I am happy to announce that we have reached attendance capacity for the first strategic plan open forum today, November 24. I appreciate the interest expressed by so many as we begin the important work of a new strategic plan for Buffalo State.

We are still accepting RSVPs for the second strategic plan open forum, which will be held on Friday, December 11, from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall. To assist us with planning, please e-mail Carolyn Martino, assistant to the provost, if you plan to attend.

In addition to these initial open forums, the CPC will be meeting with numerous focus groups in the coming months and will schedule additional open forums as the draft document begins to take shape. All meeting notes will be published on the strategic planning web page, currently under construction, where draft plans will also be presented for community comment.

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), formerly the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), has continued the accreditation of Buffalo State College at the initial teacher preparation and advanced preparation levels through spring 2022. The accreditation decision indicates that Buffalo State and its Teacher Education Unit meet the rigorous standards set forth by the professional education community.

Buffalo State has received continuous accreditation by NCATE since the organization conducted its first review of institutions in 1954. The college offers 79 registered education programs within the Teacher Education Unit.

I would like to congratulate and thank the wonderful faculty, staff, students, and community partners who prepared for and participated in the accreditation process over the past several years. I am proud to report that the accreditors did not cite any areas for improvement relative to any of the standards. That is quite the accomplishment! We have a proud history of preparing excellent teachers here at Buffalo State, and an even brighter future.

This week, we returned from our Thanksgiving holiday break. I am sure many of us shared the holiday with family and friends and ate copious amounts of good food...

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The next meeting of the Buffalo State College Council will be held on Tuesday, December 8, at 4:00 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 518.

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Action Items
   
Approval of Minutes: October 13, 2015
3. Chair’s Report
4. President’s Report
5. Committee Reports
6. Announcements
7. Executive Session (If Necessary)
8. Adjournment

Buffalo State students come from all backgrounds and represent the diverse experiences that make up our state. Among our population of students are more than 300 who are veterans...

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As the winter holiday season quickly approaches, segments of the campus community have stopped to exchange best wishes, sweets, and other expressions of holiday cheer...

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SUNY has announced the 2016 request for proposals (RFP) for the Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITG) program. These competitive, peer-reviewed awards of up to $60,000 are allocated to demonstrate, communicate, and replicate innovations developed at campuses across SUNY. The 2016 RFP has been posted to the IITG website along with application details and a listing of currently funded projects and outcomes. The RFP deadline is March 1, 2016.

The IITG program seeks to promote research and foster understanding of how new technologies serve pedagogy. This year’s RFP gives priority to collaborative proposals that support one or more of the five pillars of SUNY Excels: access, completion, success, inquiry, and engagement. This includes Open SUNY, our multifaceted initiative to expand online education and enhance support resources for students and faculty. Online learning, open educational resources, e-textbooks, mobile devices, flipped classrooms, educational gaming, competency-based and experiential learning, prior learning assessment, and MOOCs are transforming how education is providing access and engaging students and can have a positive impact on SUNY’s overall completion agenda.

Applicants must create an account in the SUNY online grant management website. Multiple proposals from a campus—each requiring a brief project and budget narrative as well as an assessment plan—are welcome. Proposals featuring multicampus collaborations are strongly encouraged. Please note that eligibility is limited to those campuses with an active SUNY FACT² representative.

Award announcements are anticipated by May 1, which allows time for project planning prior to the distribution of these university-wide program funds. Please note that IITG grants are not connected to the Research Foundation. Recipients must follow state and campus procurement policies, and must identify local campus administrative and procurement support as well as advance funds if a project requires expenditures prior to award distribution. The timing of the award announcement intentionally precedes the annual Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT), hosted this year at SUNY Potsdam, as all grant recipients are encouraged to attend the conference. All project outcomes must be documented and openly shared through selection of a Creative Commons license to a level of detail that enables innovations to be replicated across SUNY.

For more information, please visit the IITG website or contact Buffalo State’s SUNY FACT² representative, Melaine Kenyon, 878-6679.

With winter right around the corner, Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff members are encouraged to review the college’s emergency closings policy and sign up for the Buff State Alert system to receive emergency notifications. If you have already signed up for Buff State Alert, please take a few moments to verify or update your contact information.

Because the weather in Western New York can vary greatly by just a few miles, there are times each winter when conditions on campus are favorable for classes to be held as scheduled, but some students, faculty, and staff members may experience difficulty traveling to campus. In those situations, students must communicate with their instructors, faculty with their students, and staff with their supervisors if they cannot travel to campus safely.

Students will not be penalized if they cannot attend classes because of severe weather, but instructors may determine that a reasonable amount of additional coursework is needed to make up for the absence. Students are responsible for the prompt completion of any alternative assignments. If an absence situation between a student and instructor cannot be resolved, an appeal should proceed sequentially to the department chair, dean, and finally the provost.

Faculty members who are unable to travel to campus are responsible for making alternative arrangements for their students. If a faculty member must cancel class(es), affected students should be notified via Blackboard and/or direct e-mail as soon as possible.

Staff members who are unable to travel to campus because of adverse weather conditions must communicate their absence to a supervisor and note the absence on their time records. Staff members must charge vacation or personal leave accruals for any weather-related absence.

The College Planning Council (CPC) invites you to attend a focus group meeting to begin the important work of writing a new strategic plan for Buffalo State. This document will guide the college for the next five years, and it is critical that all voices be heard. If your schedule allows, you are encouraged to attend any focus group meeting that is relevant to your position at the college.

A complete schedule (PDF) is available online.

All meeting notes will be published on the strategic planning web page, where draft plans will also be presented for community comment.

In addition to the focus group sessions, you are invited to join me for an all-campus open forum on Thursday, February 18, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East.

The College Planning Council (CPC) invites you to attend a focus group meeting to begin the important work of writing a new strategic plan for Buffalo State. This document will guide the college for the next five years, and it is critical that all voices be heard. If your schedule allows, you are encouraged to attend any focus group meeting that is relevant to your position at the college.

A complete schedule (PDF) is available online.

All meeting notes will be published on the strategic planning web page, where draft plans will also be presented for community comment.

In addition to the focus group sessions, you are invited to join me for an all-campus open forum on Thursday, February 18, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East.