The next meeting of the Buffalo State College Council will be held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 13, in Cleveland Hall 518.
Agenda
As we continue to address our structural budget deficit and enrollment challenges, I have engaged the President’s Cabinet in discussing new ways to increase our efficiency, enhance our efforts, and locate cost savings through administrative reorganizations. I expect that these new reporting structures will heighten our ability to recruit, retain, and successfully move students to degree completion.
To that end, several structural changes have been and will be made. In November, we announced that the Enrollment Management unit, which includes Admissions, Financial Aid, and the Registrar, will now report to David Demers, chief information officer, within the division of Resources for Information, Technology, and Education (RITE). We are currently in the process of realigning Butler Library and Student Accessibility Services to report to Provost Melanie Perreault in Academic Affairs.
Additional changes will be announced in the coming weeks, and the affected units are finalizing those changes now. We will continue to look for opportunities for additional efficiencies in the months ahead. I also want to reassure our faculty and staff that retrenchments are not part of our reorganization discussions.
It is our expectation that these changes will enhance our ability as an institution to work across traditional divisional structures, thus increasing our connections and cohesiveness as we collectively strive to provide the best possible education and services to our students.
Given the recent announcement about the potential for restructuring at the college, attendance and input at the Academic Affairs spring meeting will be particularly valuable. Faculty and staff in Academic Affairs are encouraged to join me on Friday, January 20, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall for a wine and cheese working meeting. Attendees will break into workgroups focusing on budget, recruitment, and retention issues. If you will attend, please respond by Wednesday, December 21, so that we may plan accordingly.
Last year, the SUNY Board of Trustees passed a resolution to ensure that every student in SUNY has the opportunity for an applied learning experience. As part of this resolution, each campus has been asked to formalize an Applied Learning Plan. The plan has each college examining the feasibility of including applied learning activities that meet the criteria for Approved Applied Learning as a degree requirement. Information on the criteria, as well as what has been submitted thus far, is available on the College Senate website.
We need your input by Friday, December 16, on whether or not you believe Approved Applied Learning should be a degree requirement at Buffalo State. This is your opportunity to provide feedback by completing the survey. Your feedback will be crucial to writing the feasibility and collaboration study that must be approved by the College Senate and USG and submitted by May 1, 2017.
An Applied Learning Leadership Team has been charged with helping the provost complete this plan. That team includes Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, Buffalo State representative on the SUNY Provost’s Applied Learning Advisory Council; Amy McMillan, chair of the College Senate; and Ann Emo, chair of the Theater Department.
I am pleased to announce the membership of the 2016–2017 Campus Safety Forum. I have also appointed a special subcommittee to support the work of the Safety Forum on specific topics.
It is the responsibility of the Campus Safety Forum to review current campus policies and procedures for compliance and make recommendations for their improvement if and where appropriate related to (1) educating the campus community, including security personnel and those persons who advise or supervise students, about sexual assault; (2) educating the campus community about personal safety and crime prevention; (3) reporting sexual assaults and interacting with victims during investigations; (4) referring complaints to appropriate authorities; (5) counseling victims; and (6) responding to inquiries from concerned persons. The Safety Forum reports in writing to the college president on its findings and recommendations at least once each academic year.
Committee
Chair: Charles Kenyon, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students
Patrick DeWind, Senior Database Administrator, RITE Services
Cynthia Fasla, Associate Registrar, Registrar’s Office
Paula Madrigal, Assistant Director of Prevention and Health Promotions, Weigel Health Center
Andrea Nikischer, Assistant Professor, Adult Education
Jason Parker, Diversity Program Coordinator, Equity and Campus Diversity
Amy Pedlow, Assistant Chief of Police, University Police
Ramona Santa Maria, Associate Professor, Computer Information Systems
Robert Warren, Associate Professor, Biology
Amy Wilson, Assistant Professor, Higher Education Administration
Student Representatives:
Danielle Consaul (GSA)
Ronald Dupree (GSA)
Berthlyne Francois (USG)
Joseph Grande (GSA)
Kaicherise McRae (GSA)
Keanna Morrison (USG)
Danielle Walker (GSA)
Special Subcommittee
Jerod Dahlgren, Director of Public Relations, College Relations
Terry Harding, Director of Campus Services
Marsha Jurkowski, Library Clerk 3, Butler Library
Lisa Krieger, Assistant Vice President, Finance and Management
Steven Shaffer, Manager of Design and Construction, Facilities Planning
The campus community came together on December 9 to celebrate the holiday season. Classes concluded, the last College Senate meeting finished right on time, and we all gathered to celebrate another season of giving, holiday cheer, and special moments...
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As announced to the campus community last week, our ongoing effort to establish additional operational efficiency, synergy, and efficacy will result in strategic structural changes. One such change, effective immediately, is a new divisional home for the College Relations Office, which coordinates marketing, public relations, campus publications, and website administration. Under the leadership of associate vice president Tim Walsh, College Relations will report to chief information officer David Demers. While this new reporting structure will not alter the core mission or duties faithfully executed by College Relations' staff, this new divisional alignment will provide opportunities to take full advantage of the combined expertise and collective skill set within the College Relations, Enrollment Management, and RITE units to enhance our ability to recruit and foster success for our student population.
As part of our continued effort to increase student retention, we will be looking to expand our pilot Supplemental Instruction program for the 2017–2018 academic year. Faculty members who are interested in serving as the SI coordinator should send me a brief letter of interest (no more than one page) by Friday, January 27. The coordinator will begin working with the program in June 2017, with the occasional meeting during the spring semester.
Supplemental Instruction (SI) Coordinator
Open to full-time Buffalo State faculty members.
As a part of the Academic Achievement Center team, the supplemental instruction (SI) coordinator will work in coordination with colleagues in Academic Support Services to expand and coordinate the application of SI at Buffalo State.
Length of appointment
One year, renewable.
Job description
Candidates will
Compensation
Summer stipend and course release in fall and spring semesters.
As part of our continued effort to increase student retention, we will be looking to expand our pilot Supplemental Instruction program for the 2017–2018 academic year. If you are interested in serving as the SI coordinator, please send me a brief (no more than one page) letter of interest by Friday, January 27. The coordinator will begin working with the program in June 2017, with the occasional meeting during the spring semester.
Supplemental Instruction (SI) Coordinator
Open to full-time Buffalo State faculty members.
As a part of the Academic Achievement Center team, the supplemental instruction (SI) coordinator will work in coordination with colleagues in Academic Support Services to expand and coordinate the application of SI at Buffalo State.
Length of appointment
One year, renewable.
Job description
Candidates will
Compensation
Summer stipend and course release in fall and spring semesters.
Today I am announcing some internal reorganizations within the Student Affairs division that are effective as of January 3, 2017.
Residence Life and Housing Offices Responsibilities
The first reorganization merges portions of the duties and responsibilities of the Housing Office with the Residence Life Office, all under the leadership of the director of residence life, Michael Heflin. The new additional responsibilities of the Residence Life Office will include those functions related to housing assignments and agreements, and residence life technology. These functions will continue to be managed by the same personnel who managed them under the former Housing Office structure. This move is expected to enhance the coordination and deployment of these operations and to improve overall service delivery to our students.
Also as part of this change, the management of all custodial, maintenance, and trades personnel, previously handled by the Housing Office, will be reassigned to Campus Services under the division of the vice president for finance and management.
Kris Kaufman, director of the Housing Office, has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Housing Master Plan and the management of the Housing Office. He will now become a key member of the Facilities Planning team in the division of Finance and Management where, among other duties, he will focus on the continued development and implementation of the campus Housing Master Plan.
Student Conduct Processes
In response to a need for greater communication and for improved coordination of the student conduct processes, the assistant director of residence life for student conduct will now report to the dean of students. Along with this change, I am also announcing the appointment of a Campus Conduct Process Review Committee for the purposes of evaluating the entirety of our existing conduct processes to make recommendations on additional enhancements. I have asked Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Vélez to work with Provost Perreault on seating this committee.
As we continue to move forward with administrative reorganizations that we believe will increase our efficiency and enhance our recruitment and retention efforts, I am encouraged by the collective efforts of the Buffalo State College community to work together on behalf of all our students and to take an active role in ensuring their success.