In support of Buffalo State’s Strategic Plan 2022–2026, faculty and staff members in Academic Affairs have been engaged in the development of a new divisional operational plan, which is now available to the campus community. Starting today, June 5, Academic Affairs will begin managing progress of the operational plan using AchieveIt, Buffalo State’s plan management software. Use of the software will support Academic Affairs’ interest in providing transparency and use of appropriate data in strategic decision-making.

The Academic Affairs Operational Plan (PDF, 140 KB) is available on the Institutional Effectiveness and Planning website. I encourage you to review our operational plan, which demonstrates a commitment to supporting Buffalo State’s strategic priorities and advancing our mission. The operational plan also highlights some of the innovative and outstanding work in which our faculty and staff are engaged. 

Please contact Carolynn Krupp, director of institutional planning, or Kim Barron, assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and planning, with questions or comments.

After careful review and evaluation, I have decided not to make a permanent appointment of a chief diversity officer. I will leave this cabinet-level appointment decision to the next president. I have asked Lisa Morrison-Fronckowiak to continue to serve the university in this leadership role, and I am pleased to advise that she accepted and will continue as the interim chief diversity officer.

When I retired from Buffalo State in 2018, I left with a wealth of positive memories. During my career serving as the chief of staff under five presidents and as a faculty member in the Higher Education Administration Department, I witnessed so much progress and so many amazing accomplishments on campus, primarily fueled by the faculty and staff’s devotion to Buffalo State students.

I wasn’t planning to emerge from a very busy retirement filled with volunteer commitments and time spent with family; however, when SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr., along with leaders from the Western New York community, encouraged me to apply for the officer in charge position, I accepted the challenge. I was thrilled to receive notice from Dr. King last week that I was the chosen candidate. After the SUNY Board of Trustees meets on Tuesday, June 6, I anticipate officially becoming Buffalo State’s interim president. I feel honored to serve the campus in this role during the nationwide search for Buffalo State’s next permanent president.

During the months ahead, I know I cannot address all the challenges many of you have identified in recent surveys and forums; however, I do plan to work with the cabinet to focus on three key priorities:

• Enrollment — I envision a three-pronged approach to this crucial area: student recruitment, retention, and graduation. With the help of constituents in Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Admissions, we will review best practices for an institution such as Buffalo State, one that serves students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds, geographic areas, and cultures. Improving ways in which we retain and graduate students is just as important as how we recruit them.
• Improving standards and collegiality — After reading through the Campus Culture and Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey, it’s evident that campus constituents need to develop a higher level of trust in one another. This will require greater transparency from the administration, a deeper commitment to shared governance, and more frequent communication. I plan to work with the cabinet on all those strategies. Meanwhile, I know many positive things are happening every day on campus, thanks to the work of all of you. Let’s highlight those accomplishments as well.
•  Additional revenue — Considering our financial situation and enrollment numbers, I believe it would benefit the university to explore additional forms of revenue outside of tuition dollars. For instance, we will look at opportunities to increase public use of our esteemed facilities, including the athletic complexes and fields, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall. We’d also like to increase attendance at events hosted by all our campus facilities.

While we can’t accomplish everything during this interim period, I am committed to making progress in the identified areas during my time as your interim president. I welcome input from the campus, and plan to host open forums and department meetings over the coming months to encourage feedback. Also, I welcome one-on-one meetings. Please contact Tom Gwitt, secretary to the president, if you’re interested in meeting with me.

I look forward to seeing those of you I had the pleasure of working with during my first 22 years at Buffalo State, as well as meeting faculty and staff members who have joined the university since my retirement. Together, I know we can work toward making Buffalo State the best university it can be for our students, faculty, and staff.

The divisions of Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Enrollment Management have continued to collaborate and implement strategic efforts supporting retention and the integration of the student experience. Redevelopment of space in Bengal Hall will support Roar 2 Success and other program efforts and opportunities for faculty engagement with students, located in a central campus location for both residential and commuter students. To continue this process, the Residence Life Office will be moving from Bengal Hall 118 to Twin Rise 100A on Monday, June 12. To support this move, the Residence Life Office will be closed on Monday, June 12. Staff members will still be able to answer general calls and respond to any crisis situations. The Residence Life Office phone numbers will remain the same after the move is complete.

Please email Residence Life with questions.

The Buffalo State presidential search is well underway. I am pleased to give you an update regarding what we have done, where we are now, and what the next steps in the process will look like.

Ongoing Recruiting Efforts
We have placed the position advertisement in several national publications, and our search consultants—Vicki Henderson, Christopher Lee, and Steve Leo from the national search firm Storbeck Search—have begun contacting candidates who have been nominated by others as well as actively recruiting prospective candidates. We are eager to hear from individuals within the Buffalo State community concerning your thoughts and ideas that can benefit this search. We invite you to nominate individuals whom you believe the committee should consider for the position of president of Buffalo State University by emailing their names and information to the search committee at BuffaloStatePresident@storbecksearch.com.

Applicant Review
The search committee has begun the review of applications and will continue its review through mid-August. We are on track to conduct our confidential interviews in September, with the goal of having a group of finalists visit the campus in late September or early October.

Search Survey
I thank all of you who were able to participate in the presidential search survey circulated to faculty, staff, students, alumni, administrators, and community leaders. Your responses helped the search committee better understand the issues and challenges related to the search. We received over 1,700 responses, which is an outstanding number.

Confidentiality
A search for a university president requires a careful balance between transparency of the process and confidentiality, which includes shielding individual candidates’ names until we reach the finalist stage. We thank you for understanding that the best candidates require confidentiality and that the committee members have all agreed to abide by this rule.

Thank you for your support as we move forward with this important search.

Sincerely,

Linda A. Dobmeier, ’71
Chair, Buffalo State Presidential Search Committee
Chair, Buffalo State Council

As announced in the May 19 issue of the Daily Bulletin, the Cleveland Hall corridor project is now underway. The good news is that the project is going well and is ahead of schedule; however, this progress has altered some parts of the previously announced timeline regarding the closure of individual floors.

In general, the proposed dates have been moved up by half a week or so. The new dates are as follows:

Second and Third Floor (West End Only), Fourth Floor (Entire Floor)
Offline and inaccessible: Thursday–Friday, June 15–16
(Overall impact: June 12–23)

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Fifth Floor (Entire Floor)
Offline and inaccessible: Thursday–Friday, July 13–14
(Overall impact: July 10–31)

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Again, all affected Cleveland Hall employees should discuss this impact with their staff and supervisors and plan accordingly. Project schedules will be shared, posted, and updated as needed. Your understanding is appreciated as this project is carried out. Related questions may be directed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.

At the May 12, 2023, meeting of the College Senate, the Standards for Students Committee presented a revision to DOPS Policy on Grading I:16:03 to define the X grade. The Senate voted in favor of the resolution as a formal recommendation to the president:

BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE
DIRECTORY OF POLICY STATEMENTS
Policy Number: I:16:03                                             
Date: Updated
Subject: Define the X Grade

WHEREAS, there are about 1,200 outstanding X grades on student records going back to the mid-’90s; and

WHEREAS, reviewing these records with X grades reveals students eligible to graduate if not for the X grade on their transcript; and

WHEREAS, despite a majority of the X grades being settled within three semesters, unresolved X grades continue to accumulate each semester; and

WHEREAS, the Registrar's Office shares a report of unresolved X grades with the departments at the end of every term; and

WHEREAS, unresolved X grades create unnecessary barriers to completion for students,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that DOPS I:16:03 be revised to define the X grade and align with other letter grades described in the policy. This definition should provide a time frame for prompt resolution of the X grade and hold the student harmless until the X grade is resolved; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any outstanding X grades from semesters prior to fall 2021 shall immediately be granted “CR” for equivalent credits by the Registrar’s Office; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that current outstanding X grades be reviewed and resolved by individual departments.

X (grade not submitted) is automatically assigned to empty grades where no action was taken during the grading process. X grades are the instructor’s and the department’s responsibility for the course. The instructor should submit a grade change by the 10th week of the following semester. If the instructor cannot resolve the X grade, the chair or program coordinator will be responsible for resolving the student’s grade. If the X grade is unresolved after two years, the Registrar’s Office will convert the grade to CR for equivalent credits.

I hereby accept the recommendation of the College Senate and charge the provost with the responsibility of overseeing the implementation of this policy change and for communicating the change to the campus community.

On behalf of the President’s Office and Buffalo State University, I extend my best wishes to Thomas Gwitt, who has accepted the position of executive assistant to the senior vice president of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. His last day at Buffalo State is Friday, June 30.

Mr. Gwitt has been a valued member of our campus community for 16 years, serving as secretary to three presidents and three interim presidents, including nine years under former President Katherine Conway-Turner. We wish him the very best as he moves forward.  

Please join us for cupcakes at a farewell reception on Thursday, June 29, at 12:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 517. All are invited to attend.

On behalf of the division of Finance and Management, I extend my gratitude and best wishes to Donna Scuto, who will retire from her position as associate vice president for sponsored programs administration and deputy operations manager for the Research Foundation for SUNY on Friday, June 30, after 47 years of service to SUNY.

Mrs. Scuto began her SUNY career at the University at Buffalo, where she progressed through several positions with UB’s Research Foundation. Mrs. Scuto served UB as senior account clerk, fiscal operations manager, director of the Office of Grants and Contracts, and AVP for both sponsored programs administration and policy and internal control. She came to Buffalo State as AVP for sponsored programs administration in August 2013. 

Mrs. Scuto has served the campus with dedication and commitment. In her current role, she manages the staff assigned to the Sponsored Programs area while also assisting with numerous committee assignments and managing the daily sponsored programs operations to the benefit of faculty, staff, and students. She has served as campus and Niagara Frontier SEFA/United Way representative and co-chair of the Research Foundation Administrator’s Symposium, serves on the Sponsored Programs Management Group, and much more. Under her leadership, the Sponsored Programs Administration Office received the Succeeding Through Agility Partnership Excellence Award from the Research Foundation for SUNY in 2022.

Please join us for a celebration of Mrs. Scuto’s dedicated service and accomplishments at an open house on Friday, June 30, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 418. Kindly RSVP by email by Tuesday, June 27.

We also extend our gratitude to Jessica Berg from Pre-Award and Contract Services, who will continue in her role as director of sponsored programs administration and will assume the role of deputy RF operations manager upon Mrs. Scuto’s departure.

As announced in the May 19 issue of the Daily Bulletin and updated June 12, the Cleveland Hall Corridor Project is underway. The good news is that the project is going well and continues to be ahead of schedule; however, this will again change some of the previously announced dates regarding the closure of individual floors.

The new dates are as follows:

Second and Third Floor (West End Only), Fourth Floor (Entire Floor)
Overall impact: June 12–30 (previously June 12–23)

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Fifth Floor (Entire Floor)
Offline and inaccessible: Wednesday–Thursday, July 5–6 (previously Thursday–Friday, July 13–14)
Overall impact: June 30–July 14 (previously July 10–July 31)

Again, all affected Cleveland Hall employees should discuss this impact with their staff and supervisors and plan accordingly. Project schedules will continue to be shared, posted, and updated as needed. Your understanding is appreciated as this project is undertaken. Related questions may be directed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.