The Marketing and Communications Office offers and supports a feature-rich Drupal 10 website template that mirrors current industry standards, as well as the university’s main site. All other campus templates—some upwards of 13 years old—are in Drupal 7. Due to discontinued support, we must depreciate all Drupal 7 template sites by October 1, 2025.

Many campus sites have already adopted the new template. Samples include the Television and Film Arts; Elementary Education, Literacy, and Educational Leadership; and Music departments. Marketing and Communications has been assisting and will continue to directly assist academic departments by moving them into the new framework. Please file a ticket to initiate migration to the new template.

If an office, center, area, or initiative still using a Drupal 7 template wants to move to the new look, that migration must be done manually by the site manager. Server space is limited due to shrinking budgets, so a recommended alternative to moving is to shut down any outdated, unused, or low-traffic Drupal 7 site. If you wish to shut down a site now, please file a ticket. Sites that are not migrated will automatically be shut down and no longer available online or archived once Drupal 7 is sunsetted by our web host. 

Because we support campus users with any transition to a new product, Drupal 10 training is required and provided virtually by Dan Schmidt, associate director of web development. Details are discussed during the ticket process.

Questions about the migration process or the new template may be directed to Melissa Meehan, web director, Marketing and Communications.

As we prepare for summer/fall 2025 registration, here are some important dates and reminders:

Banner PREVIEW for both semesters begins on Wednesday, March 5. This is the date students can view both schedules directly in Banner and Schedule Planner. 

Registration begins on Wednesday, April 2. The first date of registration is considered priority, and students in the following approved groups are assigned this date: ACE Program, Athletes, EOP, USG, Honors, Graduate Student Leaders, Military, and Student Accessibility Services.

The summer 2025 master schedule has been viewable online since December 3, 2024.

The fall 2025 master schedule will be made viewable online starting on the Banner PREVIEW date of Wednesday, March 5.

Undergraduate timetickets and registration start dates are assigned based on total earned credit hours (this includes Buffalo State and transfer). Students should not count their current spring 2025 credits because those are considered "in progress" and not earned because the semester is not finished yet.

Graduate timetickets have been collapsed into one registration start date, the second day of registration.

The general web registration schedule has been posted online on both the summer 2025 and fall 2025 courses webpages. Students will be able to view their actual registration start date directly in Banner starting on Wednesday, March 5. Registration begins at 6:00 a.m. on the assigned registration start date and is then continuous.

Students can view their holds, if applicable, directly in Banner at any time. All students who have a hold that prevents registration are strongly encouraged to resolve that hold at least two (2) weeks prior to the start of registration.

Bookmark and reference the Registrar's Office Registration webpage for more detailed information.

The Buffalo State Friends of the MGH Arboretum are holding their Spring lecture on Friday, March 7, 2025, in the Technology Building 160 at 3pm.  The program, “How Our Understanding of the Natural World was Changed Forever.”  This is part of a larger discussion on the fragility of our natural ecosystems.  The program will re-introduce the work of Alexander Von Humboldt- a naturalist. He is considered the Western World’s first ecologist.  He writings and magnificent illustrations that recorded his observations throughout Central and South America greatly inspired Charles Darwin.  The program includes presentations from Dr. Robert Warren, Professor of Global Change Ecology and Dr. Stephen Vermette, Professor of Geography.  They will share their knowledge of Von Humboldt and how his work laid the foundation for understanding ecology today.

Program is open to the campus and the larger community. Everyone is welcome.

For more information, please contact Susan McCartney.

The Student Welfare Committee of the Buffalo State Senate is asking faculty and staff to help share TWO surveys with students.

• The Campus Mobility and Physical Accessibility Survey asks students to provide feedback about their experience navigating campus and using accessible features such as ramps, elevators, automatic door openers, etc.
• The Emergency Communications and Preparedness Survey asks students to share about their emergency communication preferences and provide feedback on potential emergency preparedness topics.

All current undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to respond to these anonymous surveys. Responses will be used to inform recommendations that the Student Welfare Committee brings to the Senate floor.

Please email Vice Chair Matt Baran with questions or to request a PDF flyer with QR codes to each survey.

A Taste of Ireland performs live at the Performing Arts Center in Rockwell Hall this Friday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. This show is close to sold out with approximately 800 people attending. Please plan accordingly if you will be on campus during this time, as large crowds are expected in and around Rockwell. Limited tickets are still available for purchase at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/43085856/a-taste-of-ireland-buffalo-buffalo-state-performing-arts-center.

Buffalo State has long had an Art on Campus (AOC) Committee that is responsible for overseeing policies and procedures related to the university’s art collection. The collection includes hundreds of pieces created by Buffalo State student and faculty artists and artists from around the world.

The committee is responsible for maintaining an inventory of the art pieces in the campus collection.  Currently, the committee is updating the inventory, which means that committee members will be visiting campus spaces looking for and determining the location of art works and ensuring that each piece is properly labelled. 

After the inventory is updated, the committee will share more information about the art collection with the campus community.

The Teacher Education Unit will hold its annual Program Improvement Retreat on Friday, March 21, from 9:00 to 11:15 a.m. in the LoRusso Alumni Visitor Center (Grant St). Please plan to attend if you are a faculty member in one of the university's educator preparator programs*  (this was rescheduled from January due to weather cancellation).

Check-in begins at 8:45 a.m. (breakfast provided) followed by guided discussions, data exploration, and independent tasks for each program from 9:00 to 11:15 a.m.

This year’s retreat will focus on revising our clinical practice evaluation system used during methods and student teaching. Faculty and other clinical educators welcome!

Please register today by clicking here.

*All programs in the TEU should be represented across all schools.

The Delavan Grider Community Center thrives on the support and dedication of volunteers. Join us on Wednesday, March 12, in the Campbell Student Union from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to learn more about volunteer opportunities.

By joining the Delavan Rider Community Center team, you can help make a positive impact in the lives of children, families, and seniors in our community. Whether you are passionate about tutoring, organizing events, or lending a helping hand in daily operations, your time and skills can create lasting change.

If you have any questions, feel free to call (716) 878-3919 or email cce@buffalostate.edu.

How has the design of your course evolved to meet the needs of today's modern learners? In this webinar, we will focus on how we can enhance the design of our courses to facilitate learning experiences that meet the needs of our learners. Based on feedback from students and best practices in instructional design, we will discuss best practices for designing interactive and consistent learning experiences within a course.

After attending this webinar, you will be able to identify design strategies to:

• enhance your course's organization and structure
• implement best practices in instructional design principles to design/redesign modules in Brightspace
• create a clear learning pathway to assist students in achieving the learning outcomes
• create a cohesive, accessible, structured, and responsive course design in Brightspace

Participants should have attended Brightspace training and feel comfortable navigating and creating content in Brightspace.

This session will be offered virtually via Teams Meetings on Thursday, March 20, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. To learn more and register, please visit the workshop registration system.

Buffalo State’s official web products are mandated to be accessible to all. Websites generated from the university's installation of Drupal (campus content management system) are compliant with Section 508, sub-part B, 1194.22 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. By April 2026, our Drupal installation will be 2.1 Level AA compliant. 

Please note web accessibility requirements extend to include uploaded images, documents (including PDFs), and videos, as well as any third-party products connected to sites. Each area with a web presence is responsible for ensuring that the images, documents, and videos they add to their site are ADA compliant. Marketing and Communications’ web accessibility page explains how to complete an ADA check and also provides resources for closing compliance gaps, including specific guidance for PDF and Microsoft Office documents.

Dan Schmidt, associate director, web development, Marketing and Communications, provides accessibility training as part of his regular Drupal training. He also runs ADA checks on all Drupal sites on a rotating basis; findings are shared with primary web contacts (PWCs) for any needed remediation.

ADA compliance is a campuswide effort, and we appreciate your diligence in helping fulfill this mandate. Please feel free to contact Melissa Meehan, web director, with questions.