Members of the campus community are invited to submit nominations for the following student awards: 

President’s Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student
One undergraduate student and one graduate student will be awarded the President’s Medal. The President’s Medal is the highest honor awarded to a student by Buffalo State College. This award is given to a student who, through use of their natural talents and acquired skills, has demonstrated a commitment toward meeting the goals of higher education as set forth in the university’s mission statement. The recipients will deliver the student address at Commencement. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 is required for consideration for this award. Only students graduating in August 2021, December 2021, January 2022, May 2022, or August 2022 will be considered.* 

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence
The Chancellor’s Award is the highest honor bestowed by SUNY upon a student. This award will be offered in two categories:

(1) The General Award with special achievement in at least three of the following areas: Academic Excellence, Leadership, Campus Involvement, Community Service, or the Arts.

(2) This year SUNY is continuing to designate recipients of Special Awards, which will be bestowed to one student systemwide in each of the following categories: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Special Service (Mental Health); and Overcoming the Odds. Special Awards will be bestowed on up to five students systemwide in the Military category, honoring each branch of the military. These students may have already received recognition from campus, local, state, national, or international organizations; if so, please include that information in the nomination process.

To be eligible, a student must graduate between June 2021 and May 2022. Successful candidates will be invited to the Capital District for an award ceremony and reception on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. 

Nomination Procedure
Nominations are being sought for both awards. Students must be nominated by a faculty or staff member at Buffalo State College. Candidates must have demonstrated the qualities recognized by each award. Selection criteria are similar for each award; however, to be considered for the President’s Medal, a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 is required. A student may be nominated for either or both awards. 

Selection Criteria for Both Awards
Academic Excellence: Documented via grade point average, honors received, rank in class, research, and other scholarly projects.

Arts: As measured by accomplishments and contributions in a student's particular discipline, if he or she is a performer, artist, craftsperson, or similar.

Citizenship: As measured by community service, the quality of extracurricular activities, and/or involvement in professional organizations.

Campus Involvement: As measured by significant accomplishments, contributions, or experiences in campus involvement while a student at Buffalo State.

Leadership/Creativity: Documented local, state, national, or international recognition for excellence (e.g., recipient of major national scholarships or athletic awards, or recognition by national and international associations and honor societies).

For graduate students: Documented by activities related to the discipline of graduate degree program or other university service leadership in a professional organization, or community outreach activities related to the field of study.

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence: Special Award: Documented activities and achievements related to one of the following categories: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Special Service (Mental Health); Overcoming the Odds; and Military.

More information and nomination materials are available on the Student Affairs website. 

Deadline
Nominations and supporting documentation can be submitted electronically by email to Amanda Marzolf or dropped off in Cleveland Hall 513 by 4:00 p.m. Monday, December 27.

Students should submit their portfolio in a single PDF or a hard copy in a binder and be sure to also email the three required Word documents alongside the portfolio (information form, personal statement, and resume or curriculum vitae).

Please contact Amanda Marzolf, (716) 878-4704, with questions or concerns regarding the submission or application process.

*Information will be verified with the Registrar's Office.

Members of the campus community are invited to submit nominations for the following student awards: 

President’s Medal for Outstanding Undergraduate and Graduate Student
One undergraduate student and one graduate student will be awarded the President’s Medal. The President’s Medal is the highest honor awarded to a student by Buffalo State College. This award is given to a student who, through use of their natural talents and acquired skills, has demonstrated a commitment toward meeting the goals of higher education as set forth in the university’s mission statement. The recipients will deliver the student address at Commencement. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 is required for consideration for this award. Only students graduating in August 2021, December 2021, January 2022, May 2022, or August 2022 will be considered.* 

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence
The Chancellor’s Award is the highest honor bestowed by SUNY upon a student. This award will be offered in two categories:

(1) The General Award with special achievement in at least three of the following areas: Academic Excellence, Leadership, Campus Involvement, Community Service, or the Arts.

(2) This year SUNY is continuing to designate recipients of Special Awards, which will be bestowed to one student systemwide in each of the following categories: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Special Service (Mental Health); and Overcoming the Odds. Special Awards will be bestowed on up to five students systemwide in the Military category, honoring each branch of the military. These students may have already received recognition from campus, local, state, national, or international organizations; if so, please include that information in the nomination process.

To be eligible, a student must graduate between June 2021 and May 2022. Successful candidates will be invited to the Capital District for an award ceremony and reception on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. 

Nomination Procedure
Nominations are being sought for both awards. Students must be nominated by a faculty or staff member at Buffalo State College. Candidates must have demonstrated the qualities recognized by each award. Selection criteria are similar for each award; however, to be considered for the President’s Medal, a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5 is required. A student may be nominated for either or both awards. 

Selection Criteria for Both Awards
Academic Excellence: Documented via grade point average, honors received, rank in class, research, and other scholarly projects.

Arts: As measured by accomplishments and contributions in a student's particular discipline, if he or she is a performer, artist, craftsperson, or similar.

Citizenship: As measured by community service, the quality of extracurricular activities, and/or involvement in professional organizations.

Campus Involvement: As measured by significant accomplishments, contributions, or experiences in campus involvement while a student at Buffalo State.

Leadership/Creativity: Documented local, state, national, or international recognition for excellence (e.g., recipient of major national scholarships or athletic awards, or recognition by national and international associations and honor societies).

For graduate students: Documented by activities related to the discipline of graduate degree program or other university service leadership in a professional organization, or community outreach activities related to the field of study.

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence: Special Award: Documented activities and achievements related to one of the following categories: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Special Service (Mental Health); Overcoming the Odds; and Military.

More information and nomination materials are available on the Student Affairs website. 

Deadline
Nominations and supporting documentation can be submitted electronically by email to Amanda Marzolf or dropped off in Cleveland Hall 513 by 4:00 p.m. Monday, December 27.

Students should submit their portfolio in a single PDF or a hard copy in a binder and be sure to also email the three required Word documents alongside the portfolio (information form, personal statement, and resume or curriculum vitae).

Please contact Amanda Marzolf, (716) 878-4704, with questions or concerns regarding the submission or application process.

*Information will be verified with the Registrar's Office.

As announced on November 9, the Buffalo State College community is demonstrating its commitment to supporting the resettlement of the estimated 350 Afghan evacuees who are coming to Buffalo by contributing to a significant campus collection drive of items needed to re-home our new neighbors.

Please consider organizing a team to collect requested items found on the Welcome Kit list (PDF, 178 KB) or WNYRAC list of large donation needs. We ask that you review the lists carefully as to be certain that you are donating requested items. Donations can be brought to South Wing 110 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. and from noon to 1:00 p.m. starting Monday, December 6, through Wednesday, December 22.

Thank you for joining the Buffalo State community to demonstrate our commitment to social justice, diversity, inclusion, and civic engagement. Please email the Civic and Community Engagement Office with questions. For more information on the effort, please visit the Buffalo United for Afghan Evacuees website.

Beginning this month, Information Technology will resume appraisal of the more than 3,000 campus-owned devices assigned to faculty and staff. This important project is expected to continue for about one year.

The purpose of the appraisal is to review device age and the state of security software associated with each device and its various applications. This appraisal will help to inform our campuswide technology refresh plan, which will determine when devices may be replaced or upgraded with newer operating systems, security, and applications. A technology refresh plan will be integrated into the strategic resource planning process.

IT staff members will begin to contact department administrative support staff in late December to schedule device appraisal. A project schedule is maintained and will be updated regularly.

Please save your important work from a Mac or PC to Office 365 OneDrive to preserve it during the appraisal and refresh. You can read more about the project online. Questions may be addressed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.

Dr. Alvin Turner and I cordially invite you to attend the annual campus holiday party tomorrow, December 10, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

Masks required. For the health and safety of campus, this year's party is “grab and go.” Multiple stations will provide delicious takeaway treats and space for exchanging season’s greetings.

Please join us in the giving spirit of the season by donating to Milligan's Food Pantry. Please donate unexpired, commercially packaged nonperishable items only.

As you know, the vast majority of higher education institutions across the country are facing tremendous financial pressures. Buffalo State College’s financial concerns are no different. I understand the unease and anxiety this financial uncertainly is causing, so I wanted to convey some additional information on our financial picture and our efforts to stabilize our budget.

Our financial difficulties are the result of a number of issues, some of which have been affecting campus finances for more than a decade, and still others that have been caused or exacerbated by the current health crisis. On many occasions, I have discussed these causes, some of which have been forecast for many years and are well documented throughout higher education news media. These problems are a constant source of concern within SUNY, the region, and across peer institutions. Waning numbers of high school graduates, concerns about the value of a college education, rapid declines in community college students, lower retention rates, heightened competition, and the trauma of the pandemic constitute the forces that are affecting finances campuswide. These factors are detrimental to our enrollment and therefore negatively affect the financial resources available to campus.

Many of these forces were looming before the pandemic. The need to innovatively develop new revenue streams became a constant refrain in my campus comments. Additionally, in 2018, I developed and implemented a plan to permanently reduce $7 million in expenses from campus. Because 89 percent of our entire budget is directly related to personnel (salaries), as a community, we understood that we’d use some reduction in staff through attrition and retirements to partially reduce expenses. Through this attrition, as well as increased efficiencies and cross-divisional solutions, we have been able to successfully make these reductions in our expenses permanent, but unfortunately that was only the beginning.

We understood that even with flat state funding, yearly negotiated salary increases would mean a continual need to reduce our expenses. I advised my cabinet to continue to engage in planning so that we could strategically review our workforce and explore additional efficiencies while still supporting our mission and priorities. It was clear that the entire campus would need to be fully engaged in this process and that this would take several years. Thus, under the leadership of Vice President for Finance and Management Laura Barnum, I instituted the Strategic Resource Planning Process (SRPP). It is through this process that all areas across campus—academic and support units—will explore how their resources align with our important mission-strategic work. To fully assess the work of each unit, accurate institutional data must be made openly available. Last year, as we implemented the SRPP, the Institutional Research Office performed significant work to inform this process. SRPP workbooks, under review for next year, will inform how campus will best align its resources with its strategic priorities.

As the pandemic hit, it was unclear how we would manage what was predicted to be an extremely tough time for higher education. COVID-19-related costs, including the refunding of tuition to students who returned home when the pandemic shut down campus early, only worsened an already difficult situation. Fortunately, the three phases of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) allocated to Buffalo State provided us more time deal with an increasingly difficult budgetary situation. In the short term, these one-time federal resources have allowed us to continue with our planned, measured, and strategic approach toward settling our finances.

Toward that goal, this year we have been able to adjust those levers that are under our control to positively influence our financial outlook:

1. Under construction is a multiyear enrollment plan within the Enrollment Management division, developed with the thoughtful insights of the Enrollment and Resource Planning Task Force (ERPT).
2. Efforts are underway within the Academic Affairs division to develop new or revised programs that will attract new students or new populations that have not been traditionally represented on campus in large numbers. Those efforts include the following:
      

   a.  Further increasing partnerships with local high schools to gain a larger portion of dual-enrollment students.
   b.  Investigating new online programs with significant student interest, especially at the master’s level.
   c.  Modifying existing programs to meet the needs of today’s students, creating more student excitement and interest throughout the entire length of the program, thus decreasing student attrition.
   d.  Developing workshops for industry through Continuing and Professional Studies to address critical industry needs while generating new revenue streams.

3. We have made significant progress in our philanthropic initiatives, exceeding our campus goals. This year, we have capitalized on our 150th anniversary as an opportunity for our alumni and supporters to make gifts that will enhance our future; I expect we will exceed those goals again this year.
4. We are increasing the number of students on several current athletic teams, exploring new club sports, and bolstering our support for intramural teams to attract larger numbers of students interested in athletics.
5. We have implemented a retention plan with the goals of increasing our retention by a minimum of 10 percent over the next five years.
6. We have joined an AASCU transfer collaborative to improve our ability to recruit, retain, and graduate a larger number of transfer students throughout Western New York.
7. We have expanded funded research, which will modestly decrease pressure on the personnel portion of our state budget.
8. We are adding greater mental health resources on campus to assist in this important need that will augment our retention efforts and support programs.

While our plans to stabilize our financial situation will certainly consist of reducing expenses and increasing efficiencies, we will continue to strategically invest where needed through our resource planning process in support of emerging initiatives like those above. The need for the entire campus to innovate has never been more important.

Of course, the upcoming New York State budget process remains the most critical and consequential component of our future financial picture. Along with those of our SUNY peer campuses, our advocacy efforts will focus on increasing direct state aid to support campus operations and fully fund negotiated salary increases. We will also be urging lawmakers to accelerate the closing of the TAP gap, ensuring that campuses like Buffalo State, which serve the state’s neediest students, are funded appropriately.

At the end of this academic year (June 2022), following the current year’s SRPP and assessing new revenue or savings from ongoing efforts, we will have a better picture of where we are landing financially. No new campuswide reductions or budget actions are planned before June 2022, but at that point, I will announce a multiyear goal for the campus to make further permanent reductions to our expenses and some modest yet strategic investments to keep innovation moving forward. Once this goal is established, we will work collaboratively with the campus community to implement the changes needed to reach the goal while providing the best possible education for our students.

I appreciate the collaborative projects and innovative thoughts that are being implemented across campus, especially during the difficult times we continue to navigate. You are invited to stay informed and involved in our budget process by participating in the Bengal Business Forum. Future meetings will be announced in the Daily Bulletin. Our success will be found in new strategies, greater student support, and new sources of revenue. These key factors will militate against the permanent reductions needed across campus as we steady our financial footing.

I’m pleased to inform you that Ilya Grinberg, professor of engineering technology, has been appointed Distinguished Teaching Professor by the State University of New York Board of Trustees. This honor is bestowed on faculty members who have achieved national or international prominence and a distinguished reputation within their field through significant contributions to research and scholarship or creative activity.

Through his more than 25 years with the college, Professor Grinberg has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to academic excellence and student success. Dr. Grinberg currently serves as director of the electrical engineering technology (EET) program, where he makes it a priority not only to impart crucial academic lessons but also to connect students with internships and jobs. Through this tireless work, he puts Buffalo State College’s social mobility mission into practice. Many of Grinberg’s former students have landed leadership positions and highly coveted jobs across the country.

Originally from Ukraine, Dr. Grinberg holds a Kandidat Nauk degree (equivalent to Ph.D.) in electrical engineering from Moscow State University of Civil Engineering and qualifications of an electrical engineer (equivalent to master’s degree in electrical engineering) from Lviv Polytechnic National University in Lviv, Ukraine. Since joining Buffalo State in 1995, Dr. Grinberg has spearheaded many initiatives. They include setting up the comprehensive Smart Grid Laboratory with the University at Buffalo in 2011, developing a senior design sequence emphasizing undergraduate research, and preparing students to compete in design project competitions against some of the top engineering programs in the nation.

Dr. Grinberg is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the largest professional society in the world, and is the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (ETAC) of ABET commissioner. In fall 2020, he received an IEEE Region 1 Outstanding Teaching Award for his contributions to education in the power industry.

He has also developed and revised multiple courses at Buffalo State and leads departmental activities in ABET accreditation. He has authored or coauthored more than 57 peer-reviewed journals and conference publications. In addition, he’s a recognized scholar and author in World War II military history. The book he co-authored with Von Hardesty, Red Phoenix Rising: The Soviet Air Force in WWII (University of Kansas Press, 2012), was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine.

In 2012, Dr. Grinberg received the President’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity, and in 2016, he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellent in Scholarship and Creative Activities.

He will be officially inducted into the SUNY Distinguished Academy at a ceremony in Albany in early June. Next fall, we will honor Dr. Grinberg on campus at our Faculty and Staff Recognition Ceremony. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Dr. Grinberg on this prestigious honor.

Dr. Alvin Turner and I cordially invite you to attend the annual campus holiday party today, December 10, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

Masks required. For the health and safety of campus, this year's party is “grab and go.” Multiple stations will provide delicious takeaway treats and space for exchanging season’s greetings.

Please join us in the giving spirit of the season by donating to Milligan's Food Pantry. Please donate unexpired, commercially packaged nonperishable items only.

I am pleased to announce the creation of the Center for English Teaching, an interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty and English education professionals who share a common mission to advance excellence in the teaching of English and the language arts. The center will provide an important connection between community agencies concerned with the promotion of literacy and the college’s programs in English education, English language arts, and literacy. The overarching goal of the Center for English Teaching is to create, maintain, and enhance a model educational unit based at Buffalo State College in an organized collaboration of the Western New York Network of English Teachers, the Western New York Writing Project, the English Education Student Association (EESA), and the English Education Alumni Network (EEAN) along with the faculty, staff, and teacher candidates in the Teacher Education Unit at Buffalo State. This unit will focus on shared interests and common themes in the critical areas of literacy and the English language arts for preservice and in-service teachers and school leaders. Developed by the English education faculty, the center will be under the governance of the School of Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Teacher Education Council and the Teacher Education Unit.

Please share your views about parking on campus. Buffalo State College is conducting a campuswide parking study to review existing parking options, parking demand, operations, and impacts of future campus growth.

This survey will help inform the parking study by providing input on the parking needs of faculty and staff members. We would appreciate your input. All Buffalo State faculty and staff members are welcome to participate.

Please complete the brief survey (two minutes or less of your time) by Friday, December 24.