Buffalo State and our K–12 partners have long discussed and debated how to develop a teaching cadre that is representative of the diverse Buffalo community. Less than 15 percent of teachers within the Buffalo Public Schools are from underrepresented groups, although more than two-thirds of the students come from ethnically or racially diverse backgrounds...

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As part of New York State's "Enough Is Enough" legislation, all Buffalo State employees and students will receive the SUNY Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP) Campus Climate Survey via e-mail April 10–28. Education Law Article 129-B mandates that the survey be administered to students “no less than every other year,” and the associated SUNY Board of Trustees resolution requires a similar survey of SUNY employees.

We need your feedback as we continue to fulfill our Title IX responsibilities. When you receive the SVP survey, please complete it promptly. All responses will remain anonymous and confidential. Thank you for your participation.

In the last two weeks, I met with a group of outstanding faculty members who applied for the interim associate provost position. I am pleased to announce that Amitra Wall will serve as the interim associate provost for the 2017–2018 academic year. Dr. Wall currently serves as the assistant dean of University College and interim chair of the Political Science Department.

Critique and Evaluation Period (CEP) for spring 2017 will take place Monday, May 8; Tuesday, May 9; Wednesday, May 10; and Thursday, May 11. The purpose of CEP is to provide a single class meeting during which faculty and students have an extended period of uninterrupted time to conduct appropriate end-of-course activities. CEP is designed for classes that meet more than once a week during the semester. Classes (evening or day) that meet only once a week have sufficient time for final evaluation; therefore, they follow their regular schedules (exams to be scheduled during Finals Week).

The following regulations govern CEP:

A. All instructors are expected to meet their classes at the scheduled time during CEP and to choose an appropriate activity that reflects the academic goals of the course and the intent of CEP, for example, an exam, review, critique of papers, course summation, or individual presentations or demonstrations.

B. Instructors will not schedule a final exam before CEP. Instructors may not change the date or time of their final class periods during CEP. In case of emergencies, instructors should confer with their appropriate dean and notify the vice president for academic affairs.

C. Finals are scheduled for one-hour-and-50-minute periods. Instructors are not to increase or decrease the scheduled finals time.

D. In case of an emergency that would close the school, CEPs scheduled for the time of the closing will be rescheduled, as appropriate.

E. Faculty members must post office hours during which they will be available to meet with students during CEP.

The Cloudpath servers that support access to the secure Wi-Fi network (Bengal) will be upgraded to the latest release on Thursday, April 13, between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. This upgrade will allow RITE to continue to enhance the services provided by the secure Wi-Fi network. During this upgrade process, there will be approximately 20 minutes of downtime during which no new connections will be able to be made to the secure wireless and no new device registrations can occur. Anyone already connected to the secure Bengal network will not be affected. Please contact the RITE Support Desk, 878-4357, with any questions or issues regarding this service.

The Student Philanthropy Council (SPC) is proud to announce the opening of Buffalo State’s first campus Donation Station to benefit our community. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held April 12 in the Campbell Student Union to celebrate this permanent structure, located directly across from the Information Desk. Campus-affiliated organizations looking to collect clothes, nonperishable foods, toys, books, toiletries, and other needed items are invited to reserve the Donation Station online.

Funding for the station was provided by the Grant Allocation Committee and the SPC. You can follow the SPC on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. For more information, please contact SPC adviser Pam Voyer, 878-3725.

April is filled with many celebrations of student accomplishments. It was my pleasure to join our Buffalo State College Chancellor’s Award winners in Albany on April 5, when they received their awards and medals from the chancellor...

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I am pleased to announce the members of the search committee for the vice president for student affairs position at Buffalo State College:

Chair: Melanie Perreault, Provost
Lynn Boorady, Chair and Professor, Fashion and Textile Technology
Jerry Boyes, Director and Head Football Coach, Intercollegiate Athletics
Janelle Brooks, Assistant Director for Student Conduct, Residence Life
Carol DeNysschen, Chair and Professor, Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics
Rock Doyle, Associate Director, Weigel Health Center
Shashi Gayadeen, Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice
Carlos Jones, Associate Dean, School of Arts and Humanities
John Mack, Senior Counselor, Counseling Center
Amy McMillan, Associate Professor, Biology
Monique Maxwell, USG President 2017–2018

This committee is charged with the responsibility of soliciting and evaluating nominations and applications for the position of vice president for student affairs. They will begin their work this summer with the goal of having candidates available to visit the campus in fall 2017 and having the next vice president for student affairs in place on January 1, 2018.

Please join us for the Student Employment and Internship Awards Ceremony on Thursday, April 27, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 210. President Conway-Turner will provide the keynote for the ceremony, which is the final program of Student Employment Week at Buffalo State.

The ceremony will recognize nominees and recipients of the following awards: 

• Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year – Shelanise Daniels, communication design major
• Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year – Nahlizer Figueroa, criminal justice major
• Graduate Student Employee of the Year – Monet Lewis, creative studies major
• Supervisor of the Year – Maggie Herb, director of the Writing Center
• Undergraduate Intern of the Year – Shannon Coyne, psychology major
• Graduate Intern of the Year – David Nielsen, higher education and student affairs administration major
• Internship Supervisor of the Year – Nicole Gunsher, Lancaster Youth Bureau
• Graduate Internship Supervisor of the Year – DJ Schier, Villa Maria College
• Student Employer of the Year – Enterprise Holdings

Light refreshments will be served. Please contact the Career Development Center with questions.

In order to make our Learning Management System as efficient and effective as possible, Blackboard course sites will be archived and deleted on or after Wednesday, May 31, for courses taught between summer 2013 and spring 2015, along with any courses that were restored from ANGEL. While copies of these deleted courses will be backed up and maintained within RITE, faculty members are strongly encouraged to save any content they may have in these course sites for future use or reference. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the archive process, or if a restore of deleted courses is needed, please send e-mail inquiries and requests to Meghan Pereira, director of instructional design and training; to expedite responses, please be sure to indicate the semester, course number, and CRN in your request. Thank you.