Robert Mead-Colegrove has joined Buffalo State as director of orientation and new student programs. He reports to Timothy Ecklund, associate vice president for campus life, in the Academic and Student Affairs Office.

Mead-Colegrove was a resident director at Michigan State University’s Brody Complex and at West Virginia University’s Evansdale Campus. Most recently, he served as associate director of student life at SUNY Fredonia, where he trained orientation leaders, advised students, and ran orientation events. He also coordinated Fredonia’s leadership studies interdisciplinary minor program.

Mead-Colegrove holds a master of education in college counseling and student personnel from the University at Buffalo, where he is a doctoral candidate in the educational leadership and policy program. He earned his bachelor of science in mathematics education from SUNY Fredonia.

Mead-Colegrove has presented extensively at professional conferences and is a founding board member of the New York Leadership Educators Consortium.

Peter M. Carey has been appointed interim chief of university police, effective November 29. Carey has served Buffalo State for 27 years, as an officer from 1980 to 1997, as a lieutenant from 1997 to 2007, and as assistant chief of university police since August 2007. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member with the Criminal Justice Department. Carey is a practicing attorney with an office in Buffalo who holds a juris doctor from the University at Buffalo Law School and a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Buffalo State College. He has received numerous awards and honors, including SUNY Police Chiefs Association’s awards for heroism and for professionalism, the Buffalo State College University Police Chief’s Award for Outstanding Service, the Buffalo State College Outstanding Criminal Justice Alumni Award, and the Buffalo State College United Students Government Hall of Fame Award, as well as many letters of commendation.

The search for a chief of university police will begin immediately.

James A. Thor has been appointed interim associate vice president and comptroller, effective November 29. Thor has served Buffalo State College for 18 years, most recently as director of college and foundation accounting. In addition, he serves on the Buffalo State College Foundation Investment Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee. Thor is also a member of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center Finance Committee and treasurer of the BSCR (Buffalo State College Realty) Corporation. Prior to joining Buffalo State, Thor gained audit and tax experience at KPMG, an international accountancy and professional services firm. He earned a B.S. in accounting from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is pursuing a graduate tax certificate from the University at Buffalo. Thor, a certified public accountant, is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

The search for an associate vice president and comptroller will begin immediately.

Express your thoughts, questions, and views concerning College Senate meetings and agendas through our newonline forum. Registration is quick and easy.

At its September 2007 meeting, the College Senate approved a motion to explore alternatives for sharing information between Senate meetings. This motion does not eliminate the production and approval of full minutes of Senate meetings.

The agenda and formal materials from the September meeting have been posted on the College Senate Web site in a preliminary response to this motion. In addition, senators and other campus constituents are invited to participate in an online forum to consider podcasting future Senate meetings.

With heightened emphasis on student success and institutional accountability, academic advisement is a critical topic for students, faculty, and staff at Buffalo State College. For some, good advising skills come naturally. But two recipients of the President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Advisement believe the value of quality advisement should be ingrained in all faculty members.

“Students are our business—they shouldn’t be [perceived as] an interruption to our business,” said Leslie Day, a lecturer of elementary education and reading, who also helps manage undergraduate advisement for the department. “Personally, I find advisement just as exciting as teaching and course planning.”

Day received the President’s Award in 2004. Dwight Hennessy, an associate professor of psychology who received the award last year, said it’s important for each professor to find an approach best suited to his or her own style. But before any good advisement can happen, professors need to change students’ perceptions.

“Advisement is not about scheduling; it’s about advice,” said Hennessy. “We need to educate students that it’s much more than just ‘tell me what courses to take.’ They’re people—they’re adults. And they want to be treated as such.”

Day echoes Hennessy’s sentiment and goes one step further.

“I’m trying to avoid using the word ‘adviser’ altogether,” she said. “When I talk with other faculty members about advisement, I use the word ‘mentor’ as much as possible. I want to stress the important role of relationships in the process.”

Although Day and Hennessy acknowledge some students’ dissatisfaction with academic advisement outcomes, the two recognize the strides that departments like theirs have made in recent years. Day adds that it’s possible some students lump advisement criticism with other negative college experiences.

According to Day, student participation in advisement in the Elementary Education and Reading Departmentincreased from 35 to 80 percent during the past five years. Hennessy has experienced similar increases in thePsychology Department.

Day personally advises 130 students, and last semester she interacted with more than 500 students for various advisement needs. But given the pressures to publish research, serve on committees, and teach multiple classes, how can professors fit academic advisement into their already busy schedules and administer effective guidance?

The key to building relationships is to start early, Day said. Hennessy said this means getting students’ attention during orientation and then maintaining an “open door” policy for advisement—not just trying to fit all sessions into a week or two around registration time. He said a typical adviser will see about 30 to 40 students a semester.

One easy—and compulsory—way professors can manage advisement, said Day, is to honor office hours.

“Post your hours on your door,” Day stressed. “Be willing to mentor students you teach, even if you’re not their adviser.

“We also need to stop the ‘Buffalo State Shuffle,’” Day said. “Everyone needs to take responsibility to help students and really listen. When faculty members direct students to me for advisement questions, I ask if they can accompany the student. I do this to help mentor our faculty, hoping they’ll know for the next time how to help in the same situation.”

Hennessy said that a mandatory meeting early in the fall semester is one tool for good advisement, since students are “bombarded” with information during orientation. Other tools, such as Web pages, the Banner system, pamphlets, checklists, and group meetings, can also be effective. A little peer pressure can go a long way, too, Day said. She sometimes talks about advisement in her courses and asks for a show of hands to see who has gone.

“When students leave [Buffalo State] happy, it is a tremendous boost for our image in the community,” she said.

“There is a real, long-term benefit to students having mentors,” said Hennessy. “Their feeling of being involved leads to a feeling of satisfaction—which ultimately leads to retention.”

Providing quality advisement is not only crucial to Buffalo State’s success; it’s also the right thing to do. The connection to students provides a necessary human dimension to complement the academic one.

“Advisers must relish the responsibility to value and respect students, and shape their futures,” said Day. “Getting to connect with so many students is one of the best parts of my job.”

Hennessy believes there are many excellent academic advisers on campus and that students thrive under their mentorship. He said the department chair strongly encourages and promotes good advisement; and when communicated from the top down, professors take the message seriously.

“This is your chance to make a difference in someone’s life,” Hennessy said. “The greatest satisfaction when students leave [an advisement session] is knowing they’re on the path to something they will love doing.”

University policy prohibits the assessment of general science fees, laboratory fees, and fees for course materials, i.e., texts and/or supplies. These fees are prohibited, as university tuition guarantees students access to the facilities and supplies considered necessary for their courses. However, campuses may establish deposits in science courses requiring laboratory work as collateral against which replacement costs for damage may be assessed.

University policy also requires that students purchase supplies and materials necessary for credit-bearing courses at the campus store or other appropriate commercial outlet. When this is not feasible in terms of efficiency, cost containment, or method of distribution, a request may be submitted to establish a course-related fee if students will retain the end product of the laboratory course work, e.g., sculpture/ceramics, photography. Please review your department fee schedule for compliance with university fee policy. Fees not in accordance with the above directives should be discontinued.

Contact Gary Phillips, associate vice president and comptroller, at ext. 4312 with questions concerning this policy.

Spring break—a time for relaxing, beaches, and catching up on sleep. Right? Not for 11 Buffalo State students and a few Newman Center staff members.

For the fifth consecutive year, students and staff traveled outside Buffalo for a reward far greater than a week of relaxation: a week of service. Staying at a center for the Claretian Volunteer Program in southwest Chicago from March 24 to 29, the group prepared bags of food at the Chicago Food Depository for children in 26 city schools and six suburban schools; assisted residents of Villa Guadalupe, a senior citizens housing complex; and transformed a run-down People’s Park into a neighborhood hub.

Bill Vaughan, a campus minister at the Newman Center who accompanied students, recalls several heartwarming stories from last week’s experiences.

“Students felt an immediate connection to what they were doing and could see the results,” he said. “At the Chicago Food Depository, we had a goal to package 1,500 one-pound bags of rice, and learned at the end of the day that we completed 3,200 bags. For students, they felt like they were part of something amazing.

“At Villa Guadalupe, students got so into the painting, cleaning, and various chores for residents that one morning, they decided to do ‘Jazzercise’ with them,” he continued. “The residents absolutely loved it.”

Some of the best reactions came as a result of the work at People’s Park, where students cleaned the area, fixed equipment, and mulched the grounds (left).

“One local resident stopped by and chatted with our volunteers, asking, ‘Why aren’t you on a beach?’ The students replied, ‘This is fun for us,’” said Vaughan. “As we continued working together over a few days, more people stopped by. One person said, ‘I want you to know how proud our neighborhood is of you.’ And a homeowner who lived next to the park became inspired on our second day and started cleaning up his cluttered yard. When he finished, two of his children came outside and started playing. It was a really moving sight.”

Vaughan said that a group of 11 students is about average for Alternative Spring Break, and that if not for this year’s unusual combination of the Easter holiday and spring break, more students might have participated.

The cost per student was $100, which covered travel, lodging, and meals. But some students were able to offset costs with fundraisers throughout the academic year. The Newman Center held two child-care servicenights, offered a “rent-a-student” program, and recently held a pancake breakfast.

As in past years, United Students Governmentrecognized the benefit of Alternative Spring Break for students and provided two vans for travel. Past tripsincluded visits to Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Baltimore. The group also helped some of the same organizations in Chicago during the 2006 trip.

Since 2004, the same candle has accompanied each Alternative Spring Break trip for evening group discussions. This symbolic sense of interconnectedness is reflective of the Newman Center as a whole, which serves all faiths within the larger community.

“We’re like a typical parish,” said Vaughan. “We serve about 150 families besides everyone at Buffalo State, and are one of the few Catholic ministries in the Elmwood Village. All are welcome here, and I’d estimate that more than half the students who participate in our activities arenot Catholic.”

The services at the Newman Center are many and varied, including Mass celebrations, religious-education classes, scripture study, Thursday-night community dinners, retreats, and even yoga classes. Vaughan said his top concern is to make all guests feel welcome.

“We have a motto that we’re here to help find the beauty in ugly—in other words, finding the best in any situation,” he said. “I think our staff members can guide others in down times. And we’re not here for just the students. We’re here for the entire campus. That’s our mission.”

This policy describes the assignment, use, and management of desk and cellular telephones by employees of Buffalo State College.

Policy
Desk and cellular telephones are to be used for official business-related activities only. Personal use should be limited to emergency calls. Payment for reimbursement of personal desk or cellular telephone calls should be forwarded to the Accounting Office.

Cellular Telephones
Cellular telephones may be assigned only to employees whose duties and responsibilities require immediate or remote communications capabilities. The assignment of cellular telephones must be approved by the vice president for finance and management, who will review assignments annually to ensure compliance with this policy.

Each employee assigned a cellular telephone shall be primarily responsible for its security and maintenance and must immediately report any theft, loss, damage, or vandalism of the unit.

New York State law prohibits the use of handheld cellular phones while driving.

I have approved the following curricular items, which have been recommended by the appropriate dean, the College Senate, and the provost:

New Minor:
Study of Understanding Community, Diversity, and Peace

Course Revision and Intellectual Foundations Designation:
SLP 206 Language Development (Social Sciences)

Course Revision:
INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATIONS
HON 100 Honors Foundations of Inquiry

The nation’s subprime mortgage crisis and its trickle-down effect on student loans recently stunned Buffalo State and other local colleges when HSBC Bank USA and M&T Bank Corporation announced they will no longer provide federally guaranteed student loans. The move strips Buffalo State of its top two lenders, which together accounted for 44 percent of overall loan volume.

“It’s a headache for us,” Kent McGowan, director of financial aid, recently told the San Francisco Chronicle,but, he said, there are more than 100 lenders providing loans to Buffalo State students. Many, like Citibank and Sallie Mae, are national entities that provide secure funding and are more accustomed to managing student loans. Nevertheless, McGowan said, the situation creates unwelcome extra work for students and his office.

“[Some] students will have to start the process from scratch next [academic] year,” he said. “They could have loan payments to two different lenders, unless they consolidate their loans or the two companies sell to the same buyer on the secondary market.”

McGowan also said that despite his office’s best efforts to help students and directly notify all affected, some factors will be beyond the school’s control. Federal guarantee agencies, for example, must have their systems ready to identify these students and to approve the second lender in order to disburse funds.

Similar bad news earlier this year actually prepared the Financial Aid Office to better manage the current situation, as First Niagara Financial Group (the No. 6 lender) and College Loan Corporation (No. 11) stopped offering federally guaranteed student loans.

“When Congress passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act last summer, it cut subsidies in half,” McGowan said. With financial markets in turmoil and an increased risk with purchasing securities, he added, student loans began to take a toll on banks. “I think banks like HSBC and M&T provided the service because it’s what their existing customers asked for,” he said. “But push came to shove, and the banks couldn’t maintain the service.”

According to McGowan, students need to be wary of two dangers: predatory lenders and alternative loans.

Because of a recent code of ethics law set in motion by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, colleges may not offer a preferred lenders list without complying with lengthy regulations, even if their choices are in students’ best interest.

“This opens up the door to unscrupulous lenders who will not provide adequate levels of service and who try to sell the students higher-cost alternative loans,” said McGowan. “An alternative loan is not backed by the government like a Stafford loan—it’s one of the worst kinds of loans.

“In addition, the criteria to get alternative loans are more stringent, and it could lead to fewer people attending college [due to the lack of financial resources],” continued McGowan. “Five or six years ago, we saw maybe about $100,000 in alternative loans, and today it’s closer to $4 million.”

McGowan calls it an “unusual situation” to have two large regional banks—both of whom were a popular choice among students—drop out of the student loan business at the same time. He added that because even alternative loans are becoming harder to get, Buffalo State faculty and staff can help retain good students by contributing to the college’s scholarship endowment or financial assistance programs such as the Bridge the Gap Scholarship fund.

Despite the circumstances and the fact that there are dozens of other available lenders, McGowan warns that the crisis is far from over and thinks other corporations will also stop providing student loans. And the buck doesn’t stop there.

“Any kind of school-agency money agreement is getting intense scrutiny now from the attorney general [because of the economy],” he said. “From student loans to study-abroad programs to athletic booster clubs—everything is fair game.”