From the President
The next meeting of the Buffalo State College Council will be held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in Cleveland Hall 518.
Agenda
1. Call to order
2. Action Items
--Approval of Minutes: September 14, 2010
3. President’s Report
4. Committee Reports
5. Announcements
6. Adjournment
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
The SUNY Office of University Counsel advises that all college offices should be notified of the procedures to follow regarding the receipt of legal papers of any kind by a campus employee. Accordingly, Buffalo State’s procedures are as follows:
The associate vice president for finance and management/comptroller is the college’s official liaison to the Office of University Counsel for the purpose of receipt of service of legal papers on the college, notification of the area of the college affected (required to respond), and decision about who should notify SUNY counsel, the attorney general, or other parties. When legal papers of any kind are served upon a campus employee or the college, the campus liaison should be contacted immediately and the legal papers should be forwarded to the liaison.
If the associate vice president for finance and management/comptroller is unavailable, the referral should be made to the assistant vice president for finance and management.
This procedure is especially important when legal papers request personnel files or information on students or are requests made under the USA Patriot Act. Various other rights, such as those afforded by FERPA, the Personal Privacy Protection law, and collective bargaining agreements are involved in those situations.
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
This policy describes the assignment, use, and management of desk and cellular telephones and mobile computing devices by employees of Buffalo State College.
Policy
Desk and cellular telephones and mobile computing devices are to be used for official business-related activities only. Personal use of telephones should be limited to emergency calls. Payment for reimbursement of personal desk or cellular telephone calls should be forwarded to the Accounting Office. Personal use of laptops and other mobile computing devices should be kept to a minimum.
Cellular Telephones
Cellular telephones and broadband service plans may be assigned only to employees whose duties and responsibilities require immediate or remote communications capabilities. The assignment of cellular telephones and broadband service plans 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 mobile device 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.
Questions about this policy may be directed to the Vice President for Finance and Management's Office, ext. 4311.
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
In compliance with the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendments of 1989, employees of Buffalo State College should be aware of and must adhere to the policy stated below:
- The unlawful use, possession, manufacture, dispensation or distribution of controlled substances in all Buffalo State College work locations is prohibited. The term “controlled substance” means a controlled substance in Schedules I through V of Section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21USC812).
- Employees who unlawfully manufacture, distribute, dispense, possess or use a controlled substance will be subject to disciplinary procedures consistent with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and collective bargaining agreements.
- Employees must notify the Human Resource Management Office of any criminal conviction for a drug-statute violation occurring in the workplace or at a work site no later than five working days after such conviction. An employee so convicted will be required to satisfactorily participate in a state-approved drug-abuse assistance or rehabilitation program as a condition of continuing employment.
- No employee will report for work or will work impaired by any substance, drug or alcohol, lawful or unlawful. “Impaired” means under the influence of a substance such that the employee’s motor senses (i.e., sight, hearing, balance, reaction, or reflex) or judgment either are or may be reasonably presumed to be affected.
- Medical testing may be done if the College has a reasonable suspicion that an employee is unable to perform job duties due to the misuse of alcohol, controlled substances, or prescription drugs.
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available on campus for employees who wish to seek assistance in dealing with drug- or alcohol- related problems as well as a variety of other concerns. Information on current EAP coordinators can be found at www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/eap.asp.
Questions regarding the Policy on Alcohol and Drug Use in the Workplace should be referred to Emmanuel J. Hillery, associate director, Human Resource Management, at ext. 4822.
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
All student, faculty, and staff personal and academic information is private and confidential, and is protected by various state and federal laws. Buffalo State College employees must, by law, protect the privacy of this information.
Failure to protect personal and academic information may result in legal action against offending employees. Employees accused of failure to protect confidential information that results in harm to an individual may not be covered by the Public Officer's Law, and therefore not defended by New York State.
Examples of personal information that must be kept confidential: Social Security number, health information, disability status, etc. Faculty and staff must ensure that information contained on the current employee change form is kept confidential.
Examples of academic information that must be kept confidential: grades, class schedule, student ID number, etc. Faculty and staff members may not post test scores or grades using any portion of a student's name, Social Security number, or student ID number. Faculty and staff must refrain from providing students' parents with information related to their student's academic performance or other personal information, unless given permission to do so by the student.
For more information:
State and Federal Laws:
-Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (confidentiality of financial information): see
www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/information.asp
-HIPAA (confidentiality of health information): see
www.buffalostate.edu/depts/weigel/Confidentialitypolicy.htm
and
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/Training_Development/Online_Learning/HIP/Intro.html
-FERPA (confidentiality of student/academic information): see
www.buffalostate.edu/academicaffairs/x571.xml
and
www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/library/hunter.html
-Restrictions on use of student Social Security numbers: see
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/MENUGETF.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS+&TARGET=VIEW ; click on Education (EDN) and then Article 1, click on 2-B.
-New NYS law on notification of information security breach: see http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/MENUGETF.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS+&TARGET=VIEW ; click on General Business (GBS) and scroll to Article 39-F.
Additional information about safeguarding sensitive information can be found at Buffalo State’s Internal Control website.
Questions regarding privacy of the employee change form, employee contracts, official employee files, employee medical leaves and confidential medical information, etc.: Susan Earshen, associate vice president, Human Resources, ext. 3042
Questions regarding privacy of student information and FERPA: Mark Bausili, registrar, ext. 4907
Questions regarding health information and HIPAA: Rock Doyle, assistant director, medical systems, ext. 6711
Questions regarding legal liability and any legal action against the college or an employee: James Thor, comptroller, ext. 4312
In order to provide improved support and significant cost savings, the campus will migrate ANGEL to SUNY ITEC’s hosting service. This migration will take one week and will occur from Sunday, May 15, at 11:59 p.m. through Monday, May 23.
During this time, ANGEL will be completely unavailable. No one will be able to login to ANGEL. Faculty and students will not be able to enter grades, view grades, retrieve grades, or download grades. There will be no access to drop boxes or submitted papers/projects/exams. Students will not be able to submit papers/projects/exams to drop boxes or to take assessments/exams/course evaluation surveys through ANGEL during this time.
Faculty who use ANGEL can prepare now by reviewing syllabi, taking note of dates that require students to use ANGEL between May 15 and May 23.
Student paper/assignment submission: Tell students to submit papers to you directly via Buffalo State e-mail.
Faculty grading: Before Sunday, May 15, print out a copy of your ANGEL grade book and export a copy to Excel so you have access to grades outside of ANGEL.
Faculty accessing assignments stored in ANGEL: Before Sunday, May 15, export all drop box submissions and save to a flash drive or your computer.
During the week of May 9, in-person ANGEL assistance for exporting grades and student submissions will be available. For the location, dates, and times for ANGEL assistance, and for other temporary solutions, see http://www.buffalostate.edu/offices/ir/E-Learning/endofspring2011.html.
The Veterans Certification Office has been moved in support of creating a one-stop shop for veterans, active military, and their families. In a joint effort between the Registrar’s Office and Continuing Professional Studies, the Veterans Certification Office has moved from Moot Hall 141 (under management of the Registrar’s Office to the Continuing Professional Studies Office in Cleveland Hall 210. The phone number for veterans certification inquiries remains the same, ext. 5045. This change was effective Thursday March 17. The Veterans Certification Office is now part of Veterans and Military programs.
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
The Internal Control Act of the State of New York requires Buffalo State College to communicate the following information on agency responsibilities and standards:
The internal control standards define the minimum level of quality acceptable for internal control systems in operation and constitute the criteria against which systems are to be evaluated. These internal control standards apply to all operations and administrative functions (both manual and automated), but are not intended to limit or interfere with duly granted authority related to development of legislation, rule making, or other discretionary policy making in an agency.
General Standards
1. Reasonable Assurance. Internal control systems are to provide reasonable assurance that the objectives of the systems will be accomplished.
2. Supportive Attitude. Managers and employees are to maintain and demonstrate a positive and supportive attitude toward internal controls at all times.
3. Competent Personnel. Managers and employees are to have personal and professional integrity and are to maintain a level of competence that allows them to accomplish their assigned duties, as well as understand the importance of developing and implementing good internal controls.
4. Control Objectives. Internal control objectives are to be identified or developed for each agency activity and are to be logical, applicable, and reasonably complete.
5. Control Technique. Internal control techniques are to be effective and efficient in accomplishing their internal control objectives.
6. Continuous Monitoring. Agency heads are to establish and maintain a program of internal review designed to identify internal control weaknesses and implement changes needed to correct the weaknesses.
From the Vice President for Finance and Management
All eligible classified and unclassified employees may observe the following holidays in academic year 2011–2012 without charge to accruals:
Labor Day
Monday, September 5, 2011
Columbus Day
Monday, October 10, 2011
Election Day*
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Veterans Day
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Christmas Day**
Sunday, December 25, 2011 (Observed on Monday, December 26, 2011)
New Year’s Day**
Sunday, January 1, 2012 (Observed on Monday, January 2, 2012)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monday, January 16, 2012
Lincoln’s Birthday* **
Sunday, February 12, 2012 (Observed on Monday, February 13, 2012)
Washington’s Birthday
Monday, February 20, 2012
Memorial Day
Monday, May 28, 2012
Independence Day
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
*The governor has not officially designated floating holidays for contract year 2011–2012. If the past practice is changed, it will be announced in the Daily Bulletin. Historically, Election Day and Lincoln’s Birthday have been designated as “floating holidays” in lieu of fixed holidays for all employees except those represented by Council 82. UUP-represented employees observe Election Day on the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 25, 2011. Classes are scheduled on both floating holidays, so all other eligible employees will receive credit for a holiday on those dates and may arrange with their supervisors to use them on a date of their choice before the holiday recurs.
**By law, holidays that fall on a Sunday are observed by the state on the following Monday. Employees who are eligible to observe holidays (except security services unit employees) and for whom Saturday is not a regular workday will be credited with a day of holiday leave. Agency Law Enforcement-represented employees will receive vacation leave on these dates.
From the Chair of the College Senate
The next meeting of the College Senate will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friday, March 11, in E. H. Butler Library 210.