The Daily Bulletin Archive

Traditions
A recent survey inquired about “traditions” at Buffalo State. A tradition was characterized as a recurring activity much valued by the larger campus community as a signal event in the calendar of each academic year. Traditions typically have a history—at least 10 years—and apply to a large segment of the campus.

Individual departments and programs have annual events to celebrate student accomplishments. Some have annual conferences or speaker series. These become traditions for the individual unit.

Institutionally, the following are examples of traditions that Buffalo State celebrates each spring:

• The president delivers the annual State of the College address in February. The theme of this year’s address was “Achieving Excellence from Within.”
• The 51st annual Honors Convocation is being held today, April 17. This annual event recognizes students who have achieved a certain grade point average after completion of a requisite number of credits at Buffalo State.
• The college’s Student Research and Creativity Celebration showcases student research and creative efforts. Organized by the Undergraduate Research Office, this year’s 10th annual celebration is scheduled for April 25 and 26.
• Celebrating its 41st anniversary at Buffalo State, the Educational Opportunity Program will hold its Honors Convocation May 1. The event recognizes the academic successes of EOP students and acknowledges members of the faculty and staff for their contributions to the students.
• The Research Foundation–sponsored Recognition Reception will be held April 28. The 11th annual event celebrates the success of principal investigators and campus colleagues who have received cumulative awards of over $1 million.
• And, of course, Buffalo State will hold its 136th Commencement on May 10 to award baccalaureate and master’s degrees.

In fall semesters, we participate in the following traditions:

• Academic Convocation is held each September to start the academic year and recognize colleagues who are recipients of Chancellor’s and President’s Awards for Excellence. Academic Convocation is scheduled for September 25, and it will be the 21st in the series.
• In the fall, we will hold the ninth annualFaculty and Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum. This celebration, even if one year short of 10 years, appears to be well on its way to becoming a campus tradition.

There are new and other existing initiatives of the college that are institutionally focused and may become traditions with additional years. The First-Year Convocation, held in late August, is a likely candidate as we meet annually to welcome our new first-year students and stress the centrality of academics in the college experience. Other possibilities of a campuswide nature are related to recognition of athletes and scholar-athletes, celebrating service learning, and awards for outstanding culminating master’s projects and theses.

Certainly, there are other annual events that affect a significant segment of the campus constituency and fit the tradition framework.

I encourage all of us to participate in as many “traditions” as possible at the program, department, school, and college level in spring 2008 and in each academic year. We should also explore the creation of new events (e.g., speaker series, celebrations—academic and otherwise) that will become much-valued traditions with time.