Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, 2008 are Move-in Days for residential students. To facilitate the move-in for our students and their families, some parking lots near dorms will be reserved for use by students who are moving into the dorms and will not be available for faculty, staff, and students. The following lots will be used for move-in activity on both days:

Lot A-1 (Rockwell Road, north and south sides) from Cleveland Circle Drive west to the entrance of lots F/ F-1 and G.

Lot D (Academic Drive) except parking spaces designated for persons with disabilities

Lot D-1

University Police officers and Residence Life staff will be available to direct students and their families. Thank you for your cooperation.

As a reminder, according to Buffalo State policy, students unable to attend classes on certain days because of religious beliefs shall be excused from attendance, examination, study, or work requirements on a particular day or days. It is the responsibility of faculty to make available to each student who is absent because of his or her religious beliefs opportunity to make up work missed on these days.

The policy also prohibits administering evaluative examinations on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Good Friday. (See page 34 of the 2007-2009 Undergraduate Catalog or the Equity and Campus Diversity Office Web site for the full policy.)

For your information,
Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset September 29, 2008 and ends at sunset October 1.

Yom Kippur begins at sunset October 8, 2008 and ends at sunset October 9.

Good Friday is April 10, 2009.

In addition some students have religious obligations and special dietary restrictions during Ramadan which is observed August 31, 2008 through September 29.

Students are encouraged to discuss their needs with faculty in advance so that appropriate accommodations can be made for work or assignments that are missed because of their absence.

As work on the new electrical substation project progresses, Iroquois Drive will be closed from the Elmwood Avenue entrance to Lot X on Monday and Tuesday, August 18 and 19.  For any questions, please contact Campus Services at ext. 6111.

The University Police Department, working with the Buffalo Fire Department, will conduct an Emergency Response Training drill on campus on Tuesday, August 19. The drill will include a mock fire in Cassety Hall using fog machines to simulate smoke. The fire alarm in Cassety Hall will sound at approximately 11:00 a.m. alerting everyone to evacuate the building for about an hour to accommodate the training. Buildings in close proximity to Cassety Hall—Upton Hall, Bulger Communication Center, and the Campbell Student Union—may be affected. For this training exercise, you may see fire trucks, police action, smoke, and actors portraying victims in the area of Cassety Hall. Do not be alarmed. This is a simulated event.

The goal of this exercise is to train first responders in the event of a fire, shooting, terrorist attack, or other critical incident on campus. We are fortunate to have University Police and other trained support staff on campus, an ongoing partnership with the Buffalo Fire Department, and a continually updated and tested Emergency Response Plan.

During the training drill, the Buffalo State Web site will feature a modified look and contain information pertaining to this emergency exercise.

If you have questions, please call University Police at ext. 6333.

As work on the new electrical substation project progresses, Iroquois Drive will be blocked behind E. H. Butler Library between the entrances of Lots W and U on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 12 and 13. For this reason, Lot Y (a student lot) will be unavailable both days. Lot W will be accessible from Elmwood Avenue, and Lot U will be accessible from Grant Street.

Please inform students of this lot closure. Your continued understanding is appreciated. For any questions, please contact Campus Services at ext. 6111.

The Banner system of record cutover began last night and there will be no access to Banner, STARS, or Degree Navigator today. Banner will be back up by Monday morning. Degree Navigator will be unavailable for up to two weeks while we assure it is working properly with Banner. STARS will no longer be available to most users.

We will post any changes to this plan via the Daily and on the Banner system of record cutover Web page (http://www.buffalostate.edu/cio/cutover.xml).

The word is out—we are making the cutover to Banner as the official system of record starting Thursday, August 7, at 7:00 p.m. This means that there will be no access to Banner, STARS, or Degree Navigator on Friday, August 8. Please keep this in mind as you are assisting students and parents. For example, don’t ask a student to come in on Friday if it requires accessing information in any of these systems.

Banner will be back up by Monday morning. Degree Navigator will be unavailable for up to two weeks while we assure it is working properly with Banner. STARS will no longer be available to most users after August 7.

We will post any changes to this plan via the Daily and on the Banner System of Record Cutover Web page.

I invite the campus community to a budget information session to be held today, Wednesday, May 7, at 2:00 p.m. in Rockwell Hall Auditorium.

We anticipate that all SUNY institutions will experience significant funding reductions.

Appropriations for the entire SUNY system were decreased by 2.9 percent, or $39 million, in the budget bill passed by the New York State Legislature in April. Governor Paterson has also asked all state agencies to reduce their expenditures by an additional 3.35 percent, which equates to a reduction of at least $109 million for SUNY.

These reductions in the budget would have a significant impact on Buffalo State College. We are working with other SUNY presidents, the local delegation to the state Legislature, and the SUNY administration to attempt to increase funding for SUNY in the state budget, or to lessen the severity of the proposed budget reductions.

As many of you know, this is not the first time Buffalo State College has faced such fiscal challenges. We have dealt with similar issues in the past, and we will need your support and guidance in order to address these current budget issues.

As the details of the state budget continue to unfold over the next several weeks, we will keep you apprised of significant developments through e-mail updates. In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to attend today's information session, when we will provide a more in-depth update of the impact of the proposed reductions on the Buffalo State College budget.

Sincerely,
Muriel A. Howard, Ph.D.
President

In order to make urgent repairs to the college's central steam heating system, steam distribution to the campus will be interrupted from Friday, May 16, at 5:00 p.m. until Sunday, May 18, at 5:00 p.m.

Although campus buildings do not usually require heat at that time of year, the procedure will interrupt hot water service. Program functions that specifically require hot water or steam service are being contacted individually and accommodated.

If you have a question or concern that you need addressed, please contact Customer Service, ext. 6111, at your earliest convenience. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.

As part of our ongoing campus safety initiatives, the Buffalo State College Annual Security Report has been updated and is available for download (PDF, 224KB) on the University Police Web site. Any questions regarding the Annual Security Report can be directed to the chief of University Police at (716) 878-6333.