Beginning Monday, May 24, the following changes will occur to the schedule for COVID-19 testing on campus:

Testing will place on Tuesdays from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. and on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

This schedule will remain in place until further guidance is received from SUNY.

On Tuesday, May 25, and Wednesday, May 26, testing will take place in the Sports Arena. Beginning Tuesday, June 1, testing will move to the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall.

Iroquois Drive between Elmwood Avenue and Lot I-33 will be intermittently closed each weekday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. May 24–June 4 to allow for reconstruction of the roadway. Drivers who need to use Iroquois Drive are asked to avoid the construction area by entering the campus at the Coyer Field Entrance, accessible from Grant Street.

During times when through traffic on Iroquois Drive cannot be maintained, drivers will be directed to use Rockwell Road. A two-way detour to Rockwell Road will be posted, and construction flag personnel will assist in directing traffic. When Iroquois Drive is closed, Lots I-30, I-31, I-32, and I-33 will be inaccessible. 

The Iroquois Drive reconstruction project is replacing the deteriorated roadway and drainage system. It will provide additional sidewalks for pedestrian use, high-visibility crosswalks, and LED site lighting.

Thank you for your patience as this important construction project nears completion. Questions may be emailed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.

From the Chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee
Congratulations to the following individuals, who were elected as officers and committee chairs of the College Senate for the 2021–2022 academic year during the College Senate Caucus on May 14:

Chair of the College Senate
Bhakti Sharma, Associate Professor, Art and Design

Vice Chair of the College Senate
Laura Hill Rao, Director, Civic and Community Engagement

Academic Plan Committee Chair
Carol DeNysschen, Chair and Professor, Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics

Budget and Staff Allocations Committee Chair
M. Scott Goodman, Officer in Charge, School of Natural and Social Sciences

Bylaws and Elections Committee Chair
Ramona Santa Maria, Professor, Computer Information Systems

Curriculum Committee Chair
Dianne McCarthy, Associate Professor, Elementary Education, Literacy, Educational Leadership

Faculty and Staff Welfare Committee Chair
Katherine Malik-Willard, Executive Assistant to the CIO/VP, Information Technology VP Office

Instruction and Research Committee Chair
Kimberly Kline, Professor, Higher Education Administration

Standards for Students Committee Chair
Ken Fujiuchi, Head of Information Commons, Butler Library

Student Welfare Committee Vice Chair
TBA*
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* The Student Welfare Committee is chaired by a student senator who works with the faculty vice chair. An election will be held to determine the faculty vice chair.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The 2020–2021 College Senate Annual Report and the College Senate Standing Committee reports for 2020–2021 are available on the College Senate SharePoint drive. Thank you to all our senators and committee chairs and members for their service to the College Senate.

As a follow-up to Gholnecsar “Gholdy” Muhammad's presentation on Cultivating Genius, please consider furthering your professional learning in the area of culturally relevant and sustaining education, with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion and what it means for teacher education.   
 
Specifically, we seek to facilitate a professional learning community beginning with a book study using Dr. Muhammad's text, Cultivating Genius. This learning community is open to Buffalo State College faculty and instructors. If interest is high, we will use a first-come, first-served approach.

Participants should be able to commit to reading the book and attending at least five sessions (monthly book group meetings) throughout fall 2021—a combination of virtual and one or two in-person sessions (we hope). 

If interested, please complete and submit the Qualtrics form.

The President’s Institutional Innovation Advisory Council invites the campus community to an open forum to learn more about the findings from the Campus Culture and Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Study that President Conway-Turner announced earlier this month. Please register for one of the open forums listed below.

• Wednesday, May 26, 9:00–10:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, May 26, Noon–1:00 p.m.
• Thursday, May 27, 1:00–2:00 p.m.
• Friday, May 27, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

The open forums will allow faculty, staff, and administrators to ask questions about the findings and provide an overview of next steps in the process. Members of the campus community can also ask questions to identify how the findings can be leveraged for strategic planning efforts in their units. The Campus Culture and Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Study report is available online (employee log-on required).

All academic, co-curricular, and functional departments will submit their annual reports via Taskstream. The Institutional Effectiveness and Planning Office is offering Taskstream Annual Report Workshops through Tuesday, July 13. Registration through the Workshop Registration System is required. 

Monday, May 24, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, May 25, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 1, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Monday, June 7, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, June 8, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Monday, June 14, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, June 15, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Monday, June 21, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, June 22, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Monday, June 28, 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, June 29, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Monday, July 12, 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, July 13, 1:00–2:00 p.m.

Deadlines

• Individual Faculty Annual Reports (online form – Qualtrics): Wednesday, June 30
• Individual Staff Annual Reports (online form – Qualtrics): Wednesday, June 30
• Chairs’ Department Annual Reports (Taskstream): Friday, July 16
• Functional Unit Annual Reports (Taskstream): Friday, July 16
• Deans’ Annual Reports (Taskstream): Friday, August 20
• AVP Annual Reports (Taskstream): Friday, August 20, 2021

Taskstream resources can be found on the Institutional Effectiveness and Planning Resources web page.

Please contact Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst, (716) 878-4132, with technical questions about individual, department, or unit reports. Contact Kim Barron, assistant vice president for institutional effectiveness and planning, (716) 878-5550, with questions about content. Thank you.

The application period for the election for the offices of president, vice president, recording secretary, and treasurer has closed with two successful applicants for president, as well as one unopposed successful applicant each for the positions of vice president, recording secretary, and treasurer. 

Please note: the official ballot will be mailed only to those individuals appearing on the eligible voter list, supplied by CSEA. If you have not received an official ballot within a reasonable time frame after the ballot mailing date of Wednesday, May 19, and you believe you should have, please contact one of the CSEA Local 640 Election Committee members listed below to verify your name on the list.

CSEA Local 640 Election Committee Members 2021
Mary Codick, Chair, Chase Hall 222, 878-6121
Jennie Silverman, Classroom Building B207, 878-4606
Brian Everett, Clinton Center 120, 878-6124

The Research and Creativity Council (RCC) is pleased to announce this call for submissions for the annual Faculty and Staff Research and Creativity Forum. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the traditional fall forum was postponed. In recognition of the scholarly and creative work that the Buffalo State College community has continued to pursue despite the global pandemic and the many unexpected challenges we have all faced since March 2020, the Digital Commons will host a virtual “poster session” forum of research presentations. We encourage all Buffalo State faculty and staff members to submit their latest research and scholarly endeavors to this forum (multiple submissions are welcome). All submissions will be peer reviewed before publication in the Digital Commons.

Please follow the instructions below:

1. All presentations must be submitted via PowerPoint. You are encouraged to use voice-over annotation throughout the presentation.
2. Please include your name(s), job title, department, and school and the title of the presentation on the first slide.
3. Please limit the total presentation to three or four slides.
4. Please submit your presentation electronically.
   a. Select your school
   b. Click "Submit Your Work."
5. Submission due date (updated): Friday, May 21
6. Forum publication date: Friday, May 28

Please contact Raquel Schmidt, chair and associate professor of exceptional education, or Gina Game, research compliance manager for sponsored programs, with questions.

The SUNY Center for Professional Development has made the recordings for several training sessions conducted by Microsoft viewable through October on its Microsoft 365 Applications Training Series site.

Topics include Microsoft Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, Planner, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Forms.

For more information about Microsoft 365 applications at Buffalo State College, please visit Instructional Design and Distance Learning's Microsoft 365 page or Microsoft's Office Help and Training site.