Homecoming is a time when the campus community comes together to celebrate and showcase our school spirit. The Door Decoration Contest allows the departments and offices to show their Bengal pride in a creative way. With a record number of participants this year and a big showing of Buffalo State spirit, our judges certainly had a difficult decision to make, but they were able to select a first place winner as well as runners-up. 

The winner of the 2023 Homecoming Door Decorating Contest is:

Career and Professional Education (CAPE)

The departments receiving runner-up recognition are:

Second place: United Students Government (USG)
Third place: Alumni Engagement 

Honorable Mention: Honors Program and Student Accounts and Parking Services  

For a complete list of submissions, please visit the Homecoming and Family Weekend website.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year and I encourage everyone to stop and check out these amazing doors. 

As a reminder, there are still plenty of Homecoming events happening the rest of the week and into the weekend, including:

Friday, September 29

• USG Homecoming Party in the Plaza, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. in the Plaza

Saturday, September 30

• Free Planetarium Shows, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the Science and Mathematics Complex

• Women’s Volleyball vs. New Paltz, 1:00 p.m. in the Sports Arena

• Women’s Soccer vs. SUNY Cortland, 1:00 p.m. at Coyer Field

• Homecoming Tailgate at 3:00 p.m. followed by the Football Game vs. University of Rochester at 5:00 p.m.

I am excited to announce the establishment of the Global Studies Institute (GSI) at Buffalo State University. The GSI is a hub for research, education, outreach, and service activities on global issues and world regions. It aims to offer the synergy for the campus community and beyond in addressing and advancing global understanding, engagement, and cooperation in a complex and changing world. 

Buffalo State is uniquely positioned physically and academically to address global issues. We also serve diverse populations. Our faculty and staff have global expertise throughout the world, including the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. 

The GSI seeks to provide students with an immersive, transformative, and multidisciplinary education that fosters critical thinking, cultural competence, and social responsibility as well as to prepare students to become leaders with careers in fields related to global studies. The GSI also aims to create a world-class center and hub for research, education, outreach, and service activities on global issues by collaborating with the campus community and beyond in providing a comprehensive understanding of global issues and cultures, preparing future global citizens, and promoting global peace and prosperity. 

The GSI is led by Vida Vanchan and a team of core faculty and supported by partners across campus who are committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service.

I invite you to explore the website to learn more about the GSI and its upcoming programs, events, initiatives, research activities, faculty, affiliated partners, and more. I also encourage you to join the GSI in its mission to make our university a leading institution for global studies.

Special Assistant to the President Laura Barnum has submitted her resignation from Buffalo State University effective September 30, 2023. We thank Ms. Barnum for her service to Buffalo State and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. 

James Thor will continue to serve as interim vice president for finance and Lisa Krieger will continue to serve as interim vice president for management and operations until further notice.

Please join the Buffalo State University community as we come together during our 15th annual social justice festival, AFP 2023: Ideas + Action = Justice. This academic ritual offers multiple conversation, workshop, and presentation platforms to bravely explore our world’s most challenging issues. Continuing the work of our social justice committees in recent years, AFP 2023 fuels our campus commitment to social justice education.

I especially encourage you to attend "A Long Talk about the Uncomfortable Truth: An Anti-Racism Activation Experience" on Wednesday, October 4, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. A Long Talk’s process mirrors our campus intentions "to engage in an ongoing conversation focused on truth, understanding, and problem solving, leading to individual and cooperative activism." This is a bold, successful, unapologetic program that is sure to leave a lasting impact on our community. I encourage you to make this opportunity available to your students.

Learn more about A Long Talk

Register your class for A Long Talk (free)

AFP 2023: Program and Schedule (PDF, 2.4 MB)

Please contact AFP assistant director Jonise Hall with questions about AFP 2023.

The 22nd annual Faculty and Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum will be held Thursday, November 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Houston Gym. All faculty and staff members are invited to present an exhibit that highlights current research, activities, or scholarship. The deadline to complete the online submission form is 5:00 p.m. Monday, October 16.

This year, my office will sponsor poster printing. The deadline to submit the request form for free poster printing is Wednesday, October 25. Poster templates are available for download. Posters should be 30x40-inch format whenever possible. The Design and Print Center can help with poster design for this event; the job request form for design assistance must be submitted no later than Wednesday, October 18.

Please contact Jing Zhang, associate professor of elementary education, literacy, and educational leadership, or Kimberly Kamper-DeMarco, assistant professor of psychology, with questions.

Thank you, and looking forward to seeing you at our 2023 forum!

Please encourage Buffalo State students and alumni to attend the Graduate and Professional School Fair 2023, hosted by the Career and Professional Education Center, on Tuesday, October 24, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. Over 60 graduate schools with a variety of programs including law, medicine, business, education, government, and more are participating at the event. Students can learn more about a variety of programs and the admission process, as well make connections with recruiters from across New York State, the Northeast, and beyond. Student registration is not required.

Some benefits of participating in the Graduate and Professional School Fair include meeting the reps who may be on graduate admissions committees, getting tips on graduate essays, and potentially getting waivers for application or entrance exam fees.

For more information, please contact the Career and Professional Education Center.

The Emergency Response Planning Group and University Police will conduct a test of the university’s outdoor emergency alert horn at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 24.

People who are outdoors during the test will hear a series of three loud 60-second horn blasts emanating from the central heating plant. Please note: the horn is primarily intended to be audible at outdoor locations on campus—not inside buildings.

In a real emergency, the horn would sound for a minimum of five full minutes. If a real emergency alert is signaled, immediately seek shelter and await further instructions communicated via Buff State Alert, email, the Emergency Information website, or direct instructions from University Police.

About 30 minutes before the test horn sounds, the university will issue a campuswide test of the Buff State Alert emergency communication system. At this time, all students, faculty, and staff members who have registered with the service will be sent a test message.

Students, faculty, and staff members are strongly encouraged to enroll in Buff State Alert, or to modify their preferences, by visiting the Buff State Alert website and logging in with their Buffalo State username and password. Those who do not have a Buffalo State username or password but want to receive text messages from Buff State Alert can sign up by texting the phrase “buffalostate” to 79516.

More information about the university’s comprehensive emergency response plan is available online. Faculty, staff, and students are also encouraged to bookmark the Emergency Information website. This page will serve as a destination that chronicles all messages (organized by date and time, newest at the top) during an ongoing situation or emergency.

The Emergency Response Planning Group and University Police will conduct a test of the university’s outdoor emergency alert horn at 1:30 p.m. today, October 24.

People who are outdoors during the test will hear a series of three loud 60-second horn blasts emanating from the central heating plant. Please note: the horn is primarily intended to be audible at outdoor locations on campus—not inside buildings.

In a real emergency, the horn would sound for a minimum of five full minutes. If a real emergency alert is signaled, immediately seek shelter and await further instructions communicated via Buff State Alert, email, the Emergency Information website, or direct instructions from University Police.

About 30 minutes before the test horn sounds, the university will issue a campuswide test of the Buff State Alert emergency communication system. At this time, all students, faculty, and staff members who have registered with the service will be sent a test message.

Students, faculty, and staff members are strongly encouraged to enroll in Buff State Alert, or to modify their preferences, by visiting the Buff State Alert website and logging in with their Buffalo State username and password. Those who do not have a Buffalo State username or password but want to receive text messages from Buff State Alert can sign up by texting the phrase “buffalostate” to 79516.

More information about the university’s comprehensive emergency response plan is available online. Faculty, staff, and students are also encouraged to bookmark the Emergency Information website. This page will serve as a destination that chronicles all messages (organized by date and time, newest at the top) during an ongoing situation or emergency.

Our search consultants from Storbeck Search have been engaged in an active national recruitment effort to build an impressive and diverse pool of candidates. The Buffalo State Presidential Search Committee has completed virtual face-to-face video interviews, and we are pleased to announce that the committee has identified a small group of candidates with whom we will schedule additional meetings.

While we had hoped to conduct this search using an open search model, based on the ability to attract and retain these top candidates, SUNY has approved the decision to use a representational search model. In this competitive market, and to protect the professionals we are engaging, it is essential to the process that the names of the candidates remain confidential throughout the process. This means that semifinalists’ names will not be provided to the campus community.

SUNY approved the decision based on extensive consultation with Storbeck Search, the Presidential Search Committee, and the Buffalo State Council and based on recent and past precedent from SUNY presidential searches. This decision was made after careful consideration upon learning that the open search process with public campus meetings would have had a significant negative impact on the candidate pool. To maintain a strong, robust, and diverse applicant pool, this change will serve Buffalo State University’s best interest for its faculty, students, and community. We are committed to ensuring our institution’s strong leadership continuity, and we see this transition as a crucial step toward achieving that.

We will use SUNY’s guidance for this type of search. During a representational search, members of the Buffalo State Council and other designated members of the Buffalo State campus community will be invited to meet with the semifinalist candidates under strict rules of confidentiality. Confidentiality is vital to this model to retain the selected candidates. The structure and makeup of the Presidential Search Committee ensures that all areas of the university have “a voice” in the process.

The Presidential Search Committee and a selection of other campus constituents will confidentially meet with the finalists. The Presidential Search Committee will meet to review feedback from the final interviews, as well as feedback from references, and together will weigh the merits of each of the finalists.

The Buffalo State Council will vote to recommend three finalists to the chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees. The chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trustees will meet with the three finalists, the chancellor will make his recommendation to the SUNY Board of Trustees, and the trustees will vote to choose our next president.

It is important that your voice be heard, and we encourage you to submit questions you wish for the designated representatives to ask each candidate. Please submit your questions through this survey link.

Please email Zulaika Rodriguez, assistant vice chancellor for presidential searches and system liaison, with any questions about this type of process.

We appreciate your support and understanding of this process.

Sincerely,

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

Buffalo State’s annual State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) and United Way Campaign begins today, October 13. The university has a long tradition of generously giving to organizations that improve the lives of men, women, and children in Western New York, and I am hopeful that we will surpass our campus goal. The campaign theme is “Choose to Make a Difference.” We hope we can count on you to help Buffalo State University maintain its status of having the highest rate of participation of any SUNY campus.  

This year’s featured agencies:

• Buffalo State Child Care Center (57-00160)
• Hospice Foundation of WNY Inc. (57-00106)
• The Summit Center Inc. (57-00377)
• International Institute of Buffalo (57-00202)

Also, this year marks the introduction of Continuous Giving/Rollover pledges. Last year’s pledges will automatically roll over. Donors who wish to make changes to their pledged amounts or selected agencies can do so via the e-pledge system.

Plus, donors who donate more than they did last year will automatically be entered in the October raffle for Buffalo Bills items valued at over $125. 

Pledges may be made electronically or through your department's ambassador. Thanks to all who are leading and participating in the 2023 SEFA/United Way Campaign.