Welcome back to campus! Interested in learning new ways to engage your students, create positive class cultures, and weave socioemotional learning into your pedagogy? Then perhaps this is the semester you’ll add story-based learning to your professional toolbox. Please join Buffalo State’s Anne Frank Project for its fall 2023 faculty-staff SBL trainings on Tuesday, August 22, and Wednesday, August 23, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall. 

Previously trained faculty and staff members report strong improvement in student success and attendance when using SBL strategies. Using stories as the curricular platform, instructors are taught kinesthetic sequences and methods that help meet the learning needs of current university students; community building, conflict management, and identity exploration are taught alongside every academic discipline on campus.

This professional development opportunity is free to Buffalo State faculty and staff members (AFP charges off-campus schools and businesses). In addition to the two full days of training, AFP offers consulting and classroom application support throughout the fall semester.

Spaces are limited; please register online.

Please contact AFP director and SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Drew Kahn with questions or for more information.

The Residence Life Office will welcome more than 1,700 students to campus during Residential Move-In on Tuesday, August 22, and Saturday, August 26. In order to make Move-In a success, we need the help of the whole Buffalo State community. Please consider volunteering for one or both days by signing up online. Even one shift will help us create an amazing, welcoming experience for our students.

If you signed up to volunteer back in the spring semester, there is no need to sign up again. We will send out volunteer shifts and assignments very soon. Thank you for your help.

Sign up to volunteer.

Faculty and staff parking permits for?the 2023–2024 academic year are available to?purchase online. Permit enforcement will begin Monday, September 4, for the fall 2023 semester. Please log in to the parking permit system using your campus username and password to pay with MasterCard or Visa. The option to have a permit mailed remains in place, but please note: this could take five to seven days after the permit application is processed.

New for 2023–2024
Parking permits have changed from stickers to hang tags for the 2023–2024 academic year. One of the outcomes of the recent Parking Study, this change aims to address escalating costs; student, faculty, and staff requests; ease of use; and use of permits with temporary vehicles. This change necessitated alterations to certain policies related to parking permits, which are detailed on the Parking Services website.

Employees may purchase up to two parking permits. Parking permits are not transferable. Any infraction resulting from a permit transfer is valid and is the responsibility of the registered owner and permit holder.

When purchasing parking permits online, please be prepared to complete vehicle information for the vehicle(s) the permit will be assigned to. Vehicle(s) must be legally registered within the United States or Canada to the faculty or staff member or someone in their household. If the primary vehicle associated with the permit changes, please communicate this change to Parking Services via the Parking Permit "Primary Vehicle" Reassignment form. You do not need to communicate the temporary use of a permit with another vehicle.

Please email Parking Services with questions.

Please join us for a farewell reception for Carlos Jones, associate dean of academic standards and student success in the School of Arts and Sciences, on Thursday, August 17, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Metcalfe Room, 216 Rockwell Hall. Mr. Jones has accepted a position as chair of the Department of Dance at SUNY Brockport, starting in the fall 2023 semester.

Mr. Jones joined Buffalo State in 2008 as an assistant professor in the Theater Department’s dance program and was awarded the SUNY Faculty Diversity Fellowship. In addition to teaching, directing, and choreographing artistic works on the national stage, he served as chair of the Theater Department, associate dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, and interim dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. While in his current role as associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, he has also served as coordinator of the Africana studies program. His accomplishments while serving in these various faculty and administrative roles at the university have been extensive. Please join us to wish him well in his next career adventure. Light refreshments will be served.

Construction crews will begin working on the Grant Street roadway adjacent to Bengal Walk on Monday, August 7, as part of the ongoing rehabilitation project of Karner Hall. The work is expected to take about two weeks.

During this period, one lane of traffic will be closed at a time while construction work progresses from one side of Grant Street to the other. Lane-closure signage and barricades will be in place to route vehicles around the construction zone. Both vehicular and pedestrian traffic will be affected, especially during peak morning and afternoon hours. It is recommended that drivers find an alternative route to avoid potential traffic congestion and delays at the Grant Street entrances to campus.

Questions about this undertaking may be directed to (716) 878-6111. Your patience and understanding are appreciated while this important construction work is being accomplished.

Effective Monday, August 14, all purchase requisitions must be submitted via email in digital format only in order to create efficiencies in workflow and intake processes before the campuswide implementation of Bengal Buy. Paper requisitions will no longer be accepted.

All departments should use the new fillable requisition form (PDF, 153 KB), affix a digital signature, and send the completed form with all supporting backup via email to purchasing@buffalostate.edu.

Please ensure that all supporting backup is contained in one email submission to ensure accuracy and prevent duplication of requests. Please send only one requisition per email. All requisitions should be directed to purchasing@buffalostate.edu, not to individual staff members in Procurement.

Please contact Kristy Mediak, senior director of procurement services, with questions or concerns.

The Buffalo State University community is saddened by the death of Stephen S. “Steve”  Mangione, campus photographer and associate director of instructional resources (retired), who died July 31, 2023. Mr. Mangione joined the campus in 1970 and retired in 2005. He is survived by his wife, Marcia, and two children. Friends may call at the Donald M. Demmerley Funeral Home, 21 Pierce Avenue, Hamburg, today, August 3, from 2:00 to 4:00 and 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saints Peter & Paul Church, 66 East Main Street, Hamburg, on Friday, August 4, at 10:00 a.m. More information is available online.

As previously announced, the Student Accessibility Services Office (SAS) will implement a new disability accommodation management system, Accommodate, for students and faculty members beginning with the fall 2023 semester. All student accommodation requests and notifications to faculty members will take place through the new system.

Accommodate is designed specifically for SAS offices that feature portals for students, faculty, and staff members to engage in the management of all accommodation-related information and processes. The system will create an improved and simplified process for efficiently managing the processes of providing support services for students. 

Accommodate will reduce email exchanges and provide access to student information and records at any time.

Students

• Students registered to receive accommodations with SAS will submit a semester request each semester.
• SAS staff members will review and approve semester requests.
• New accommodation requests will be made through the “public form.”
• Students will receive an unofficial copy of their approved accommodations.
• Students will make testing center appointments through Accommodate.

Faculty

• Approved semester requests will generate an email for faculty members to log in to Accommodate and acknowledge receipt of the letter.
• Faculty members can access the Accommodate portal at any time to
  -- view the accommodation notifications and list of students receiving accommodations in their course(s);
  -- upload new exams in their course(s);
  -- provide the date/time/range when students are allowed to take the exam at SAS; and
  -- view completed exams in the portal.
• No more emails!

Please visit the SAS website for tutorials and guidance on the use of Accommodate.

Please email SAS for more information or with questions.

The campus community is invited to attend the New York State EAP webinar “Building Healthy Meals” on Wednesday, August 9, from noon to 12:40 p.m.

In this workshop presented by Danielle Munn, registered dietitian with CDPHP, you’ll gain tools and knowledge on how to make meal prep a breeze. Whether you need a quick midweek dinner or a plan for the entire week, you’ll learn how to succeed. Healthy recipes will also be provided.

Please register for this free 40-minute webinar through the WebEx meeting registration page.

Two new online learning certificate programs are available to prepare CSEA-represented New York State employees to advance their careers or gain extra knowledge to stay competitive in their current positions:

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) – CSEA-represented employees can develop their knowledge and skills in DEI to help foster thriving and cohesive teams.

Microsoft Excel 2016 Essentials – CSEA-represented employees can develop and improve their skills with this popular computer application.

Online learning certificate programs allow employees to take a series of online courses on a single topic. To register, CSEA-represented state employees must first apply for a Partnership Online Learning License in the Statewide Learning Management System (SLMS). After receiving the license, employees can register in the SLMS for the online learning certificate program of their choice.

Eligible employees may apply between July 10, 2023, and January 30, 2024. To earn a certificate, participants must successfully complete all required courses by January 30, 2024.

Supervisory approval is not required for courses taken outside of the normal workday.

Additional program information is available on the NYS & CSEA Partnership website.

Space in these statewide programs is limited. Register now.

Please contact the NYS & CSEA Partnership, (800) 253-4332, to learn more.