What does a manager of a department, unit, or division need to do differently at Buffalo State College to be effective in our new environment, which is layered with complexity, uncertainty, and sudden changes (sometimes daily) to how our teams must work as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve? This is a question that the Professional Development Center, management consulting firms, and experts in management development do not necessarily have clear answers to, because this is new for everyone.?

Join your manager colleagues every other week in a problem-solving-focused conversation, facilitated by?Jonathan Hulbert, director of leadership and organizational development, on how we can further improve management effectiveness in our new reality, as well as identify systemic?campuswide challenges that can be?prioritized and addressed. The two manager cohorts that met last semester and will continue to meet this semester encourage other manager colleagues to register for this program, as they found the support provided by colleagues during critical incidents in 2020 and the ideas shared to address management challenges to be extremely valuable.

As managers at Buffalo State, we can learn from each other regarding what has worked well for managing our teams thus far during COVID-19 and which systemic shared challenges we can address together or may need to address in different ways as an institution. All conversations will be tailored to each manager community of practice’s most pressing challenges and supported by additional free webinars, articles, and resources that can be accessed at any time. Managers will be placed in small groups based on shared challenges and positions to ensure they can connect with colleagues who are at the same level within the institution. The schedule for each meeting will be tailored to the group’s availability.? 

To register for a Virtual Manager Development Community of Practice,?please complete this interest form?by?Friday, February 12.

Based on your availability, you will be placed in a?community of practice that will meet either from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. or from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on?Tuesdays, March 16, March 30, April 13, and April 27 OR?Wednesdays, March 17, March 31, April 14, and April 28.?We will contact you on Friday, February 19, to confirm when your community of practice will meet.?

Please e-mail?Jonathan Hulbert, director of leadership and organizational development, with questions.

The spring 2021 “Conversations in and out of the Disciplines” series kicks off on Zoom at 3:00 p.m. Friday, February 26, as Jevon Hunter, Woods-Beals Endowed Chair in Urban Education in the School of Education, and interim chair of the Social and Psychological Foundations of Education and Adult Education departments, presents “#BlackBoyJoy...All Day, E’erday: Learning from the Literate Lives of Buffalo’s African-American Adolescent Males—with Appreciation, Gratitude, and Love.”

Please also mark your calendars for the second and third talks of the spring semester: Kristen Pastore-Capuana, assistant professor of English, on Friday, March 19; and A. K. Shauku, assistant professor of political science and public administration, on Friday, April 30. Each talk will be held on Zoom (details forthcoming) and will begin at 3:00 p.m. As usual, following each talk, we will have a “Q&A” with the speaker and a (virtual) wine and cheese reception. Everyone is welcome. 

The “Conversations” series was started over a decade ago by Ann Colley, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, to “celebrate and draw attention to the research being done in various departments at Buffalo State College.” Over the last decade, colleagues from Anthropology, Art Conservation, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, and Secondary Education, among others, have shared their work with the Buffalo State and Buffalo communities.

Please join us for the first film in the Beyond Boundaries Film and Discussion Series for the spring 2021 semester, Unapologetic, on Thursday, February 11, at 7:00 p.m., via Zoom videoconference.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. An online discussion will follow the screening.

Produced and directed by Ashley O'Shay, Unapologetic (2020) highlights two young, Black female leaders in a fight for justice. After two Black Chicagoans are killed, millennial organizers challenge an administration complicit in state violence against its residents. Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders, Unapologetic is a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Watch the trailer.

The Beyond Boundaries Film and Discussion Series is curated by Ruth Goldman and Meg Knowles, associate professors of communication; and Crystal Rodriguez, chief diversity officer, at Buffalo State College. This series is made possible through a collaboration with the Buffalo State Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Buffalo State Communication Department, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. 

The Transition Committee (TC) for the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) has forwarded bylaw recommendations to all members of the Committee of the Whole (COW). Following its committee charge, the TC determined that the following shall be voting members for the February 19 COW meeting:

“Those in A&H and NSS who hold the academic rank of distinguished professor, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or full-time lecturer or instructor and full-time professional employees (including clinical faculty), as well as (interim) deans and (interim) associate deans.”

We are soliciting written motions to amend these bylaws from those designated voting members until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, January 29. We will discuss and vote on these “main motions,” according to pre-circulated Special Rules of Order, during the COW meeting on Friday, February 19, at 3:30 p.m. No new motions to amend the bylaws will be considered at the COW meeting. 

To submit a “main motion,” please complete this Qualtrics survey. The exact language of the motion must be written out and submitted by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, January 29, to be considered at the COW meeting. The following week, the TC will host an electronic vote on the A&S bylaws as amended during the COW meeting. 

If you are aware of a voting member (under the terms above) who did not receive this announcement, or if you would like a copy of the bylaw recommendations or have an idea for a motion but want TC assistance crafting the language, please contact Susan Maguire, associate professor of anthropology, or David Ben-Merre, associate professor of English.
 

Michael Spogli, TIAA’s financial consultant, will be available for personal financial consultations with Buffalo State College faculty and staff members via telephone or Zoom videoconference on Tuesday, February 2.

Begin the year right by reviewing your retirement portfolio to ensure you are saving enough for retirement. See if your investments are properly allocated, and make sure you are on track to meet your retirement goals.

To arrange a telephone consultation, please visit the TIAA website.

Mr. Spogli is also available other days throughout the month to fit your schedule. If you would like to arrange a telephone consultation on a date other than the one listed above, please call or e-mail Michael Spogli, (585) 246-4631.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, February 12, for the 2020–2021 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service. This SUNY system-level award recognizes classified service employees for excellence and superior service to students and the community at large. Members of the Buffalo State College community are encouraged to submit nominations for deserving colleagues.

The nomination form and award guidelines are available online. Thank you.

Students are strongly encouraged to bookmark or print for reference the Banner Student Registration Guide (PDF, 134 KB). The Registration Tool Kit also has important web page links.

Students are strongly encouraged to complete all drop/add and registration-related activity no later than Friday, January 29. Classes begin Monday, February 1. Registration officially closes in Banner at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, February 7. If a student is attending a class, it must show on his or her Banner Student Detail Schedule and his or her name must appear on the faculty member's class roster.

Please be sure to bookmark the Academic Calendar web page for all relevant dates and deadlines for the spring 2021 semester.

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) and the Buffalo State College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) invite local small businesses to a free virtual workshop to help prepare for future funding opportunities by identifying and reviewing required documents and financial information for funding applications.

The Funding Readiness 2021 workshop will be held Tuesday, February 2, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.; registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

Please register online.

The workshop will be led by the SBDC with a presentation by Marilyn Roach, an advanced certified New York State business adviser. The idea for the workshop began after conversations between City of Lackawanna Councilman John Ingram and Congressman Higgins’s office, which discussed a common question posed by small-business owners: “What do I need to apply?”

“Small businesses are the backbone of our community and our economy,” Higgins said. “Both during the pandemic and in traditional times, there are opportunities to access private and government resources made available to assist businesses. This workshop is aimed at helping entrepreneurs be ready when funding becomes available.”

“Preparation will save you time and make you more competitive,” said SBDC director Susan A. McCartney. “This is a ‘must attend’ program.”

For more information, please contact Congressman Higgins’s office at (716) 852-3501 or SBDC director Susan A. McCartney, (716) 878-4030.

The Small Business Development Center will conduct a free virtual workshop on business taxes on Thursday, February 4, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This workshop is a part of the SBDC’s ongoing Best Practices for New Americans Series, and this topic has been identified as one of particular import because of the unfamiliarity of many refugee and immigrant business owners with the American tax system, and the necessity of completed tax returns when applying for business relief funding programs. As a part of the SBDC’s initiative to make programming language accessible, the SBDC has recruited a local team of tax preparers, Safari Taxes LLC, that has the capacity to provide live translation for up to six languages: Burmese, Mai-Mai, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Swahili, and Arabic. Those interested in the workshop can register at SBDC Webinars for New Americans Series - Business Taxes or contact Max Mack-Hardiman, (716) 464-8232, for more information.