The caring, diverse, collegial, and supportive Buffalo State College community not only transforms the lives of our students but also transforms the lives of our faculty, staff, and administrators. Each of us knows a faculty member, staff member, or administrator who transforms the work and personal lives of their colleagues by supporting them with compassion, care, respect, and collegiality. These caring colleagues in our community can be found at every level of our institution, and although they create positive work experiences for each person they encounter, their contribution to our community sometimes goes unnoticed.

To recognize these supportive colleagues in our community, I am implementing a process in February 2018 where each month during the spring semester, faculty, staff, and administrators across all ranks, unions, and titles can be nominated by a colleague or student to receive the President's Caring Bengal Award. I have charged a committee with faculty and staff representation from UUP, CSEA, the College Senate, and the Professional Staff Caucus to create the nomination process and award criteria, and select the award recipients.

More information about the Caring Bengal Award and the nomination process will be announced in February.

I am pleased to inform the campus community that Buffalo State has joined the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). From the NC-SARA website:

"The State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement is a voluntary agreement among its member states and U.S. territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance-education courses and programs. It is intended to make it easier for students to take online courses offered by postsecondary institutions based in another state."

For more information please visit the NC-SARA website or contact our institutional liaison, Bradley Fuster, associate vice president for institutional effectiveness.

The calendar year of 2017 has allowed us to again support and advance our commitment to excellence, engagement, and social responsibility. I have been proud of how Buffalo State Bengals have led by example...

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

I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Sarah Young dean of students for Buffalo State College. She will begin her permanent duties on January 15, 2018. Ms. Young came to Buffalo State in June 2015 as the director of student life. She served in that capacity until August 2017, when she was appointed interim dean of students. Ms. Young brings a breadth of experience in higher education administration from multiple positions and institutions, including service as interim dean of students at her previous institution. She received her master of arts in community counseling from West Virginia University and her bachelor of arts in European history from Hamilton College.

I look forward to working with Ms. Young as we continue our focus on enhancing our student support systems to meet the complex needs of all our students. Please join me in congratulating Ms. Young on this appointment and supporting her in this important work for Buffalo State College.

I am pleased to announce the members of the search committee for the vice president for institutional advancement at Buffalo State College:

Chair: Wendy Paterson, Dean, School of Education
Michael Bonitatibus, President, Millington Lockwood Business Interiors
Connie Cooke, Director, Financial Aid
Gerald Cornish, Managing Director – Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.
Paula Devereaux, Senior Major Gift Officer, Institutional Advancement
Mary-Jo Jagord, Director, Alumni Affairs
Thomas Koller, Senior Associate Director, Intercollegiate Athletics
Amy McMillan, Associate Professor, Biology
Lisa Morrison-Fronckowiak, Director, Student Accessibility Services
Patrick Ravines, Director and Associate Professor, Garman Art Conservation Department
James Thor, Associate Vice President and Comptroller, Comptroller’s Office
Richard Trigilio, President, Medical Management Services

This committee is charged with soliciting and evaluating nominations and applications for the position of vice president for institutional advancement. The committee will begin its work this month with the goal of having the next vice president for institutional advancement in place by August 2018. Please join me in thanking Dean Paterson and all the members of the committee for their willingness to take on this important task for Buffalo State.

We are excited to welcome all new faculty and staff members to the Buffalo State College community. New Faculty and Staff Orientation will begin with a breakfast on Wednesday, January 24, at 8:30 a.m. in Butler Library 181B. All new faculty and staff members have been invited and are welcome to attend.

Orientation will focus on informing new employees of the college’s history, our core values, our mission, teaching and scholarship, community involvement opportunities, and campus policies. New faculty and staff members will also have an opportunity to meet campus constituents from different departments and divisions. It is strongly encouraged that all new employees attend orientation and that supervisors provide employees with the opportunity to participate.

Please contact Rebecca Catalano, professional development assistant, 878-5364, with questions.

Last year I implemented a periodic review process for all Management/Confidential employees who are senior administrators or vice presidents at Buffalo State College. These periodic reviews will continue to 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 second round of reviews will commence during the spring 2018 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 administering a 360 Assessment Survey for each administrator under review from a cross-sectional representation of the campus to facilitate the administrative review process. The Administrative Review and Development Program Committee will e-mail a survey to selected constituents in January, February, and March.

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.

The Undergraduate Admissions Office is pleased to announce the opening of a new Transfer Center, which will provide a centralized place for transfer students' inquiries, such as the status of their applications, how credits will transfer, and how they should best prepare to transfer to Buffalo State in the future. The center will serve prospective, accepted, and newly enrolled transfer students as well as current students receiving credit outside of Buffalo State. The center will be centrally located within the Admissions Office in Moot Hall 110. Information about the center will be shared with new and current students throughout the upcoming year. Please direct any questions to Amy Runfola, assistant director of transfer admissions.

With the recent retirement of Joel Swisher, director of systems administration, RITE is pleased to announce the formation of a new team, Enterprise Infrastructure Services, which will encompass the services of Systems Administration and Network/Telecommunications Infrastructure. Thomas Killian will serve as director.

Enterprise Infrastructure Services will provide planning, management, and support for the campus network; and system-level hardware resources for servers, storage, backup, and centralized data center environments to ensure that long-term sustainability, reliability, and capacity needs for the campus are met. This team will also manage and support the emerging VoIP platform, legacy telephone services, and user account services, as well as the campus's electronic access control and security camera systems.

Please join me in welcoming David Loreto as the new director of undergraduate admissions at Buffalo State College. Mr. Loreto brings 14 years of admissions experience from the private and public sectors of higher education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SUNY Geneseo and a master’s in international business from D’Youville College. In his most recent role as the associate director of admissions at the College at Brockport, he was responsible for application processing and operations, system administration of the customer relationship management (CRM) platform, and development and coordination of multichannel student communication plans.

Mr. Loreto has presented nationally on CRM technology, predictive analytics, and international student recruitment. In 2017, he coauthored a research publication in Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly on the use of predictive modeling and CRM technology in admissions recruitment planning. He and his wife, Audrey, and their three children currently reside in Fairport and are planning to relocate to Buffalo this spring.