If you missed a Senate meeting and want to catch up, podcasts of each meeting are now posted to the Senate's podcast web page. Senate meeting minutes and summaries are also posted to the website and distributed to Senate members with the monthly Senate packet.

Universities and colleges are prime targets for scams because of their decentralized budgets, ordering practices, and changing personnel.

The most common commodities that are scammed are advertising, copier toner, light bulbs, ice-melting products, office supplies, printer cartridges, and chemicals, but scams can involve any commodity or service that exists.

The best way to avoid a scam is to stay informed, remain alert, and question when something doesn't sound right or seems too good to be true.

Common techniques:

• Telephone or e-mail solicitations offering a "special sale"
• Callers asking what kind of copy machine you have in your office
• Companies offering to send you free samples
• Companies offering to ship a product without a purchase order and bill you later
• Companies sending in an actual tear sheet of a real classified employment advertisement with a phony invoice
• Unknown solicitors calling to ask for your shipping address
• Companies shipping goods that were never ordered and then sending an inflated invoice for payment
• Companies using a name similar to, but not exactly the same as, a company you deal with
• Companies selling items at greatly discounted prices but claiming you need to order now to take advantage of the savings
• Callers who state that the "college's president referred me to you"
• Companies who say they are selling discontinued items at closeout prices
• Callers who ask for your account number or credit card number

If you suspect that you have been contacted by a possible scammer, advise the caller that it would be best to let Procurement Services speak to them and give them the Procurement phone number: (716) 878-4113. Chances are they will not call. If the caller is persistent, please collect as much company information as you can and contact Steve Olsen, assistant to the comptroller for procurement, 878-4113.

The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team has posted an alert about how rapidly criminals can be up and running with your personal credentials and stolen information (e.g., credit cards, bank accounts). Nine minutes is the window of time between accessing stolen information and using that information for personal gain. Please read the release, and stay vigilant.

The Arthur O. Eve Educational Opportunity Program at Buffalo State has again received a Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) grant, this year for the class of 2021. Jude Jayatilleke, senior academic adviser, with assistance from Jessica Berg, interim director of pre-award and contract services in the Sponsored Programs Office, applied for and secured the grant (formerly known as the USDA Grant), sponsored by the State Education Department for up to $48,306. Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved.

SFSP is a federally funded state-administered program that reimburses providers who serve healthful meals to children and teens ages 18 and under in low-income areas at no charge primarily during the summer months when school is not in session.

Weigel Health Center will offer ambulatory blood pressure monitors to interested faculty and staff members during the months of June and July. Nearly one in five people has high blood pressure, or hypertension, but is unaware of it. Almost 75 million people in the United States have high blood pressure, and 90 percent of adults ages 45–64 will develop hypertension. Hypertension increases the risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke, the third leading cause of death in the United States. Take an active role in your health and get your blood pressure checked regularly. Know your numbers!

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a technique used to estimate true blood pressure over a 24-hour period. The monitor can be worn on a belt or in a pouch, but the blood pressure cuff must be worn on the participant's non-dominant arm for a full 24 hours. The monitor is programmed to take readings every 20 minutes when the wearer is awake and every 60 minutes when the wearer is asleep. While wearing the cuff, participants must keep their arms relatively still each time the cuff is inflating. Participants are also unable to shower or exercise while wearing the monitor. At the end of testing, results are downloaded and printed for the participant. The readings are very reliable, accurate to within 5 mmHg of readings taken with a manual blood pressure cuff.

Weigel Health Center is not responsible for treatment or follow-through on results but asks participants to follow up with their doctors accordingly. Weigel Health will not use the results of any tests performed for any purpose.

If you are interested in ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, please call Rita Sumers, registered nurse in the Weigel Health Center, at 878-6711. Please wear loose-fitting clothing the day of your appointment. The cuff will be placed on your nondominant arm.

We look forward to seeing you and answering any questions you may have.

Office 365 group training sessions are now scheduled through the month of June. Please register through our Workshop Registration System.

June Workshops
What's New in Mail and Calendar? Office 365 (Outlook)
Microsoft Office in the Cloud (OneDrive, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel online)
Delving Deeper into Office 365 (OneNote, Delve, Yammer)
Office 365 Mobile Apps
Office 365 Groups

If you'd like more information on these sessions or online alternatives, please visit the Office 365 training page. Individual and department or office-specific training sessions can be scheduled by appointment.

Don't forget, trainings can also be scheduled for smart boards, Ensemble Video, Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing, and more.

Please contact Todd Benzin, educational technology specialist in Instructional Design and Training, or visit the IDT home page for more information.

Biometrics are being hailed as the new foolproof security. Based on the theory that everyone's voice is unique, HSBC is creating a secure voice ID system for customers. But see what happened when a BBC reporter set up an account and signed up for voice ID authentication.

The BBC reports that two separate studies—the Ponemon Institute report (PDF, 2.3 MB) and WhiteScope's Security Evaluation of the Implantable Cardiac Device (PDF, 1.7 MB)—found that some medical devices are vulnerable to hackers. Please read the article.

One hundred eighty-two Buffalo State staff members have not begun SANS training. If you have not started training, please do. Thirty-two staff members have started but not completed training. If you have started but not completed training, please complete it now. 

If you need instructions sent to you again by e-mail, please e-mail Melissa Miszkiewicz. director of RITE strategic partnerships. Completion reports will be sent to VPs, deans, and directors on June 30.

Faculty member are not included in this round. Faculty will receive training instructions in fall 2017.

The Buffalo State Archives and Special Collections, which houses the Madeline Davis Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Archives of Western New York, and the Buffalo History Museum are putting out a call for material related to the LGBTQ+ history of Western New York. Do you have memorabilia about LGBTQ+ life in Buffalo and Western New York that you would like to donate to our campus or a local repository that can care for it and make it publicly accessible?

College archivist and curator of the Madeline Davis Collection, Dan DiLandro, and Buffalo History Museum librarian and archivist Cynthia Van Ness, will be available on Saturday, June 17, between 10:00 a.m. and noon at the Buffalo History Museum’s Research Library (1 Museum Court) to review material for possible acquisition.

The Buffalo State Archives and Special Collections seeks possible donations of letters, diaries, photos, clippings, fliers, posters, T-shirts, artwork, videotapes, community organization or business records, and ephemeral material—anything that may add to public access of our region’s rich history of LGBTQ+ rights. The Buffalo History Museum’s Research Library is particularly interested in collecting wedding memorabilia, such as wedding vows, photos, videos, announcements, invitations, or receipts from legally wed same-sex couples with a Western New York connection.

Admission is free to anyone bringing a potential donation.

Please see more links to inventories and images on the Butler Library website, as well as further information on our collaborative event on the Buffalo History Museum website.