Not all sabbaticals are about leaving campus to write a book. Sometimes, they are about doing something good and gaining experiences to share with students.

“Taking a sabbatical is an important experience to have,” said Rob Delprino, associate professor in the Psychology Department. “You develop a part of yourself, and then you have stories to tell. When you share your experiences, that’s how students can really learn.”

Delprino, an Advisory Council member of the New York Disaster Counseling Coalition (NYDCC), served as a facilitator for a number of couples weekend retreats organized with the New York City Police and Fire departments, and other emergency service groups. Intended for first responders—firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and law enforcement personnel—the retreats are designed to help those whose careers produce considerably more stress than most. After seeing how successful they were, he inquired about bringing the model to Western New York.

Once he received permission and got approval for a sabbatical, Delprino went to work organizing the “Renewing Relationships” retreat. He began planning early for the event, which culminated in an October 28–29 weekend at the Beaver Hollow Conference Center in Java, New York.

Thirty-five couples participated in the retreat, which was offered free of charge. Initially, Delprino said, most participants were hesitant to talk and needed to overcome the stigma of “counseling”—but by the end, each couple was transformed and even became close with the other couples. The feedback received afterward indicated that the weekend clearly helped strengthen—and in a few cases, rescue—relationships that were suffering.

“The hours and stress on these professionals puts a big strain on relationships. These jobs can change people, and divorce rates are high because of the demands,” said Delprino. “One might think, ‘Well, if they’re saving lives, shouldn’t they know how to deal with all of life’s other challenges?’ But that isn’t always the case. What this retreat did was give couples the tools to communicate. When they saw other couples facing the same problems, they learned that their situations weren’t as unique as they had thought.”

Delprino stayed on campus during his sabbatical, but was even busier than usual during his “time off.” First, he had to adapt the NYDCC program to Western New York, then book an affordable location for the retreat, recruit and train eight facilitators, find training materials for the facilitators, secure sponsors and donations, advertise the event, build goodwill with police and fire chiefs for added promotion to personnel, manage registrations and cancellations, and coordinate day-of-event activities such as audiovisual preparations. Facilitators were chaplains, Catholic Charities staff members, and other mental health professionals; sponsors included Tops Markets, the Seneca Nation of Indians, and others—many of whom helped to promote the event.

Delprino said the weekend was a complete success and helped couples reconnect. “The time to get away from everything allowed them to share real stories,” he said. “Once they felt that they were in a relaxed and safe environment, they started opening up and becoming couples again. Lots of healing took place that weekend.”

Also while on sabbatical, Delprino pursued a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do and volunteered at the Alterra Clare Bridge Memory Care Unit of Williamsville. Looking back, he said, the time passed quickly, and he missed teaching.

But “the sabbatical is an important experience to have—I’m grateful that Buffalo State offers it,” he said. “I think the retreat provided me with a better understanding of how public safety jobs affect the home. And now I can share these real-world experiences with my classes.”

The fourth annual Exceptional Education Graduate Research Symposium will showcase research projects by students in the department’s master’s degree programs on Saturday, May 1, from 8:00 a.m. to noon in Bulger Communication Center. The symposium will feature 15 projects presented by 60 exceptional education graduate students. The event is free and open to the public.

Exceptional education faculty members Theresa Janczak, assistant professor; Warren Gleckel, associate professor; and Mark Posluzny, associate professor, coordinate the event. Janczak said most of the research projects focus on interventions designed to remediate deficits in academics, behavior, or social skills. “For example, one presentation will discuss an intervention designed to improve oral reading fluency that can impact understanding of text,” she said.

“Exceptional education classrooms include children with many different kinds of disabilities including autism, learning disabilities, and emotional disorders,” she said. “Not all the interventions are successful, but it’s important to know what doesn’t work, too.” Janczak, Gleckel, and Posluzny teach the two sequential courses in which students develop and complete their research.

The students’ work will be presented in three half-hour sessions, representing the three programs in special education: early childhood, childhood, and adolescence. Each session will offer five presentations, enabling guests to choose topics that interest them. Many of those in attendance will be exceptional education graduate students who will complete their master’s projects next year. “This symposium gives them the opportunity to start thinking about the research they would like to do,” said Janczak.

Kevin Miller, associate professor and chair of the Exceptional Education Department, is very enthusiastic about the symposium. “It’s a great thing,” he said. “The research is at a very high level, and the symposium gives our students a chance to present at a professional conference.”

Jenna Boyce is among the students who will be presenting. “It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s a chance for us to give back to our profession by sharing what we learned through our research.” Boyce’s group researched a literacy intervention technique to improve oral reading fluency, which correlates to reading comprehension. “Students who do not read fluently will have a great deal of difficulty understanding what they read because so much of their mental energy is spent on trying to decode unknown words instead of making sense of what they’ve read,” she explained.

Phyllis Robertson, clinical associate professor of multicultural special education at the University of Texas at Austin, will present the keynote speech. Her address will focus on meeting the diversified needs of all students within a response to intervention framework, including students who are English-language learners. Janczak noted that 86 different languages are spoken by students in the Buffalo Public Schools. “The classroom of the future is already here,” she said, “and it’s very diverse.”

With conviction, Roger Wisniewski, chief of University Police, says his department’s 30 officers are high quality. “Our officers stand shoulder to shoulder with any other agency in the area,” he said. He is also quick to compliment the department’s many partners who help protect the Buffalo State campus.

“I think that with everyone’s combined efforts, our force is at the forefront of crime prevention and response,” said Wisniewski. “You can’t measure what you prevent, but common sense dictates that being prepared promotes justice.”

To understand who supports University Police is to understand many acronyms: CERT, BERT, CIS, and UPSA.

CERT
An acronym for Community Emergency Response Team, CERT is a group of 100 individuals throughout campus who are trained to respond to emergencies. Open to all campus employees, the free training administered by the Department of Homeland Security prepares people for situations at work and in their communities. CERT volunteers constantly assess threats and develop ever-evolving responses, according to Wisniewski.

“The volunteers are very knowledgeable about the campus,” he said. “They are a tremendous resource, can mitigate crises quickly, and know things we might not think of in emergencies. I think their training not only helps our campus, but helps the CERTs in their own lives as well.”

BERT
An acronym for Building Emergency Response Team, BERT was created before CERT. But because CERT training continues to be successful and membership continues to grow, Wisniewski says that CERTs will eventually take on many of the responsibilities of BERTs. “This will be a benefit to Buffalo State, because CERTs are knowledgeable about the entire campus,” he said. “BERTs, however, will still play an integral part in the college’s Emergency Response Plan.”

CIS
University Police also works with the Critical Incident Support Team. Operated under the Counseling Center, Wisniewski says this group is particularly vital for helping to diminish traumatic effects after major incidents.

UPSA
Students also help University Police keep the campus safe. About 80 volunteers are UPSAs, or University Police Student Assistants. Easily recognizable in their red shirts and hats, UPSAs look for suspicious activity, help patrol the campus, offer Safe Escort assistance, and operateMotorist Assistance Program vans. They work in areas such as residence halls, Butler Library, and the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Wisniewski considers them a tremendous asset for high visibility, giving the department more eyes and ears.

Tools for Safety
Many tools are available to make the Buffalo State campus safe. Red phones that connect directly to University Police are available in Upton Hall and the Science Building. Wisniewski says more may be coming to the Student Union. Thirty-six outdoor “blue light” phones across campus also connect directly to University Police and help officers immediately pinpoint calling locations. In addition, University Police frequently offers training programs for self-defense and crime prevention. According to Wisniewski, faculty and staff typically report suspicious activities and people, theft, damage, criminal mischief, and parking complaints.

Trained Officers
As part of the Emergency Response Plan, officers engage in two campuswide disaster drills each year. Last month, University Police took part in an active shooter simulation. Past drills have included disarming improvised explosive devices, negotiating a hostage crisis, and uncovering a drug lab.

The other annual disaster drill is always a staged fire in a high-rise residence hall. Wisniewski says that smoke machines provide a realistic environment. “We work with other agencies when doing these drills, which helps everyone’s educational learning,” he said. “Training with the agencies really adds credibility to our department.”

In addition, officers undergo field and in-service training. When Wisniewski became chief of University Police five years ago, he said he immediately pushed for more training and noticed benefits even three years ago. “Almost every week, at least one officer is doing training,” he said. “Officers are constantly learning new skills and sharpening old ones—everything from directing traffic to detecting substance abuse to investigating crime scenes. Training programs are a serious investment for our department’s future.”

Added Presence on Campus
This semester, University Police is designating three officers for “high-visibility patrol.” Each will take an eight-hour shift during the day and will spend a minimum of three hours on foot and/or bike. They also will devote time to ongoing problem-solving tasks to bolster campus safety.

University Police also engages in “community policing,” or working closely with surrounding neighborhood members to promote safety and security. This cooperation has resulted in many specific benefits: underage drinking prevention programs, initiatives to respond to and prevent school violence, and self-defense programs.

Wisniewski firmly believes that Buffalo State is a safe campus. “Communicate with us; share information with us,” he says to all faculty and staff. “We want to make the campus a safe environment for you to work, learn, and play in. The fear of crime can be managed.”

Today’s students have many stressors. In addition to devoting substantial time to classes and studying, many work part- or full-time jobs, encounter peer pressure on a variety of levels, maintain personal relationships, and quite possibly are already raising children.

And the number of students seeking services for mental health issues is growing. An estimated 27 percent of young adults between 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. As many as 35 percent of students at U.S. universities and liberal arts colleges are seeking treatment for anxiety disorders, according to a recent survey by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

“Students sometimes need a boost to achieve personal and academic success, and just a little bit of support can go a long way,” said Dr. Joan McCool, a psychologist and director of Buffalo State’s Counseling Center. “They’re always welcome here. We’re a 12-months-a-year facility that handles the gamut of needs, from homesickness to life-threatening emergencies.”

The Counseling Center offers services such as short-term psychotherapy, psychiatric treatment, couples counseling, group therapy, and workshops. It also serves as a training site for doctoral candidates and is a center for research. Staff members present at conferences, train resident assistants and orientation leaders, and provide professional training for the campus’s Critical Incident Support Team, such as crisis intervention and suicide prevention. The center has met the high professional standards of the International Association of Counseling Services for more than 20 years, and McCool is an IACS accrediting board member.

“We pride ourselves on high-quality professional care and well-trained staff,” said McCool. “We keep ourselves current and stay ahead of the curve. The CIS Team, for example, was in place long before the tragedy at Columbine. In fact, several members of our staff have presented our proactive approach at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention. Currently some counselors are busy with a Department of Justice grant to reduce violence against women on campus and are active presenters of their scholarship and research at national conventions.

“Having the CIS Team in place was especially helpful during 9/11 and the recent Virginia Tech tragedy,” continued McCool. “We are so fortunate to have such fine clinicians at the Counseling Center. They go well beyond the traditional counseling role, serving as leaders, mentors, and partners to many groups on campus and in the community.”

The center saw an increase in students for individual services last year, and provided support and advocacy to many more students distressed due to recent losses or stressors. The center also provided outreach to students through workshops and classroom presentations. With these responsibilities, however, comes the need for balancing treatment with confidentiality.

“We follow strict federal and American Psychological Association ethical guidelines on patient privacy,” said McCool. “Students wouldn’t come here if they didn’t think there was confidentiality. We only break it with the student’s consent or if the student is at imminent risk to him or herself or others. And even then we notify only those with a need to know—someone who can get help for the student.”

True to its mantra that academic success is its first goal, the center offers students a series of skill-building workshops. Topics this semester include sleep health, women’s personal growth, cognitive behavioral skills, anger management, grief and loss healing, and alcohol intervention and screening. In addition, the center is organizing programs for National Depression Screening Day on October 11.

Staff members assist faculty and staff by offering consultations, especially in regard to student needs and concerns. They also recommend referrals in the community, and can help develop responses to substance issues.

“If there’s anything I’d really want faculty and staff to know, it’s to always call us if they have any concerns,” said McCool. “When there is effective collaboration between faculty and staff and the Counseling Center, early intervention is more likely to occur. Our priority is to be available as practitioners and consultants to help students succeed, to foster wellness and growth, and to help the community manage adversity and stressful circumstances.”

By Mary A. Durlak

The History and Social Studies Education Department will present the History, Psychology, and Social Movements Lecture Series at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in April. Both lectures will examine the psychology of social movements.

The first lecture will be held on Wednesday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m. in the center’s auditorium. The presenter is Belinda Davis, associate professor of history at Rutgers University and a specialist in twentieth-century German history. Her lecture, “The Inner Life of Politics: The ‘New Left’ in West Germany, 1962–1983,” will be based on a current book project, which draws upon a series of in-depth interviews she conducted with participants in the protest movements in Germany. Her first book, Home Fires Burning: Food, Politics, and Everyday Life in World War I Berlin, explored the effects of the Great War on domestic life.

The second lecture will be held on Friday, April 30, at 4:30 p.m. in the auditorium. Deborah Gould, assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will present “A Shifting Emotional Habitus:Bowers vs. Hardwick and the Emergence of the Direct Action AIDS Movement.”

The talk will discuss how the Supreme Court’s 1986 decision upholding Georgia’s laws against sodomy energized the gay community and led to social activism regarding health care for individuals with HIV and AIDS.

John D. Abromeit, assistant professor of history and social studies education, organized the series. He is interested in the role played by individual and collective psychological factors in the creation of social movements. Last year he taught a graduate course, History and Psychology, in which the students explored the role of psychological factors in different social movements in modern Europe, including the Reformation, the French Revolution, and German National Socialism.

The series is sponsored by the History and Social Studies Education Department and co-sponsored by the Auxiliary Services Grant Allocation Committee, the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Sociology and Psychology departments, and the University at Buffalo’s Department of History.

One down, six to go: Collaborators working on the Violence against Women on Campus (VAWOC) initiative recently completed the first of seven key objectives—a comprehensive needs assessment.

Buffalo State received the highly competitive grant of nearly $200,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice in November. Designed to create a program to prevent violence against women at Buffalo State and other area colleges, the grant’s objectives include creating a coordinated response team, developing and implementing mandatory Web-based training for students, expanding coordination between campus and community police, enhancing the role of University Police, training campus judicial/disciplinary boards, and establishing a 24-hour student helpline.

The initiative—a joint effort between Joan McCool, director of the Counseling Center; Robert Delprino, associate professor of psychology; William Wieczorek, director of the Center for Health and Social Research; Roger Wisniewski, chief of University Police; and Crisis Services Inc.—included the needs assessment in order to gauge the amount of victimization and uncover issues for collaborators to address.

“The needs assessment gives us a blueprint to follow for those who are here on campus and shows that our information is not from a vacuum,” said Wieczorek. “The results will help us develop our strategy, and make our approach broad and comprehensive.”

Three hundred fifty students, as well as 151 faculty and staff members, responded to a needs-assessment survey administered in April. The survey captured data such as demographic information, how respondents spent their time on campus, perceptions of safety, feedback on types of victimization (whether they or someone they knew were victims, and if the incidents were reported), and knowledge of campus resources. Delprino and psychology student Kristin Surdam, who conducted the needs assessment and reported on the findings, also worked with collaborators to conduct a series of focus groups for supplemental research.

“These efforts are designed to change the culture here on campus and better address things before they happen,” said Delprino. “Being proactive is a positive thing for parents of incoming students to see. More importantly, we’re trying to be supportive of protecting our students, and trying to maximizing safety.”

Overall, the results of the needs assessment showed that while students and faculty recognize and appreciate measures to enhance safety, better on-campus education is needed for the community to know what resources are available. Survey results include:

• Respondents’ knowledge of resources available on campus varied, indicating a need for greater education of what is available and how members of the college can access these resources if victimized.
• Perhaps disheartening, about 80 percent of students and 46 percent of faculty and staff did not know the University Police phone number (6333). Such findings lend support for the need for a victims’ hotline, one of the goals of the project.
• The creation of a victims’ hotline and a crisis intervention team were collectively ranked by respondents as the two most favorable of possible additions to the campus. Most respondents also agreed that having more officers on patrol as well as the presence of additional armed officers would be favorable changes for improved campus safety.
• Many crimes on campus go unreported—which appears to be a trend in higher education. In the study, respondents reported the greatest exposure to verbal threats and theft.
• While crimes do occur at Buffalo State, 88 percent of students had limited or no concern for their safety where they live on campus. Many, however, indicated concern while walking on campus—even though many also said they choose to walk alone.
• In terms of feeling safe on campus, students were most concerned about parking lot locations, while faculty and staff were most concerned about outdoor lighting.

As for next steps, the coordinated response team is being created, and a pilot safety training program was tested at orientation this summer. A prototype for the Web will be ready by the end of the semester, and Web-based training should be ready during the next academic year. According to Wieczorek, Buffalo State is the only VAWOC grantee that is incorporating Web-based training.

Looking at the big picture, Wieczorek said the needs-assessment survey was designed to be inclusive and was relevant to the larger campus. “Violence against women is a societal problem; Buffalo State is taking a leadership role for prevention,” he said. “Everyone plays a role when it comes to improving safety for women. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect one another.”

The shootings at Virginia Tech in April forced higher education institutions across the country to revisit their emergency communication protocols. Buffalo State created an Emergency Communication Task Force after the incident to examine the campus’s existing communication vehicles and make recommendations for improvements. As a result, students, faculty, and staff will soon be better connected through new high-tech communication methods.

The task force, chaired by Claire Jones, associate vice president for college relations, first defined what constitutes an emergency situation and then outlined appropriate responses. The task force determined that emergency communication would be required in any incident where the physical or mental health and safety of any campus constituent is, or could be, at risk. In addition, messages should be timely, be sent using multiple means, contain instructions, and contain all known facts.

Buffalo State already has many emergency communication systems in place, including e-mail, the Web site, a campus television network, residence hall word-of-mouth, building coordinators, communication in classrooms, a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a Critical Incident Support (CIS) team, mass voice mail to faculty and staff, two-way radios, and bullhorns. But communication via cell phone—something owned by virtually everyone on campus—was lacking.

“There are plenty of ways to communicate with faculty and staff,” said Jones. “We really wanted to focus on the students.”

NY-Alert, a new emergency notification system created and administered by the New York State Emergency Management Office (SEMO), seemed the perfect tool. Already in use by the Department of Transportation and the New York State Police for Amber Alerts, this voluntary system that delivers text messages, automated phone messages, and e-mails to participants will be introduced to the Buffalo State community in three phases.

In the first phase, students will have the option to sign up. Every semester, during registration in Banner, they will see a forced survey asking them to submit up to two cell phone numbers, two landline phone numbers, and two e-mail addresses. They can also submit information anytime through the Buffalo State Web site beginning in October. An awareness campaign to inform students will launch soon.

In the second phase, faculty and staff will have the option to sign up via the SUNY employee portal. The task force hopes to initiate this by the end of the semester.

In the third phase, non-state employees (such as those working for Sodexho or Barnes and Noble), visitors, and the general public will have the option to sign up via the SEMO Web site.

“The important thing for everyone to know is that there is no cost to sign up,” said Jones. “There is no downside, and no reason not to sign up. Once NY-Alert is in place, it’s our hope that the system will send thousands of messages within minutes.”

Examples of situations that could prompt a NY-Alert message include those involving bomb threats, fires, hazardous materials, civil disturbances, pandemics, suspicious packages, weapons, perpetrators at large, active shooters, hostages, missing people, utility failures (such as gas, electrical, or water), major road closings, flooding, and extreme weather conditions.

The task force also determined that the campus still needs a visible and audible alarm. “What if cell phones are turned off during classes?” questioned Jones. Buffalo State is awaiting possible SUNY systemwide funding for a mass notification system with sirens and message displays or strobe lighting. The task force also is investigating use of the upgraded fire alarm system’s voice enunciator feature.

“We’ll use the new communication vehicles only when safety and security are at risk,” Jones said. “The task force tried to anticipate all kinds of emergencies that could happen on campus. We’ve planned and trained as much as possible in order to be prepared.”

By Mary A. Durlak

During her fall 2008 sabbatical, Jean Richardson, associate professor of history, continued to carry out her responsibilities as project director for the Monroe Fordham Regional History Center. However, her primary objective was to tackle an ambitious project: writing a textbook for teaching New York State history.

“I developed the course on New York State history at Buffalo State, and I’ve been teaching it since 2003,” she said. “There isn’t really a good text, so I decided to write one.”

Given that New York’s history as a state starts in the 1600s, when an agent of the Dutch West India Company traveled up the Hudson River, writing a comprehensive and useful textbook is a daunting task. Richardson read countless secondary sources and struggled to find a way to organize the material.

Richardson is deeply committed to including the history of the ordinary people, the immigrants and working-class people who built the infrastructure that made New York State an important center of commerce with Europe and a jumping-off point for exploration of the western United States.

“New York State has always been a multicultural place,” said Richardson. “In New York City before the Revolution, in addition to the Dutch and English, just about every Western European group was represented, and there was an active African American community. Immigration brought the Irish, the Germans, the Poles, and the Italians, and East European Jews. Of course, the Native Americans were here, too.”

New York State’s role in the French and Indian War—the North American theater of operation for a war of empire between England and France—contributes to its complex history, as does the state’s battlegrounds during the American Revolution. Many battles of the War of 1812 took place in Western New York.

In addition to more than four centuries of tumultuous history, Richardson sees another complexity: the diversity of New York State life.

“The history of New York State is not just the history of New York City,” she said. “Much of the state was rural, and that continues to be true in upstate New York. And building the Erie Canal is a story of immigration, economics, and the westward movement.” She has completed an outline of the textbook as well as its introduction and first chapter.

Richardson is also an expert on the history of Western New York, and she used the sabbatical to complete some projects for the Fordham Center that relate to the history of the region. She is currently working on a project to include biographies of influential African Americans such as Abner Francis and Henry Moxley.

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Read previous Focus on Sabbatical stories:

Felix Armfield
Lisa Berglund
Betty Cappella
Ann Colley
Daniel Cunningham
Michael De Marco
Rob Delprino
Mark Fulk
Musa Abdul Hakim
Katherine Hartman
David Henry
Susan Leist
Andrew Nicholls
Wendy Paterson
M. Stephen Pendleton
Stephen Phelps
John Song
Carol Townsend
Jonathan Thornton
Aimable Twagilimana
Mark Warford
Michael Zborowski

“The Great Debate,” a forum designed for first-year students in which professors discuss the significance of their various liberal arts disciplines, will be held during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) on Tuesday, September 25, in Bulger Communication Center S2.

The panel will be moderated by Scott Johnson, assistant dean of First-Year and Academic Support Programs, and will feature Gary Marotta, professor of history and social studies education, representing the social sciences; Susan Leist, professor of English, representing the humanities; Lisa Hunter, assistant professor of music, representing the arts; and Christopher Pennuto, associate professor of biology, representing the natural sciences.

The discussion will emphasize the validity and interdependency of the liberal arts, Johnson said, demonstrating how each, though distinctive in its own right, is germane to higher learning. In a “Crossfire-like” setting, the Great Debate will be peppered with “good-natured barbs, but will be proactive and fun,” Johnson said. “We tease each other, but we get our points across.”

The event is designed to help students better understand the purpose of their liberal arts requirements, and show them why their classes matter. “The discussion will reinforce what students are learning in BSC 101, as well as the core requirements of the Intellectual Foundations program,” said Johnson. “It’s designed to disarm resistances and help them appreciate what they’re learning. Every student, regardless of course or major, could benefit by attending the event.”

The event is free and open to the public. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the debate and join in the discussion, and are encouraged to invite their students as well.

Charles Kenyon, associate vice president and dean of students, reminds all faculty and staff to work with theDean of Students Office in keeping our students safe and successful during the 2007–2008 academic year and beyond.

Buffalo State is a community that values each individual, is committed to personal and intellectual growth, provides opportunities for individuals to realize their full potential, and values respect for diversity and individual differences. As such, students should behave in a manner appropriate for life within this college community.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to contact Charles Kenyon via e-mail, at ext. 4618, or in person in Campbell Student Union 306 if they are concerned about a student’s conduct. Students should care for and about each other—but some unfortunately engage in activities or behaviors that can be damaging to themselves or others. Too often, the consequences of these activities can be tragic. When in doubt about whether behaviors are consistent with the values of our community, please refer to the Code of Student Rights, Freedoms, and Responsibilities found in the Student Handbook.

Please remember that the Dean of Students Office hopes to aid students through prevention and early intervention rather than punishment. Faculty and students are encouraged to turn to the office for help in creating and maintaining a caring campus community.

Thank you for your cooperation in helping to keep everyone safe at Buffalo State.