We want to help you stay connected to Buffalo State Information Technology (IT) by sharing this important information with you.

When we know that a system is not working or will be off-line for a specified length of time, we post that information on the IT Alerts page. Please check this page to see when a system, like Blackboard, may be down for maintenance.

Please know that you can report issues through our IT Service Catalog. You must sign in to submit a ticket. Directions on how to sign in and directions on how to submit a ticket are available on the IT self-service portal Help page.

Your success is our priority. Stay safe.

Please observe the following procedures until further notice:

Incoming Mail
All deliveries to campus addresses—including U.S. mail, intracampus mail, and parcels—will be received, sorted, and held at the campus Mail Room/Central Receiving location in Clinton Center.

Department representatives may make appointments for pickups by calling the campus Mail Room at 878-5515 or Central Receiving at 878-5729. Curbside pickups will occur at the south side of the Clinton Center (Lot R-10) from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

When you arrive to receive items, please call the appropriate department (Mail Room or Central Receiving) and stay in your vehicle. Have your trunk open; the items will be brought out to you. Signatures will not be required. Individuals may retrieve mail or parcels for more than one department.

Departments or individuals will be notified by e-mail and by phone if possible of any perishable items that arrive.  

This process will help protect employees through social distancing, allow Central Receiving and Mail Room staff to limit density, and ensure the security of mail and property.

Outgoing Mail
All outgoing mail must be delivered to the Mail Room in Clinton Center for metering.

The Buffalo State College Copy Center will be monitored remotely, with no staff on site, to help reduce the spread of and exposure to COVID-19. The following criteria will be in place until further notice:

Urgent and high-volume print jobs may be sent by e-mail to the Copy Center. Please include the quantity, size, account number, and date needed (giving two to three business days’ notice when practicable).

Staff members will monitor this account remotely to ensure that jobs are received print ready, and account information is correct. All jobs will be acknowledged via e-mail. If there is a question, a Copy Center staff member will reply to the e-mail at his or her earliest opportunity.

Jobs may take two or three business days to complete.

Once jobs are complete, Copy Center staff members will contact departments to coordinate pickup at the Copy Center. Pickup will be conducted in a manner that limits density and maintains social distance.

This guidance applies through March 31, 2020, and is subject to extension. It supports the continued processing of time records and payments for hourly employees (includes CSEA Hourly, UUP Hourly, student assistants, and work-study students):

Employees with a Recurring Set Schedule
Until further notice, hourly employees who work a set schedule or less than a set schedule should complete their time cards (or designated time keeper, i.e., their supervisor) reflecting their normal schedule and be paid accordingly. Hourly employees who work more than their set schedule should be paid for actual hours worked.

Employees without a Recurring Work Schedule
Hourly employees without a recurring work schedule should be paid for any actual hours worked as reported on their time cards. If the amount is less than their average pay for the previous two pay periods, the employee will be paid for the average number of hours worked in a pay period, determined by averaging hours worked in the previous two pay periods. Such employees will be paid for actual hours worked if their pay for the current pay period would exceed average pay for the previous two pay periods.

Research Foundation Hourly Employees
The ability to pay employees who are grant funded is dependent on the guidelines provided by each sponsor. The overall rule is that there must be a benefit to the project for any charge on a grant. Unless that rule is specifically waived by the sponsor, employees who are unable to work during the COVID-19 epidemic must either charge their leave accruals or be placed on unpaid leave. Those placed on unpaid leave may be eligible to collect unemployment. Please contact your principal investigator to determine your work status.

Non-essential employees who are not in the workplace pursuant to the governor’s direction should code time sheets as time worked. Such employees should be working from home to the greatest extent possible. Hourly employees, including CSEA Hourly or UUP Hourly, student assistants, and work-study students, may work remotely via the telecommuting program. Essential employees not in the workplace may also work remotely via the telecommuting program. Telecommuters will treat telecommuting days like regular workdays and will be expected to maintain a regular work routine while telecommuting. Supervisors may require telecommuters to have a set telecommuting schedule that is specified on the work plan. Telecommuters will work their entire approved workday. Supervisors will ensure the work plan is followed and review and approve their time sheets.

This process is based on current guidance, applies from March 16 forward, and is subject to change at any time.

I am pleased to inform you that Zhang Jie, Buffalo State College professor of sociology, has been appointed Distinguished Professor by the State University of New York Board of Trustees.

The Distinguished Professorship, SUNY’s highest academic rank, is conferred upon faculty who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within their chosen field through significant contributions to research and scholarship or through artistic performance or achievement in the fine or performing arts. The selection criteria for Distinguished Professor are rigorous and exacting.

Since joining the Sociology Department in fall 1997, Dr. Zhang has distinguished himself as an internationally known scholar in suicidology. He has published widely in multiple journals, magazines, and books about the social and cultural effects of suicide in China and other countries. Along with his teaching duties, Professor Zhang also serves as director of Buffalo State’s Center for China Studies.

He has held several concurrent academic positions in China, including director of the Center for Suicide Prevention Research (CSPR) at Shandong University and overseas specialist for the Chinese Association of Science and Technology in Beijing.

Over the course of his career as a social scientist, Dr. Zhang has received numerous grants from various organizations, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ford Foundation, and the Foundation for Asia Pacific Education.

He was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2013; the President’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity in 2007; the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2005; and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2002. He holds a Ph.D. from Brigham Young University.

I view Dr. Zhang as a pioneer for his groundbreaking and innovative research in the field of suicidology. His commitment to professional excellence is reflected in his appointment to SUNY’s highest academic rank.

As a newly active member of the SUNY Distinguished Academy, he will work with other distinguished faculty across SUNY to encourage a renewed commitment to quality instruction, service on our campuses, and leadership development for our newer faculty.

Buffalo State is extremely proud to claim Professor Zhang among its faculty, and I hope you will join me in congratulating him on this remarkable honor.

The State of New York, SUNY System Administration, and Buffalo State College recognize that there are legitimate reasons for faculty and staff members to remove property from Buffalo State College for work-related functions.

All Buffalo State College property—whether recorded on a departmental inventory or not—that is removed from campus by faculty or staff for work-related functions must be identified on a Loan of College Property form (PDF, 157 KB).

This requirement applies to assets, such as laptop computers, that are transported back and forth on a continual basis.

All signatures are required in order for the form to be considered a valid request. It is the responsibility of the user to secure the required permission and signatures. Electronic signatures are permissible.

Loan Renewals: Loan forms are required to be renewed every year. An e-mail reminder will be sent out when the user’s loan has expired. Signed original forms should be submitted to the Property Control Office.

Loan Returns: It is the user’s responsibility to report to Property Control when a loaned asset has been returned to campus. This will remove the loan status from the user and allow for the inventory to be updated to reflect the new location of the property. If the return is not reported, then the loan status for the asset will remain with the user. This will cause inaccuracies when an audit occurs.

Please contact Property Control with any loan or inventory questions.

Thank you, everyone, for all you are doing to prepare for and implement remote instruction next week. I’d like to share with you some information about the process and key players as we continue to help students who need assistance with access to hardware and software for course participation.

Some of our students have indicated that to complete their courses off campus, they must borrow a campus computer. Buffalo State College and SUNY are provisioning laptops for students who have expressed this need. Distribution of this equipment has presented challenges that we continue to work through.

I ask that you be patient with students who may not have received equipment as of next week. I will update campus as soon as I have more information.

Jeffrey Ventura, assistant director of athletics for sports information, continues to be the point of contact in coordinating student requests for hardware. If your department is working with students to provide for their needed resources from campus, please contact Jeffrey Ventura and inform him. This is essential so that we do not duplicate efforts.

In addition, students who have an unmet need (meaning they have taken all financial aid including loans) and have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 can request help to purchase technology through the Emergency Relief Fund Program. Students should apply online through the Dean of Students website.

Once a student has applied, the Dean of Students Office will contact the student and identify next steps in the process. If a student does not qualify for assistance through this program, their information will be shared with the Student Affairs staff members who are coordinating alternative means for students to borrow technology.

Thank you, everyone, for all you are doing to prepare for and implement remote instruction this week. I’d like to share with you some information about the process and key players as we continue to help students who need assistance with access to hardware and software for course participation.

Some of our students have indicated that to complete their courses off campus, they must borrow a campus computer. Buffalo State College and SUNY are provisioning laptops for students who have expressed this need. Distribution of this equipment has presented challenges that we continue to work through.

I ask that you be patient with students who may not have received equipment as of this week. I will update campus as soon as I have more information.

Jeffrey Ventura, assistant director of athletics for sports information, continues to be the point of contact in coordinating student requests for hardware. If your department is working with students to provide for their needed resources from campus, please contact Jeffrey Ventura and inform him. This is essential so that we do not duplicate efforts.

In addition, students who have an unmet need (meaning they have taken all financial aid including loans) and have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 can request help to purchase technology through the Emergency Relief Fund Program. Students should apply online through the Dean of Students website.

Once a student has applied, the Dean of Students Office will contact the student and identify next steps in the process. If a student does not qualify for assistance through this program, their information will be shared with the Student Affairs staff members who are coordinating alternative means for students to borrow technology.

Because of the impact of COVID-19, the Procurement Services Office in Cleveland Hall 406 is closed. All staff members are working remotely until further notice.

During this time, please observe the following temporary procedures:

1. Purchase requisitions may be submitted by e-mail as long as all supporting documentation (e.g., competing quotations) is attached. Requisitions must be e-mailed by the account signatory to Bonnie Heim, Terri Locher, or Penny Reusch. Please see the General Purchasing Process for details about required documentation.
2. When you submit a purchase requisition by e-mail, you must include the following information clearly and legibly:

   • The name of the Procurement Office staff member you are contacting and the date, for example: “Requisition e-mailed to BONNIE HEIM on MARCH 30

   •  An e-mail address for the vendor where the purchase order can be sent

   •  The notation “URGENT: COVID-19” if appropriate
    

3. All orders must be shipped to campus, not home, addresses.
4. Completed orders may be retrieved by the requester from Central Receiving at the south entrance of Clinton Center. Please follow Buffalo State’s current procedure for retrieving mail.
5. The original paper copy of the requisition must be forwarded to the Procurement Office in Cleveland Hall 406 at a later date. 

Please check the Procurement Services website for up-to-date information and all current purchasing guidelines and procedures.

Thank you.

The initiation and processing of personnel forms for appointments, leaves, separations, etc., have been updated to allow for electronic signatures and routing. The Current Employee Change Form and the Faculty and Professional Appointment Form, both available on the Human Resource Management Office website, may be routed electronically and in accordance with the Authorization Policy for Personnel Transactions (PDF, 150 KB).

Questions about the forms or process may be directed via e-mail to Jamie Warnes, officer in charge of human resource management.