Some of our Buffalo State students spent their 2018 spring break in ways that serve others...

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The Equity and Campus Diversity Office is pleased to announce that the SUNY Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is accepting applications for the 2018–2019 Explorations in Diversity and Academic Excellence initiative in support of innovative approaches that strengthen the intersections between diversity and inclusive excellence on our campus.

The guidelines (PDF, 56 KB) and application (PDF, 42 KB) for this initiative can be found on the Equity and Campus Diversity website. The submission deadline is Friday, April 13. Awards will be announced in May.

Finals Week for spring 2018 will take place Monday, May 14; Tuesday, May 15; Wednesday, May 16; and Thursday, May 17. In accordance with DOPS Policy I:16:01, the purpose of Finals Week 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.

The Finals Week schedule 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 Finals Week:

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

B. Instructors will not schedule a final exam before Finals Week. Instructors may not change the date or time of their final class periods during Finals Week. In case of emergencies, instructors should confer with their appropriate dean and notify the Academic Affairs Office, 878-3838.

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 emergencies that would close the school, finals 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 Finals Week.

I cordially invite all Buffalo State faculty and staff members to a Mexican Fiesta on Friday, May 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Plaza.

Mexican food and nonalcoholic beverages will be served. We will also enjoy music from Kevin Doyle and Sol y Sombra and have a Bengal raffle for door prizes as we celebrate the completion of another wonderful academic year at Buffalo State.

All faculty and staff members are automatically entered in the raffle. You do not need to be present to win.

RSVP to Melissa Slisz, staff assistant in the President's Office, 878-4102, by Monday, May 7.

I cordially invite all Buffalo State faculty and staff members to a Mexican Fiesta from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11, in the Student Union Plaza.

Mexican food and nonalcoholic beverages will be served. We will also enjoy music from Kevin Doyle and Sol y Sombra and have a Bengal raffle for door prizes as we celebrate the completion of another wonderful academic year at Buffalo State.

All faculty and staff members are automatically entered in the raffle. You do not need to be present to win.

RSVP to Melissa Slisz, staff assistant in the President's Office, 878-4102, by the close of business today, May 7.

I joined Vice President Tim Gordon on a trek to Albany on Tuesday, April 10, to participate in the ceremony for our students receiving the 2018 Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence...

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I am pleased to announce that Maria Garrity, senior systems programmer in RITE Services, has received the President's Caring Bengal Award. Ms. Garrity was nominated for the award by Robert Baumet, director of business services, Finance and Management; Rock Doyle, assistant vice president of the Weigel Wellness Center; Thomas Koller, senior associate director of intercollegiate athletics; Charlene Vetter, associate director of the Weigel Wellness Center; and Barbara Boquard, assistant to the CIO, Information Technology Exchange Center. I am so pleased to recognize Ms. Garrity, and I encourage the entire campus community to join me in thanking her for her exceptional effort to make Buffalo State a great place to live, learn, and work. Her award profile can be viewed on the Professional Development website.

In December 2017, I announced the creation and implementation of the President's Caring Bengal Award. This award recognizes supportive colleagues in our Buffalo State community who not only transform the lives of our students but also help create a caring and collegial environment for our faculty, staff, and administrators.

Members of the campus community are invited to submit nominations for the third month of the President's Caring Bengal Award by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 1. For more information about the award criteria and recipient selection process, or to submit a nomination, please visit the Professional Development website.

You probably pass them on campus every day—students who wouldn't be here without financial assistance.

Along with tuition, many of our students require help covering room and board, textbooks, and costs associated with research and other activities that round out a college education.

As we begin the 2018 Faculty and Staff Appeal, please consider students such as Saša Vann. She received both the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence and the President’s Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate Student. She spoke at Commencement in 2016.

But Saša’s path to college was not an easy one. She grew up in a neighborhood riddled with violence and drug use. Her parents both suffered major health traumas. Without the scholarships Buffalo State awarded her—the Ross B. Kenzie Family Presidential Scholarship, the Anna P. Burrell Scholarship, and the Ronald E. McNair Scholarship—she may not have attended college, much less graduated with numerous accolades. I am proud to report that Saša is now a second-year graduate student at Ball State University, studying sport and exercise psychology with a minor in rehabilitation counseling. 

Begun in 1988, the Faculty and Staff Appeal has become interwoven into the Buffalo State culture of philanthropy. There are now almost 800 funds to which you can contribute (PDF,272 KB).

We have shortened the appeal this year, and hope it will encourage everyone to act sooner rather than later. I hope you will join me in supporting this essential campaign. Whether you make a one-time gift or opt for payroll deductions, please know that you are contributing to a campaign that helps myriad students thrive at Buffalo State.

For more information, please contact Mario Hicks, appeal coordinator, 878-3467.

I am pleased to announce that Charles Lyons has accepted the position of director of E. H. Butler Library beginning June 1. Mr. Lyons received his master of science in library and information science from Drexel University in 2002 and is currently the associate librarian for discovery and delivery at the University at Buffalo. Please join me in welcoming him to the campus and thanking Marc Bayer for his leadership as interim director.

In an effort to improve our processes, this year's department and dean's annual reports will be submitted in Taskstream. Individual faculty annual reports will remain unchanged this year; however, we are piloting a digital version for individual faculty members. The entire department must decide to participate. To opt in, department chairs should e-mail Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst in Institutional Effectiveness, before Friday, May 4.