Campuses of the State University of New York adhere to two schedules for records retention and disposition—a SUNY schedule for education records and a general schedule for state government records—to ensure that records are retained appropriately and, once their retention periods have lapsed, disposed of routinely.

Please visit this site for links to the schedules and accompanying SUNY policy, and for information on how to comply.

All campus offices and departments should document their records destruction activities during the 2011–2012 academic year using the certificate of records destruction and forward the completed certificate to the campus records management officer, Cleveland Hall 508, or via e-mail to powellja@buffalostate.edu, by July 15, 2012.

Once a certificate of records destruction has been submitted, Business Services staff members will be available to help you dispose of large quantities of records. They will provide empty bins for your materials, remove the bins once they are filled, and arrange for materials to be shredded.

If you are new to the records retention and disposition process, or if you would like a refresher for 2012, you are invited to attend a one-hour informational session on one of these dates:

Monday, March 26, 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, April 26, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 23, 10:30 a.m.

All sessions will take place in Cleveland Hall 418. To register, please e-mail Jill Powell, indicating the date of the session you plan to attend. You may also send an e-mail to request a presentation tailored for your office or department.

Thank you.

Because of the implementation of the new State Financial System (SFS), the processing of payments will be shut down from mid-March to late April. The Accounts Payable and Travel Services Office requests that all fulfilled purchase orders be signed and delivered to our office, Cleveland Hall 417, as soon as possible. Please sign and submit the goldenrod copy to Accounts Payable as soon as the goods or services are received in acceptable condition. We expect very high volume before the shutdown period and need to process fulfilled purchase orders as soon as possible. At the time of the shutdown, all open purchase orders and encumbrances will be eliminated at the SUNY administrative level.

Please also see previous SFS notices:

Implementation of the New State Financial System: Shutdown Notice
Implementation of the New York State Financial System and Effects on Travel Reimbursement
Deadline for Purchase Requisitions Is March 9

If you have any questions, please call our office at ext. 4117.

The Grant Allocation Committee (GAC) is requesting proposals from individuals, departments, and student clubs and organizations for funding of programs, speakers, and events to take place during the 2012–2013 academic year.

The deadlines to submit applications under this funding cycle are Monday, April 16, for summer and fall 2012 proposals; Monday, September 17, for fall 2012 and spring 2013 proposals; and Monday, November 19, for spring 2013 proposals.

An application for funding and complete details of requirements may be found online. In an effort to cut costs and in line with our efforts to go green, all proposals must be submitted electronically at marzolkl@buffalostate.edu, with one hard copy delivered to Cleveland Hall 519.

Questions about the GAC may be addressed to Daniel Vélez, assistant to the vice president for student affairs, Cleveland Hall 519, ext. 5550.

The "polygon" refers to a storm-warning area designated by the National Weather Service. Buffalo State alumnus Ted McInerney, '07, will present a series of talks relating to the tornado outbreak that leveled communities in and around Birmingham, Alabama, on April 27, 2011. McInerney is a broadcast meteorologist with the CBS affiliate WIAT-TV 42 in Birmingham. He was on the air on April 27 when devastating tornadoes chewed up swaths of the Southeast in the largest tornado outbreak in U.S. history.

In his first two talks, McInerney will recount the tornado outbreak and the damage it caused. In his third talk, he will describe the importance of social media as a life-saving tool during the tornado outbreak. These talks are funded by the Buffalo State College Grant Allocation Committee and the Faculty-Student Association. All are welcome.

The Birmingham, Alabama, Tornado Outbreak
Monday, March 5
7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Upton Hall 230
Refreshments will be served.

This presentation will be repeated on Tuesday, March 6, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center South 2.

Social Media: How It Saved Lives during the Tornado Outbreak
Wednesday, March 7
Noon to 12:50 p.m
E. H. Butler Library 210

From the Chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee
Three at-large College Senate positions will become vacant on August 27. Two seats are for three-year terms and are open to all faculty and librarians. The remaining seat is for a two-year term and can be held by a faculty or professional staff member (in keeping with last year’s amendment of the Senate bylaws).

The call for nominations begins Monday, March 12, and continues until 5:00 p.m. Monday, March 26. Candidates' statements will be posted at www.buffalostate.edu/collegesenate. Elections will begin on Monday, April 2, and continue through Friday, April 6.

Current at-large senators are eligible for reelection. Nominees are asked to provide a short statement about their interest to be posted on the Senate electronic voting site.

Individuals running for a senator position in another election may not also run for an at-large position while the other election is being conducted. If the other election concludes during the period when nominations are still being accepted, eligible individuals may self-nominate.

If you are interested in being a candidate, please contact Vince Masci, ext. 5139. We look forward to your participation in the vital process of campus governance.

On behalf of the Buffalo State International Student Advisory Council, the International Student Affairs Office is delighted to invite the campus community to attend the seminar “Applying to Graduate Schools” on Friday, March 30, in Cleveland Hall 416 from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. The seminar will focus primarily on the needs of international students and scholars and will be conducted by Kimberly Jackson, assistant dean for strategic and enrollment planning in the Graduate School.

For further information, please call the International Student Affairs Office at ext. 5331.

On behalf of the Buffalo State International Student Advisory Council, the International Student Affairs Office is delighted to invite the campus community to attend the seminar “Homeland Security Rules and Regulations” as it relates to international students and scholars. James D. Eiss, Esq., a prominent immigration attorney, will entertain questions at that time. This seminar will take place today, March 16, in Cleveland Hall 416 from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.

For further information, please call the International Student Affairs Office at ext. 5331.

Philip B. Ogle, professor and chair of the Fine Arts Department, will discuss "Public Art: Selected Work" from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. today, February 24, in Ketchum Hall 320 as part of the Conversations in and out of the Disciplines Lecture Series. Everyone is welcome.

The fashion and textile technology program will host the 2012 Cotton Symposium, sponsored by Cotton Incorporated, in October. Buffalo State undergraduate students who will be registered full time for the fall 2012 semester are invited to submit research papers for the Cotton Symposium. The symposium focuses on broadening our understanding of cotton usage in the apparel industry and highlighting the importance of sustainability issues with cotton. Student authors of winning papers will receive $250 for first place, $150 for second place, and $100 for third place.

Authors are invited to submit papers for oral presentations or poster sessions in the following categories:

Track 1: Sustainability in cotton production/consumption of cotton apparel products
Track 2: Cotton history
Track 3: Global issues in the cotton industry

Submission Guidelines
All undergraduate researchers should be sponsored by a Buffalo State College faculty member. Students should submit the contract form* by Friday, March 9. Papers should be submitted electronically to cottonsymposium2012@buffalostate.edu by Tuesday, May 15.

Papers must not exceed 15 double-spaced typewritten pages including the cover page, references, and appendices. Papers should be formatted with 1-inch margins and 12 point Times New Roman typeface. The cover page should contain the author's name, the faculty sponsor's name, and the title of the paper.

*Contact Vicky Oh, assistant professor of technology, to obtain the contract form or for more information.

Ken Orosz, associate professor of history, will share his research as part of the Emerging Scholar series on Friday, March 9, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210. This series of presentations provides early-career faculty with an opportunity to share their intellectual work with the rest of the campus.

In 1915, one of the more bizarre episodes of World War I played out on the surface of Lake Tanganyika. Eager to reclaim control of the lake as the prelude to an allied invasion of German East Africa, the British sent two small motor launches from London by way of South Africa and the Belgian Congo to engage and sink the German steamship Graf von Goetzen. Although the so-called Naval Africa Expedition has long been hailed as the basis for C. S. Forester’s iconic novel The African Queen, Orosz will explain that Forester’s real inspiration appears to have been earlier and much-lesser-known events across the continent in German Cameroon, where a missionary named Alphons Hermann played a key role in efforts to sink the HMS Dwarf using homemade torpedoes.