Today is the final day to submit nominations for the Equity and Campus Diversity Special Program Recognition Award. This award was established by the 2006–2007 President's Council to recognize those programs that have made a special effort to promote equity and diversity through student involvement, curricular development, or special projects and activities that go above and beyond what is usually expected as part of their regular function.

Previous Winners

• 2015 Buffalo Beginnings: Journey's End Refugee Services
• 2014 Buffalo Urban Music Project, Mark Filsinger
• 2011 The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center: The Refugee Awareness Project
• 2010 The Anne Frank Project
• 2008 Buffalo State Theater Department

The Special Program Recognition Award is part of the Dr. Muriel A. Howard Presidential Awards for the Promotion of Respect for Equity and Campus Diversity.

Recipients will be honored at the annual Muriel A. Howard Diversity Recognition Ceremony on Tuesday, April 11, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall. Award criteria and nomination forms can be found on the Equity and Campus Diversity website. The application deadline is close of business today, March 10.

Please contact the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, Cleveland Hall 415, 878-6210, with questions.

Today is the final day to submit nominations for the Dr. Muriel A. Howard Presidential Award for the Promotion of Equity and Campus Diversity. The award recognizes faculty and staff members who promote respect for diversity and individual differences through classroom discussions, curricular experiences, out-of-classroom activities, projects, conversations, or special mentorships that go beyond what is usually expected as a part of their regular job expectations or teaching assignments.

We welcome nominations from students, faculty, and staff so that we might acknowledge members of our community who live the values of respect for diversity and advocacy for social justice at an awards reception on Tuesday, April 11, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall.

Award criteria and nomination forms can be found on the Equity and Campus Diversity website. The application deadline is close of business today, March 10. Please contact the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, Cleveland Hall 415, 878-6210, with questions.

This year's Networking in Higher Education Conference, “Building Bridges for a Better Tomorrow: Leaders of Tomorrow; Inspiring Hope, Optimism, and Resilience,” will be held on Friday, June 2, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Millennium Hotel Buffalo, 2040 Walden Avenue. The keynote speaker is Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Chair in Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Please consider enhancing your experience at this year's Networking in Higher Education Conference by facilitating a workshop. Conference organizers are now accepting proposal submissions on a variety of topics related to multicultural education. For more information, please download the flier (PDF, 449 KB) from the Equity and Campus Diversity website.

All proposals must be submitted by Friday, March 31. Additional information regarding the conference can be found on the Save the Date flier (PDF, 193 KB). Please contact knc4@buffalo.edu with questions.

The Equity and Campus Diversity Office invites the campus community to review the guidelines and application (PDF, 92 KB) for the 2017–2018 Explorations in Diversity and Academic Excellence Awards, offered by the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI). These awards support innovative approaches that illuminate and strengthen the intersections between diversity and academic excellence. ODEI will award up to $10,000 to support individual campus-based projects for the period beginning July 1, 2017, and ending on June 30, 2018.  

Applications must be signed and submitted to the Buffalo State Equity and Campus Diversity Office no later than April 1, 2017.

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

It is well known across campus that the Buffalo State Career Development Center, in collaboration with academic departments, connects students to thousands of job-related opportunities, both while they are in school and after they complete their degrees...

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When I first saw the completed “You Are Welcome Here” video, I was extremely touched by the simple but powerful impact of such a statement...

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When you receive the envelope this week asking for your contribution to the 2017 Buffalo State Faculty and Staff Appeal, I’d like you to picture the students the appeal benefits. Students like Tim Schuler, a dual major in physics and mathematics who graduated last May. One of five children, he knew it would be hard, if not impossible, to afford college. But this hardworking young man received five scholarships during his time at Buffalo State.

Or Madeline Otero, whose career as a math teacher was launched at Buffalo State. Before graduating in 2014, Madeline served as president of the college’s Elementary Education Club, was a member of the education honor society Kappa Delta Pi, and was an advisory council member to the Professional Development Schools Consortium.

Neither of these students would have enjoyed the college success they did without the scholarships the faculty and staff appeal supports. Student needs for scholarship dollars address a variety of financial concerns, including tuition, books, room and board, and costs associated with student research and other activities that enrich the educational process.

Begun in 1988, the Faculty and Staff Appeal has become interwoven into the Buffalo State culture of philanthropy. Along with scholarships, the appeal contributes to student funds and academic department funds that provide much-needed classroom equipment, master classes, and conferences.

Please join me this year in supporting this essential campaign. Student stories of success are numerous, the help immeasurable. Whether you make a one-time gift or opt for payroll deductions throughout the year, know that you are making college a reality for deserving students.

I am pleased to accept the Advising Implementation team’s recommendations for beginning mandatory academic advising for all students, every semester, beginning in fall 2017. As part of these recommendations, I will be forming an Academic Advisement Advisory Council (AAAC), with representatives from each of the academic schools, professional staff members, and students. The AAAC will help provide oversight in training and assessment as we move forward with our advising plan. If you are interested in serving on this important committee, please let me know via e-mail by Friday, March 31.

It’s a vast understatement to say that SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and historian Edward Owen Smith Jr. left a lasting legacy at Buffalo State. During his 50-year tenure, E. O., as he was affectionately called, served as the chair of the History and Social Studies Education Department and as the first director of the Monroe Fordham Regional History Center. He also founded the college’s museum studies certificate program.

A regular contributor to scholarships, campus funds, and art exhibitions, E. O. was also a longtime Peterson Society member.

He clearly made students a priority both in his teaching and in his philanthropy. Before he passed away in March 2014, he established the E. O. Smith Arts and Humanities Faculty Development Fund—an endowed fund available to full-time faculty in the arts and humanities for professional development. 

E. O. was specific about the eligible disciplines. For the humanities, they include history, art history, museum studies, philosophy, religious studies, literature, English, modern and classical languages. For the arts, they include art, fine art, design, art conservation, theater, music, and dance.

This is the first year that those awards have been disseminated. At the beginning of 2017, eight faculty members received a total of $28,505. They are Cynthia Conides, History and Social Studies Education; Carolyn Guzski, Music; Sarah Beth Hinderliter and Philip Ogle, Fine Arts; Kenneth Orosz, History and Social Studies Education; Brent Patterson, Design; and Jennifer Ryan-Bryant and Karen Sands-O’Connor, English. Their projects focus on such fascinating topics as the desegregation of the Metropolitan Opera,  the shared artistry of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, and travel to Cameroon for original historical research.

Each subsequent year, a campus selection committee will provide funding to a handful of stellar Buffalo State faculty for their research projects. The selection committee determines the number of awards and the amounts, which range between $2,000 and $7,000 each.

Such a commitment to research wouldn’t be possible without the generosity and foresight of E. O. Smith. It is especially meaningful when a faculty member who is intimately familiar with our campus, our culture, and our students makes a gift that will reverberate for generations. We are grateful not only for his endowment but also for his beautiful demonstration of how to leave a legacy.

Spring break is normally a great time to catch up on tasks, take a break from the routine schedule, or participate in activities that are difficult to do during the normal busy flow of campus life...

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