From the Chair of the College Senate
Reports to the College Senate are posted on the College Senate website. The most recent reports are from the November 9, 2018, Senate meeting.

Podcasts serve as the official audio record of each College Senate meeting. If you missed a Senate meeting and want to catch up, podcasts are posted to the Senate's podcasts web page. Senate meeting summaries are also posted to the website after they are presented to the Senate.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The final meeting of the College Senate for fall 2018 will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, December 14, in Bulger Communication Center 217. (Please note the room change and the one hour earlier time change). The meeting agenda will be posted on the College Senate website on December 6. Senate meetings are recorded and posted as podcasts following the meetings. The meeting schedule for the 2018–2019 academic year and all past agendas are available on the College Senate website. The College Senate Office is located in Cleveland Hall 211. Joseph Marren, professor of communication, serves as chair of the College Senate for the 2018–2019 academic year. Please stop by the office, call 878-5139, or e-mail Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, with questions or for general information.

The LibQUAL+(R) survey, a nationally normed survey measuring perceptions of library service quality, closes Monday, November 19. If you have not yet done so, please spend just 10 minutes completing the survey, and please encourage students to participate as well. (Final reminders have been sent to students via e-mail.)

Every three years, Butler Library kindly asks the Buffalo State community to participate in the survey. Your contributions make a difference to the library, so please tell us what you like and what you think needs changing—but please tell us. Your feedback guides our strategic planning initiatives and helps us determine what changes and improvements to make in how we serve you. If you include your e-mail address, you will be eligible to win one of 30 prizes valued at roughly $15 each.

Thank you for your participation.

Please contact Eugene J. Harvey, assessment and reference librarian, 878-3138, with questions.

Please join the Student INC.Ubator for the next stage in our INC.Ubator Blueprint Mapping as we explore the question "What to Sell?" throughout the month of November. Join us for one informative discussion about shaping your business idea and methods to selling, and two “Meet the Experts” sessions in which local small business entrepreneurs will discuss how they determined the best product to sell.

Sessions will take place at 12:15 p.m. in the Student INC.Ubator suite in Buckham Hall A107 on November 15, 27, and 29.

RSVP to Olivia Harbol at smallbus@buffalostate.edu or 878-4030.

The StudyQuad and QuietQuad areas of Butler Library will close at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 20, and reopen at 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 21, to accommodate a scheduled building-wide electrical shutdown for the Academic Commons renovation project.

All other areas of the library will close and reopen at the usual times on these days. Library hours, including the holiday schedule over Thanksgiving weekend, are posted on the library's website.

Questions about this project may be e-mailed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu. More information about the Butler Library Academic Commons Project is available on the library's website. We appreciate your patience as this important project moves forward.

Buffalo State will host a holiday clothing and school supplies drive to benefit None Like You/We Care Family Education Community Outreach, a nonprofit organization based on Buffalo's East Side. A long-standing partner of Buffalo State, None Like You will give winter clothing and school supplies to low-income families in the coming weeks. Donations of coats, gloves, mittens, scarves, pencils, paper, and notebooks may be dropped off in the Civic and Community Engagement Office, South Wing 130, by Friday, November 30.

Please Join Weigel Health Promotions for a Clean Sweep in the Student Union Plaza (the quad between the Campbell Student Union and Butler Library) on Wednesday, November 21, from noon to 1:00 p.m.

The goal is to collect and dispose of trash, specifically tobacco- and cigarette-related litter, on campus. We hope to use this opportunity to raise awareness of the Great American Smokeout and the campus Tobacco-Free Policy. Clean Sweep is open to anyone who would like to help us keep Buffalo State clean. Gloves and plastic bags can be picked up in Weigel Wellness Center 222 between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. the day of the event.

For more Weigel Health Promotions programs, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Please call Weigel Health Promotions with questions or concerns at 878-4719 or 878-3786.

The New York State Fire Marshal’s Office has sent Buffalo State information regarding the recall of a specific portable electric space heater unit, the Vornado VH101 Personal Vortex, following reports of malfunctions that have led to numerous fires and at least one death.

The Vornado company has voluntarily chosen to conduct this recall and is offering full refunds or free replacement units to those who have purchased one of these space heaters. Information about the official recall and refund process is available on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

The Fire Marshal’s Office likely will no longer allow this model to be used on campuses. Faculty and staff members who have one of these units are urged to comply with the recall notice and receive new units or refunds to be applied toward a different model.

Please contact David Pawlak, fire safety coordinator in the Environmental Health and Safety Office, 878-5447, with questions.

Employees who are enrolled in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) may select a different health plan for the 2019 plan year during the Option Transfer Period. Employees will have 30 days from the date the 2019 rates are approved and published to change their health insurance carriers. 

The New York State Employee Benefits Division will mail information about the new health plan rates and deadline dates to enrolled employees’ home addresses. This information will also be announced in the Daily Bulletin when it becomes available. The 2019 “Choices” booklet (PDF, 1.4 MB), a comparison of the insurance plans, and an Empire Plan Supplement for CSEA-, PBA-, and UUP-represented employees (PDF, 775 KB) are now available for review on the Human Resource Management website.

Representatives from the Empire Plan, BlueCross BlueShield of WNY, and Independent Health will be on campus from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 29, in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall to answer questions about current health insurance plans and anticipated changes in coverage for 2019. Please plan to attend.

I truly appreciate the work the United Way does to provide assistance to various agencies in our community. I give to Autism Services Inc. (ASI) on behalf of my son, Kevin Jamaal Wood, who attends Autism Service’s Day Hab program, and I also serve on the board. I have personal knowledge of the hard work that ASI does and also know that the agency operates on a very tight budget, while the needs of the individuals who attend the program are great. My son has been attending the Day Hab program for the past 10 years, and frankly I don’t know of another program that would be able to address his needs. The program provides a wide range of opportunities for individuals to participate in their communities and to explore art and music, something my son truly enjoys. I am forever grateful that such an agency exists and will continue to support this program in any way I can.

Kathy L. Wood, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, School of Education
Associate Professor, Elementary Education, Literacy, and Educational Leadership