I am implementing a periodic review process for all Management/Confidential employees who are senior administrators or vice presidents at Buffalo State College. These periodic reviews will take place during the administrator’s third year in the position and every fifth year thereafter. Administrators who have exceeded three years in their position will be placed in a five-year review cycle. The first round of reviews will commence in the spring 2017 semester.

This review is intended to be formative and to assist both the administrator and the supervisor in identifying strengths and areas in need of development. I have charged a committee with collecting and compiling information for each administrator under review from a cross-sectional representation of the campus to facilitate the administrative review process. The Administrative Review Committee will e-mail a survey to selected constituents during the third week of the spring 2017 semester.

I expect that this process will add another vital element to our collective endeavor to provide our students with the tools and skills needed to be successful at Buffalo State College. I thank everyone who is selected to participate in the survey for your willingness to assist us with this essential and important process.

I cordially invite you to join me in celebrating Vice President Hal D. Payne on the occasion of his retirement from Buffalo State College on Friday, February 17, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

The favor of a reply is requested by February 10.

You never know where you will find current Bengals. This winter, during the January Term, Kim Kline, chair and professor of higher education administration, and Lynn Engle, lecturer of modern and classical languages, took students on a study trip to Germany...

Please follow my blog at http://kateconwayturner.tumblr.com.

I encourage the Buffalo State community to nominate deserving colleagues for Buffalo State President’s Awards and SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence. Guidelines can be found on the Academic Affairs website. Please visit the Nomination Resources – Celebrations of Excellence section for helpful resources and tips for assembling nomination dossiers.

President’s Awards for Excellence
Due Date: March 6, 2017
Please submit nominations with supporting materials electronically to the provost’s office at facultystaffawards@buffalostate.edu  

Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence

1. Adjunct Teaching Nominations
Due Date: September 15, 2017

2. Distinguished Teaching Professor; Distinguished Service Professor, Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; Professional Service; Librarianship; Scholarship and Creative Activities; and Faculty Service Nominations
Due Date: October 16, 2017
Please submit nominations with supporting materials electronically to the provost’s office at facultystaffawards@buffalostate.edu           

Please note: For SUNY Chancellor’s Awards, nominators should prepare their nomination letters in the format of a Summary Presentation as specified in the SUNY Award guidelines. A Buffalo State Nomination Checklist Cover Sheet  (PDF, 272 KB) should be the first page of all nominations.

Questions may be directed to Carolyn Martino, assistant to the provost, at martinc@buffalostate.edu.

Please join us for our annual Martin Luther King Jr. 2017 celebration, featuring keynote speaker Michaela Angela Davis, activist and writer, on Thursday, February 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Please download the flier (PDF, 3 MB) and plan to join us for this great event.

Contact the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, 878-6210, with questions.

I invite faculty and staff members to join me in greeting our commuter students on February 7, March 7, April 4, and May 2 for Student Life’s Commuter Connections Breakfast in the Campbell Student Union Fireside Lounge. You may stop by any time between 8:15 and 9:30 a.m. on these dates. This is an informal opportunity to get to know more of our commuter students. I hope to see you there!

Please e-mail Bailey Hornung, student activities assistant for commuter and class programming, with questions.

I invite faculty and staff members to join me in greeting our commuter students on February 7, March 7, April 4, and May 2 for Student Life’s Commuter Connections Breakfast in the Campbell Student Union Fireside Lounge. You may stop by any time between 8:15 and 9:30 a.m. on these dates. This is an informal opportunity to get to know more of our commuter students. I hope to see you there!

Please e-mail Bailey Hornung, student activities assistant for commuter and class programming, with questions.

Buffalo State’s online scholarship system, Academic Works, has been renamed. Inspired by the culmination of student success—graduation—the scholarship system will now be known as CAPS (Campus Application Portal for Scholarships). Functionality of the scholarship system remains unchanged; it continues to be a single portal for the application, selection, and disbursement of scholarship funds. 

Over the coming weeks, the Financial Aid Office will update its website and create new promotional materials to market CAPS. Beginning January 11, a significant number of fall 2017 scholarship opportunities will be available in CAPS. Please encourage students to log in to CAPS now and complete a general scholarship application.

In September 2016, I charged the Buffalo State Civic Action Plan Workgroup with developing a Civic Action Plan for Buffalo State in alignment with our campus mission and strategic plan. The purpose of the Civic Action Plan is to forward Buffalo State’s role as an urban-engaged campus in the city of Buffalo and expand our civic and community engagement efforts in ways that advance citizenship and positive social change.

After receiving comments from the campus and community in December, the Civic Action Plan Workgroup has developed a second draft of a five-year civic action plan. Please take the time to read the plan and provide comments on this second draft. The plan will also be discussed at the March College Senate meeting before the final plan is submitted in mid-March.

In order to coordinate and increase our external funding efforts, we will appoint a coordinator for pre-award outreach. Faculty members who are interested in serving in this role should send a brief letter of interest (no more than one page) to Mark Severson, special adviser to the provost for academic research initiatives, by Friday, February 4. The coordinator will begin work during the spring semester.

Coordinator for Pre-award Outreach
The coordinator will provide support for the recruitment of faculty and staff to participate in grant programs, including building interest in participating in externally funded projects, disseminating information on grant and contract opportunities relevant to the specific interests of faculty, supporting the development of the programmatic portion of the research proposal, and working with the special adviser to the provost for academic research initiatives and with staff in the offices of Research and Economic Development and Sponsored Program Operations to provide support on budget development and regulatory issues (ensuring compliance with sponsor regulations, including human subjects and animal research compliance) and the technical submission of the applications through the various electronic systems (e.g., grants.gov, NSF FastLane, NIH eRA).

Compensation
Course release in fall and spring semesters, stipend in summer

Job Description

• Create and manage a campus culture that values and encourages the pursuit of external grant funding
• Aid in the formation of collaborative research teams
• Assist in the preparation, development, and submission of grant applications
• Lead campus outreach initiatives to promote a proactive and constructive grant development culture on campus
• Work with college leadership, faculty, and staff to develop methods, protocols, and tools that will facilitate external funding success
• Continually work toward developing and implementing strategies that increase the number of grant applications generated annually from Buffalo State
• Support a culture of professionalism, optimism, and academic commitment to the pursuit of external funding
• With the assistance of the deans and the academic chairs, identify faculty members who have expressed an interest in research and/or have the potential to secure external funding
• Monitor grants.gov and other sources of funding for the purpose of identifying opportunities that are a good fit with Buffalo State's academic and community focus
• Review all grant applications prior to submission and attend to their timely submission
• Manage funding victory celebrations, awards, and campuswide recognition

Qualifications

• Experience with grant submissions to federal and state agencies
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Positive and enthusiastic attitude
• Wide range of intellectual interests
• Strong writing and editing skills
• Diplomatic and encouraging personality