Members of the Buffalo State community are invited to attend the sixth annual SUNY Pride Conference, “Pride without Borders: Sharing Our Stories Beyond the Rainbow,” on Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13, on the campus of SUNY Oneonta.

This conference is meant to highlight and celebrate LGBTQIA+ experiences through fostered dialogue across academic and practical experiences, disciplinary focuses, and institutional perspectives, as well as provide support and resources to those who attend. Today’s students entering college come with new attitudes and understandings around gender and sexuality. Despite the progress made in different areas of policy, education, and popular culture, there’s still a lot of work to be done in order to give the best support and education to students in a nation full of uncertainty. To this effect, this year’s theme serves to provide an avenue for different voices to be heard and allow for greater representation of individuals who are so often silenced.

The SUNY Pride Conference Committee cordially invites students, community members, resource professionals, junior and senior faculty members, and administrators to submit proposals for the upcoming conference theme, “Pride without Borders: Sharing Our Stories Beyond the Rainbow.”

The SUNY Pride Conference Committee is also excited to announce an addition to the presentations this year: a Professional Track for current professionals and educators who work with and serve the LGBTQIA+ community (e.g., K–12 teachers, faculty members, administrators, staff members, counselors, community leaders, advisers) to share research, trends, and best practices for supporting students in the community and beyond. Please note on the submission form if you would like your presentation to count toward the Professional Track. Students will not be able to attend presentations or workshops in the Professional Track.

Student presenters should seek guidance from a faculty or staff member at their home institutions. The faculty or staff member should mentor the student through the process of writing the conference proposal, organizing a presentation on a specific theme, and presenting his or her scholarship to an audience.

SUNY Pride Learning Outcomes

Conference participants will be able to

• identify multiple aspects of diversity, including the ongoing development of identity and creating an inclusive community;
• explore and analyze current trends and issues that LGBTQIA+ college students face;
• create a network of student leaders and professionals; and
• explore powerful approaches to diversity, inclusion, and wellness through a local and global lens.

Below are some areas of potential interest that fit in this year’s theme and learning outcomes:

Invisibility of LGBTQIA+ Identities
Legacy of Intersectionality and/or Globalization
Marginalization and Resilience
Implications of Public Policy for LGBTQIA+ Communities
Heteronormativity/Homonormativity
LGBTQIA+ Transnational and Translocal Activism
Post-Colonial and De-Colonial Narratives
LGBTQIA+ Mental Health and Wellness
Global LGBTQIA+ Experiences
Political Climate and Impacts
Social Justice Movements
Allyship and Intervention
Acts of Resistance and Healing
Embodied Research and Teaching
Cultural Queerness
Non-normative Genders and Sexualities
Violence against LGBTQIA+ Bodies

To submit a proposal, please complete the Presentation Proposal Form before 11:59 p.m. Monday, September 10.

Please visit the conference website over the summer for more information and updates. Please contact Emily Phelps, chair of the SUNY Pride Conference Committee, with questions.

I am pleased to announce that Eric "Luke" Krieg, chair and professor of sociology, will serve as interim associate vice president for institutional effectiveness for academic year 2018–2019. Dr. Krieg’s knowledge of Middle States accreditation and assessment will enable a steady continuation of the work already under way in this office. We will conduct a full search for a three-year appointment in the spring 2019 semester.

Reminder: Administrative and academic departments will complete and submit their annual reports in Taskstream (deadline: Monday, July 23). Two final open drop-in work sessions for Taskstream support will be held in Bulger Communication Center 122 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 9, and Wednesday, July 11.

Please contact Brad Fuster, associate vice president for institutional effectiveness, with questions about the process or content of the annual report.

For technical assistance, please contact Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst in Institutional Effectiveness.

Associate vice president and dean reports will also be completed in Taskstream (deadline: Friday, August 10). A review of this process will take place at the Dean’s Council meeting on Wednesday, July 25.

With the new fiscal year upon us, I wanted to share with you an update on our campuswide efforts to rebalance the college’s budget—a three-year process through which we will reduce our expenses by $7 million.

In April, we completed plans to permanently eliminate $1.4 million from the budget, meeting our target for the first year of the rebalancing plan. Since April, each cabinet member has worked with his or her respective division on a careful assessment and prioritization of resources to achieve a collective reduction of $2.8 million for year two of budget rebalancing. On July 1, each unit’s year-two rebalancing goals were finalized and approved, bringing our total budget reduction thus far to $4.2 million, or 60 percent of our final goal.

Of the $2.8 million rebalancing total for year two, $2.4 million of the reduction will be realized through salary savings from attrition and retirements. While our finances and staffing levels will inevitably be leaner after the rebalancing process, I am proud of the creative and innovative service and staffing reorganization plans that units have implemented as a result of this important analysis of our available resources. It is my belief that we will be stronger and more efficient at the conclusion of the rebalancing period.       

I would also like to acknowledge the work and dedication of the Budget Committee Support Group over the past year. At the conclusion of the spring semester, I received a report from the support group providing an analysis and recommendations for cost savings based on input from the campus community—input that was solicited during the budget open forums this past spring and ideas that were gathered through the budget rebalancing website. The portal for feedback remains open, and I encourage faculty and staff members to continue submitting cost-saving ideas over the next year.

The support group’s report will be reviewed during the President’s Cabinet retreat this week, and we will analyze each recommendation to study what additional savings can be achieved. Included in the report are a number of new and interesting ideas for cost savings or revenue generation related to academic and class scheduling, restructuring, program changes, and enrollment. Later this summer, I will report back to you and outline the initiatives that we intend to pursue.  

As a reminder, a list of frequently asked questions is posted on the budget rebalancing website. I invite you to review these topics, which include information about the difference between operating and construction funds, as well as an explanation about our position control and hiring policy during the rebalancing period.

Looking ahead to the $2.8 million rebalancing target for year three, we recognize that this will be a challenging goal to achieve. And while we are tracking toward our planned enrollment projections for this fall, please understand that any change in overall enrollment numbers—whether it is first-time, transfer, graduate, or most importantly retention—will necessitate a change to our year-three goal; however, I am encouraged by our collective efforts to date to rise to this challenge and remain steadfast in continuing to work together as we serve our students and fulfill our mission as SUNY’s urban-engaged campus.

Thank you for your dedication to Buffalo State and our students.

I often get asked during the summer how I am enjoying the quiet downtime...

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Bonita R. Durand, chief of staff and secretary to the Buffalo State College Council, has informed me of her plans to retire this fall after an exceptional 22-year career of service to Buffalo State. Her retirement will be effective September 1.

Dr. Durand has served five presidents at Buffalo State over her career. In addition, she has been a member of the graduate faculty at the college in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration Department, teaching courses on the history of American higher education, and strategic planning and finance in higher education. Dr. Durand has provided leadership to countless committees and working groups at Buffalo State, including the Middle States accreditation steering committee, the presidential inauguration support committees, the facilities master planning committee, and the presidential search advisory committees. She has also served as the faculty adviser for the collegiate chapter of the National Council of Negro Women and the campus adviser for the Gamma Kappa Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

An active member of the Western New York community, Dr. Durand has dedicated her time to numerous organizations across the city and region. She was secretary for the City of Buffalo Citizens Advisory Commission on Reapportionment in 2011, a member of the Mayor of the City of Buffalo’s 2010 Complete Count Census Committee, a charter member of the Buffalo Niagara Economic Development Corporation board of directors, and a member of the Western New York Women’s Fund board of directors.

Most recently, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Dr. Durand to serve as a commissioner on the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority board of directors. Additionally, she joined the board of directors of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo in January 2015. 

Dr. Durand received the Bernice Poss Award in 2012 from the Western New York Women Leaders in Higher Education for her contributions as both an administrator and faculty member to the field of higher education. In 2014, Dr. Durand and her husband, Henry J. Durand, Ph.D., were recognized with Buffalo Urban League’s Family Life Award. In 2016, she received the Unlimited Possibilities Overcoming Poverty Ministry's “Women Touching the World Award” and the National Federation for Just Communities' Community Leader Award.

Dr. Durand is a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., an international public service organization. She has held numerous offices at the local, regional, and national levels. Most of her activities in this role focus on training, advising, and mentoring both alumnae and collegiate members of the organization throughout upstate New York and the Eastern region. 

In 2002, she earned the degree of doctor of philosophy from the University at Buffalo. Her area of concentration is higher education administration with a focus on institutional advancement. Dr. Durand also holds a master of science degree in applied public affairs from the University at Buffalo and a bachelor of arts degree in business administration and curriculum development from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2010, she received certification in educational management and leadership from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Durand for her incredible work and commitment to Buffalo State. We wish her all the best in retirement.

A national search is underway for the college’s next chief of staff. More information is available online.

Once a year for the last four years, the Burchfield Penney Art Center at Buffalo State has hosted a very special and unique program. The BPAC’s Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium becomes the location for the Western District of New York’s naturalization ceremony...

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I am excited that we will have a chance to welcome our new students to campus in just a few short weeks. The Academic and Student Affairs teams have been planning for all sorts of welcome events, one of which is the First-Year Student Convocation on Friday, August 24.

First-Year Student Convocation will be held at 9:00 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall as part of Orientation 102. This event officially introduces and welcomes our newest students to the campus community. As this event requires the participation of our campus community to succeed, I encourage everyone to find a way to take part and offer support to welcome our new students. You can participate in this event as a work assignment for that morning by marching in the Convocation processional (faculty, librarians, and professional staff) or by volunteering to assist with directing students to events, as well as in many other ways. Faculty, librarians, and professional staff members planning to process should plan to wear academic regalia. Please register online by Wednesday, August 15, if you are available to march or volunteer for the event.

I am excited that we will have a chance to welcome our new students to campus in just a few short weeks. The Academic and Student Affairs teams have been planning for all sorts of welcome events, one of which is the First-Year Student Convocation on Friday, August 24.

First-Year Student Convocation will be held at 9:00 a.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall as part of Orientation 102. This event officially introduces and welcomes our newest students to the campus community. As this event requires the participation of our campus community to succeed, I encourage everyone to find a way to take part and offer support to welcome our new students. You can participate in this event as a work assignment for that morning by marching in the Convocation processional (faculty, librarians, and professional staff) or by volunteering to assist with directing students to events, as well as in many other ways. Faculty, librarians, and professional staff members planning to process should plan to wear academic regalia. Please register online by Wednesday, August 15, if you are available to march or volunteer for the event.

Throughout the year, we welcome Bengals back to campus after they have officially launched from Buffalo State...

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