A new mobile app is coming to Buffalo State. We have partnered with Modo to provide a mobile app for Buffalo State faculty and staff, students, and alumni and guests. The Modo app also includes a special profile for students attending Buffalo State Orientation.

The Modo app will soon be available for download from Google Play and Apple’s App Store. More information will be available soon. Please stay tuned.

I am pleased to announce that Deborah Silverman, chair and associate professor in the Communication Department and coordinator of the M.S. in public relations program, has received the President's Caring Bengal Award.

Dr. Silverman was nominated for the award by Joseph Marren and Michael Niman, both professors in the Communication Department. I am so pleased to recognize Dr. Silverman, 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.

I announced the creation and implementation of the President's Caring Bengal Award in December 2017. 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 President's Caring Bengal Award by 5:00 p.m. Friday, May 10. For more information about the award criteria and recipient selection process, or to submit a nomination, please visit the Professional Development website.

This fall, Buffalo State will introduce Slate, the college’s new enterprise customer relationship management (CRM) system. CRMs are software programs that manage and maintain client communication streams, track applications and related records, and generate usable data. Slate is one of the most reputable CRMs on the market, used by nearly 1,000 colleges and universities nationwide. Designed specifically for higher education environments, Slate will work in conjunction with Banner. Buffalo State will initiate the use of Slate this fall to communicate decisions with prospective and accepted Graduate School applicants for the spring 2020 term. Graduate admissions faculty and staff members will receive more information about Slate over the coming months.

Buffalo State is committed to providing equitable access to all students, faculty, and staff members. The campus has recently implemented two systems that will assist us in continuing our goal for equitable access. As a campus, we are responsible for ensuring that our content, images, and videos are compliant with the standards outlined within the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA.

Siteimprove was implemented to test all Buffalo State web pages. This product evaluates the web content for compliance using WCAG standards. Reports generated with identified errors are then shared with content creators on campus.

Blackboard Ally, implemented on April 17, is a revolutionary product that focuses on making digital course content more accessible. Ally is embedded within Blackboard Learn to assist content creators in making files such as Word, PowerPoint, images, and PDFs more accessible within the course. Faculty members receive feedback on the accessibility of their content and step-by-step instructions on how to improve content accessibility. In addition, Ally allows students to choose alternative formats for their course content. Alternative formats include audio files, electronic braille, epub for e-book readers, and mobile devices and HTML for viewing within browsers. 

As we move toward achieving these standards of compliance, we encourage all primary web contacts, content creators, and faculty and staff members to participate in the available workshops offered on campus.

After significant consideration and input from stakeholders, the following reorganization of community-focused programs in Academic Affairs will take effect on July 1, 2019.  

The Precollegiate Academic Success Center, which includes Upward Bound, Liberty Partnerships, and the STEP program under the leadership of Patrice Cathey, will now move to the Educational Opportunity Program under the direction of Yanick Jenkins, director of the Educational Opportunity Program and senior adviser for precollegiate programs. This alignment will help fulfill Buffalo State’s commitment to higher education access for students who have the potential to succeed despite challenges with preparation and financial resources.

The West Side Promise Neighborhood Project and Buffalo State’s commitment as a lead institution in the Higher Education Anchor Mission Initiative will move to the Civic and Community Engagement Office (CCE), reporting to Laura Hill Rao, CCE director. Organizing these efforts together will expand and unite Buffalo State’s commitment to social responsibility and civic engagement through partnerships that address community priorities.

The Educational Pipeline Initiatives Office (EPIO) will continue under the leadership of Diantha Watts, EPIO executive director, and will encompass the Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education, the Community Academic Center, and Middle Early College High School Program. These education-focused partnerships will work closely with the School of Education and the CCE to collaborate with school districts and community stakeholders to improve the educational and life outcomes of children and families throughout the region.

As a follow-up to Vice President Barnum’s report at Friday’s College Senate meeting, I would like to provide the campus community with a brief update on the college’s budget rebalancing efforts.

During Friday’s meeting, we announced that our rebalancing efforts are ahead of schedule. In February 2018, the campus embarked on a three-year, $7 million rebalancing effort beginning with the 2017–2018 academic year. In year one, the goal was to reduce expenditures campuswide by $1.4 million, with $2.8 million reduction scheduled in years two (2018–2019) and three (2019–2020).

I am pleased to report that our two-year total projected revenue reduction is approximately $6.17 million, which is $1.97 million ahead of our two-year target of $4.2 million. While this is positive news and reflection of the collective efforts, sacrifices, and strategic thinking by the campus community to address our budget challenges, please know that our work and careful spending must continue.

The college will stay the course with the three-year budget rebalancing process. Cabinet members were asked on May 2 to provide a 2019–2020 rebalancing plan and reductions for their units by the end of this month.

Once our $7 million rebalancing goal is achieved, work will begin in earnest on a new campuswide Strategic Resource Planning Process to address an anticipated additional $2.4 million gap between revenue and expenses in 2020–2021. This budget gap is a result of a decline in tuition revenue following a drop in overall student enrollment last fall. An overview of the Strategic Resource Planning Process was provided at the February 8 College Senate meeting.

The budget rebalancing website will be updated later this week with information shared at Friday’s Senate meeting. Additionally, I intend to provide an update to the campus community this summer once VP area rebalancing plans are finalized.

Annual reports for 2018–2019 are due on or before the following dates:

• June 30, 2019: Individual reports from faculty, librarians, and professional staff due to director or department chair.
• July 22, 2019: Department reports due to dean or associate vice president.
• August 9, 2019: Associate vice president and dean reports completed in Taskstream.

Forms for the submission of 2018–2019 annual reports for librarians and professional staff (individual information sheets) are posted on the Human Resource Management website.

All individual faculty annual reports must be completed via an electronic form. Individual links have been e-mailed to each faculty member. The e-mail was sent through the Qualtrics mailer, so if you cannot find it, first check your junk mail. If you still cannot find it, please contact Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst, 878-4132.

All academic and functional departments will submit their annual reports via Taskstream. The Institutional Effectiveness Office is offering Taskstream annual report workshops through the month of June. Registration is required. The workshop schedule and registration links appear below:

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Monday, June 3

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building C104

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building C104

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Thursday, June 6

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building C104

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building C104

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Tuesday, June 11

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building C104

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building C104

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Thursday, June 13

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building C104

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building C104

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Monday, June 17

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building C104

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building C104

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Wednesday, June 19

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Classroom Building A108

11:00 a.m.–noon | Classroom Building A108

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Classroom Building A108

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Classroom Building A108

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Tuesday, June 25

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

11:00 a.m.–noon | Bulger Communication Center 122

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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Thursday, June 27

10:00–11:00 a.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

11:00 a.m.–noon | Bulger Communication Center 122

1:00–2:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

2:00–3:00 p.m. | Bulger Communication Center 122

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If you have technical questions about your report, please contact Tiffany Fuzak, 878-4132. If you have questions about the content of the report, please contact Luke Krieg, interim AVP for institutional effectiveness, 878-3838.

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

Chair: Timothy Gordon, Vice President for Student Affairs

William Benfanti, Associate Vice President for Government Relations, Institutional Advancement Office
Elisa Bergslien, Associate Professor, Earth Sciences and Science Education Department
Janelle Brooks, Assistant Dean, Student Conduct and Community Standards Office
Jane Cushman, Chair and Associate Professor, Mathematics Department
Kathy Doody, Associate Professor, Exceptional Education Department
Khaleel Gathers, Deputy CIO and Director of Technology, Planning, and Outreach; Information Technology VP Office
David Henry, Associate Professor, Elementary Education, Literacy, and Educational Leadership Department
Scott Johnson, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Department
Kimberly Kline, Professor, Higher Education Administration Department
Susan Maguire, Associate Professor, Anthropology Department
Joseph Marren, Professor, Communication; Chair, College Senate
Gerard Puccio, Chair and Professor, Center for Studies in Creativity
Laura Hill Rao, Director, Civic and Community Engagement Office
Patrick Ravines, Director and Associate Professor, Art Conservation Department
Donna Scuto, Associate Vice President, Sponsored Programs Office
Deborah Silverman, Chair and Associate Professor, Communication Department
Mark Warford, Chair and Associate Professor, Modern and Classical Languages Department
Diantha Watts, Interim Director, Educational Pipeline Initiatives Office
Kathy Wood, Associate Dean, School of Education

The committee is charged with soliciting applications and interviewing candidates for consideration in a national search for the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at Buffalo State College. I thank those who are serving on the committee for their work on this important task. More information will be forthcoming.

I cordially invite you to join me for a reception celebrating Joan L. McCool, director of the Counseling Center, on the occasion of her retirement from Buffalo State College on Friday, June 14, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Fireside Lounge.

Dr. McCool has served Buffalo State for more than 38 years. Please stop by to thank her for her tremendous dedication to Buffalo State and its students and to wish her well. RSVP to 878-4704 or marzolkl@buffalostate.edu.

I am pleased to announce that Kaylene Waite, graphic designer and production specialist in Marketing and Communications, has received the President's Caring Bengal Award. Ms. Waite was nominated for the award by Tamara McMillan, director of the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP); Marnie Letzelter, assistant to the dean of the Graduate School; John Raymond, assistant designer for creative services and graduating senior in the visual communications and graphic design program; Davita Grundy, student worker in creative services and undergraduate student; Scott Goodman, director of undergraduate research; Jill Singer, professor of earth sciences and science education; and Holly Bewlay, associate professor of music.

I am so pleased to recognize Ms. Waite, 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.

The President's Caring Bengal Award, initiated in December 2017, 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.

Nominations for the President’s Caring Bengal Award will reopen in September 2019 and will be posted in the Daily Bulletin. If you nominated a member of the campus community who did not receive an award this semester and you are interested in nominating this person again, please resubmit your nomination during the fall 2019 semester. For more information about the award criteria and recipient selection process, please visit the Professional Development website.