Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff members are encouraged to review the college's emergency closings policy (PDF, 115 KB) 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 within 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 are responsible for making up any assignments, quizzes, or exams promptly, in consultation with the faculty. 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.

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 within 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 are responsible for making up any assignments, quizzes, or exams promptly, in consultation with the faculty. 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.

Proposals are now being accepted for Buffalo State’s OER Course (Re)design Workshop to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, January 16 and 17, 2018. Open educational resources (OER) are openly licensed learning materials that provide a socially responsible and pedagogically sound alternative to traditionally restrictive learning materials. SUNY is currently investing in campuses to expand their OER initiatives, and faculty members across the state are revising their courses to meet students’ needs.

Participants in this Buffalo State workshop will spend two full days working with colleagues and (re)designing a course to center on OER. OER experts and instructional designers will be on hand to lead activities and provide guidance. The resulting course should meet the goal of including cost-efficient, customized, and high-quality open learning materials for students.

For more information about the SUNY OER initiative, please visit open-nys.org.

Please contact Leah Galka, academic outreach and engagement librarian and campus OER coordinator, with questions.

If you or your faculty colleagues are using open educational resources (OER) in any general education or high-enrollment courses, please fill out this form to share your course information locally and with SUNY.

SUNY funding is available to support campus initiatives for OER, and funding is based on current OER course offerings and enrollments. I am certain we have many courses that would fit the definition below. Please share this announcement with department chairs or fellow faculty members so that we can get the most accurate and thorough picture of OER usage on our campus.

Course Guidelines

• Courses should be general education in subject and/or high enrollment (such as a required college success course).
• 50 percent of learning materials used in the course should be OER (a definition of OER is provided below).
• Campuses will be allocated $8 for each enrollment for individual sections of a course that are or will be using OER, and $15 per enrollment if ALL sections of a course are using OER.

Definition of OER
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits repurposing by others. A SUNY OER course or section provides students with a cost-effective alternative to traditional textbooks. The majority of materials in this section reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits repurposing by others.

Katie Malik-Willard, assistant to the CIO and vice president for enrollment, marketing, and communications, had a great idea that would advance innovation on campus, and she set it into motion last summer...

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I am pleased to announce the appointment of Timothy W. Gordon as Buffalo State’s new vice president for student affairs. Dr. Gordon, who will officially join the Buffalo State community on February 1, 2018, most recently served as dean of students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the second-largest and most diverse campus in the University of Wisconsin system, with an enrollment of more than 25,000 students. 

Dr. Gordon brings more than 20 years of student affairs administrative experience to Buffalo State, including the past four years at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, an urban institution with many similarities to our campus. His leadership style lends itself to broad collaboration across all campus departments and divisions. I believe Dr. Gordon will be a wonderful addition to the Buffalo State family as we work together to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment in which our students continue to thrive academically, civically, and socially.

I invite you to read more about Dr. Gordon’s background in the biography below.

I would like to thank the members of the search committee and the search chair, Provost Melanie Perreault, for their efforts and service to Buffalo State.

Lastly, please join me in thanking Daniel Vélez for his tremendous leadership of Student Affairs as the interim vice president over the past year. Dr. Vélez’s leadership has enhanced the organizational structure and effectiveness of the division. The college is indebted to him for all he has done and all that he will continue to do.

About Timothy W. Gordon 
As the dean of students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) from 2013 to 2017, Timothy W. Gordon served as one of the top senior student affairs officers at the university. In addition to supervising the Dean of Students Office staff, Dr. Gordon oversaw UWM’s Neighborhood Housing Office; Women’s Resource Center; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center; and Student Association Relations Office.

In his role, Dr. Gordon worked closely and collaboratively with multiple campus units, including the Norris Health Center, University Housing, and University Police. He served as the university’s compliance officer for important federal policies such as sexual assault response, crime reporting, and alcohol and other drug prevention education. He was also a key member of student retention and recruitment initiatives, including UWM’s Strategic Enrollment Management Committee and Learning Community Council.

Before his appointment at UWM, Dr. Gordon spent nine years (2004–2013) at Northwestern University in Chicago as the associate dean for student and alumni services for the university’s School of Continuing Studies. As a chief student affairs officer for one of Northwestern’s 12 degree-granting schools, he assisted in the development of the school’s three-year strategic plan, managed the division’s capital campaign, and served on program review and accreditation teams.

From 2000 to 2004, Dr. Gordon held multiple roles at Columbia College Chicago, including director of new student and family programs and director of the Freshman Center, a comprehensive advising and service center for new students. He also held positions at Illinois State University as a coordinator of academic services and learning communities (1997–2000) and at Michigan State University as a resident director and coordinator of the Residential Option for Science and Engineering Students (1995–1997).

Dr. Gordon is an active member of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and currently serves as the association’s alternate director to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education. He is a contributor to the EvoLLLution, an online magazine offering insights into higher education leadership and management. He is also an active presenter at ACPA conferences and workshops.

Dr. Gordon earned his B.A. in interdisciplinary social science (pre-law) in 1992, and his M.A. in higher, adult, and lifelong education in 1995, both from Michigan State University. He completed his Ph.D. in educational administration and foundations at Illinois State University in 2005.

The next meeting of the Buffalo State College Council will be held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 12, in Cleveland Hall 518.

Agenda

1. Call to Order
2. Action Items
   -- Approval of the Minutes: October 4, 2017
3. Chair’s Report
4. President’s Report
5. Committee Reports
   -- Government Relations
6. Announcements
7. Executive Session (If Necessary)
8. Adjournment

Two additional open forums on general education revision will be held, the first on Tuesday, December 5, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center South 2, and the second on Wednesday, December 13, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All Buffalo State faculty and staff members are invited to hear members of the General Education Task Force present their findings and plans for the future of general education at Buffalo State during one of these two open forums.

Materials presented at the forums and a form for submitting feedback are available on the General Education Task Force website. Please give us your opinions on this important subject.

Faculty and staff members in Academic Affairs are invited to join me at the Academic Affairs spring meeting on Tuesday, January 23, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. This will be a working meeting, and this year’s topic will be “What does it mean to be an urban-engaged college for your department?” Wine, cheese, and other refreshments will be served. If you are planning to attend, please respond by Friday, December 15, so that we may plan appropriately. Thank you and happy holidays to all.

Connecting our academic and community projects in ways that contribute to the success of individuals and communities is the foundation of our Civic and Community Engagement Office (CCE)...

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