave the impression that these were bylaws of the College Senate rather than bylaws of the college faculty. Moreover, the college faculty made numerous amendments to the 1977 version of the College Faculty Bylaws under the false impression that the bylaws they were modifying were the College Senate Bylaws. Owing to the confusion surrounding the status of these bylaws, at least some of these amendments are not legitimate, since they conflict with stipulations in the Policies of the Board of Trustees.

Upon recognizing the above, the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee worked with the college president and SUNY counsel to devise the following plan. The College Senate’s Bylaws and Elections Committee would construct College Faculty Bylaws that conform with the Policies of the Board of Trustees. In doing so, it would adopt the philosophy that the college faculty intended to change its bylaws in the same ways in which the College Senate Bylaws were amended between 1991 and 2009. Accordingly, the newly constructed College Faculty Bylaws would resemble the current College Senate Bylaws except where modifications were required for compliance with the Policies of the Board of Trustees, would clarify the system of shared governance embedded in these bylaws, or were requested to this system of shared governance by the College Senate or college faculty.

It was further agreed that, once these bylaws were approved by the College Senate, they would be put, as a whole, to the college faculty for approval and, if approved, proceed to the president, the College Council, and the SUNY Board of Trustees for approval and execution.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The next meeting of the College Senate for spring 2020 will be held tomorrow, April 10, at 3:00 p.m. via Zoom videoconferencing. All senators are expected to remotely attend and participate in the meeting using the web-conferencing platform. All Senate-related personnel have been sent their log-in credentials for this meeting. A reminder will be sent via e-mail today to members of the Senate and administration. Senators Meg Knowles and Kim Kline will cohost the meeting as technicians, and Senate Chair Joe Marren will preside. The meeting agenda is posted on the College Senate website. Please contact Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, with questions.

The Math Center is open for virtual tutoring appointments from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students can sign up for an appointment, at least 12 hours in advance, through the Bengal Success Portal. Simply click on the Math Center tile under “Services” to see a list of tutors available to help.

Students who have any trouble signing up for an appointment or need to meet outside the listed times may e-mail Erica Demler, coordinator of the Math Center, directly for individualized help.

The Civic and Community Engagement Office is providing information about ways faculty, staff, and students can be active citizens and support our community during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sheltering in place may prompt us to take a second look at how many things we have in our homes that we no longer need or want. In-kind donations can be as helpful to an organization as monetary donations, provided the items are needed. If you would like to donate items to local organizations, please check out this complete list of what our community partners are requesting.

The Civic and Community Engagement Office is providing information about ways faculty, staff, and students can be active citizens and support our community during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie County is seeking volunteers for activities that can be completed while social distancing (e.g., making calls to homebound seniors in our community). If you are interested in volunteering, please contact sjohnstone@buffalo.org.