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Vol. XLVIII, No. 16 December 12, 2002

In this issue: From the President Responses to Senate Recommendations From the Vice President for Finance and Management New York State Budget Webmaster Training Program From the Vice President for Student Affairs Appreciation for Response to Tower 3 Fire From the Chair of the College Senate College Senate Meeting Standing Committee Rosters Course Proposals Curricular Items

Responses to Senate Recommendations At its November 8 meeting, the College Senate voted to approve and forward to the president the following recommendation for a mandatory student health insurance policy: Buffalo State College should establish a policy of mandatory student health insurance. Students may be exempted from this requirement if (1) they are already covered under another health insurance policy or if (2) being required to pay for this insurance would prevent them from being able to attend the college. In addition, the policy should (1) permit flexible billing options, on a case-by-case basis, for students with financial difficulties, to ensure that access to education is not denied due to the program costs and (2) provide an appropriate waiver to those students with legitimate religiously based objections to medical care and medical insurance. The mandatory student health insurance policy should be implemented as a three-year pilot program with yearly review, including the gathering of statistics describing participation, utilization, and outcomes, and a yearly report to the Senate. After three years, the Senate should review the program and recommend whether or not it ought to continue. I am pleased to accept the recommendations of the College Senate and hereby authorize the implementation of a mandatory student health insurance policy as a three-year pilot program. The vice president for student affairs will establish and administer the process by which statistics describing participation, utilization, and outcomes are collected and reported yearly to the Senate. The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs also will be responsible for the administration of this policy, including the establishment of a process to determine student eligibility for exemption from this requirement. The Senate also voted to pass and forward to the president the following recommendation regarding graduate faculty terms of appointment: The term of appointment for tenure-track faculty and full-time lecturers should be increased from "one year or less" to "up to three years." This requires changing the wording in the heading of item C of Policy Number VI: 11:00 (Temporary Appointment) of the Directory of Policy Statements (DOPS) from "one year or less" to "three years or less." I accept the recommendation of the College Senate and hereby authorize the change in policy to permit the term of appointment for tenure-track faculty and full-time lecturers to be increased from "one year or less" to "up to three years." I also authorize the change in wording in the heading of item C of Policy Number VI: 11:00 (Temporary Appointment) of the Directory of Policy Statements (DOPS) to comply with this policy change. back to top   New York State Budget The New York State Division of the Budget informed SUNY in November that it must absorb a 5 percent midyear budget reduction. SUNY notified Buffalo State that the college must reduce spending by $627,900—in line with our expectations. The annualized amount carried forward to fiscal year 2003–2004 will be roughly twice that. Because of actions taken in the fall, we are confident that we will be able to absorb the reduction with no further impact on the current year's course offerings. The Buffalo State Budget Office has been reviewing the college's budget daily to capture available resources. This has enabled us to redirect funding to instructional programs, adding courses to the spring schedule and relieving some of the OTPS (other than personnel services) deficiencies created by the fall reallocations. We intend to enter the next fiscal year with a plan that ensures the integrity of instructional programming—our first priority. As this process unfolds, we will be meeting with various campus groups to provide information, answer questions, and receive suggestions. back to top Webmaster Training Program The FAST Development Center and the College Relations Office have teamed up to create a sequential training program especially for campus Web developers. Primary Web contacts (PWCs) and others responsible for maintaining official Web pages now have an opportunity to officially master the skills required to perform their online duties. The 10-course training program combines existing CyberQuad coursework with new material that addresses site content, maintenance, promotion, and assessment. Faculty and staff will receive credit for required courses already completed through CyberQuad but are encouraged to repeat any module in the series. Participants are welcome to take any or all of the courses. Those who complete all 10 courses (listed below) will be recognized with formal proof of participation. Faculty and staff may review course descriptions and register online at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration. For more information about the Webmaster Training Program, contact Melissa Meehan at meehanme@buffalostate.edu. Webmaster Training Program Required Courses Design Fundamentals Buffalo State Web Publishing Standards Making Web Pages ADA Compliant Writing for the Web Introduction to HTML Introduction to Hot Metal Pro Intermediate Hot Metal Pro Creating PDFs Customizing Your Site for Search Engines Understanding Site Traffic Logs back to top   Appreciation for Response to Tower 3 Fire Sincere appreciation is extended to the college staff members who responded so quickly and effectively to the fire in Tower 3 on Saturday, December 7. While we all regret the occurrence of such a tragedy, we are greatly relieved that there was no loss of life or serious injury. We commend the Residence Life staff and University Police for working so well with Buffalo fire and police officers to assist students in their prompt evacuation of the building, thereby ensuring all students' safety. The efforts to train and prepare for just such an emergency clearly helped in our time of need. We also thank members of the faculty for making adjustments to their final examination schedules to accommodate students affected by the fire. Many individuals' efforts, while unseen by most, contributed to the quick return to normality. The Delaware Avenue Holiday Inn provided emergency hotel rooms and food for displaced students on extremely short notice. Residence Life custodians helped clean the rooms damaged by smoke and water, allowing students to return to Tower 3 as early as Sunday night. Members of the campus administration, including the chair of the College Council, were on hand all weekend to assist students in dealing with the many issues related to the fire. We are deeply grateful to all those who lent a hand during this difficult period. Thank you. back to top   College Senate Meeting The final College Senate meeting for fall 2002 will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friday, December 13 in E. H. Butler Library 210. back to top Standing Committee Rosters The following Senate Standing Committee membership rosters have been approved by the College Senate for the 2002–2003 academic year: Student Welfare: Perri Litton (student), chair; Carol Beckley, co-chair; Cheryl Albers; Musa Abdul Hakim; Richard Herdlein; Scott Johnson; Charles Newman; Dennis Pfaffenbach; Timothy Ecklund, administrative liaison; Anand Perala, Sherelle Baize, Hana El-Amin, Claudia Guirand, Keith Hurt, and Wanda Salas, student representatives. Academic Services: Marianne Savino, chair; Josephine Adamo; Melody Carter-Neal; William Cran; Marie Ferraro; Simon Peter Gomez; Lin Xia Jiang; Ellen Kennedy; P. Rudolph Mattai; Roswell Park IV; Thomas Reigstad; David Sawicki; Anne Marie Sokol; Andrea Beckensall and Alexa Torres, student representatives. back to top Course Proposals The College Senate Curriculum Committee has accepted course proposals in the old format if they were in process before the approval of the new format. By now, the committee should have processed most courses submitted in the old format. The Curriculum Committee will not consider course proposals or revisions in the old format after today (the last committee meeting of the fall semester). All course and program proposals submitted in spring 2003 should follow the format for proposals to the Curriculum Committee described in the 2002 Curriculum Handbook. Associate deans and departmental curriculum designees can assist course authors with the new format, appropriate forms, and electronic submission process. back to top Curricular Items The following have been received in the College Senate Office and will be forwarded to the Senate Curriculum Committee for review and approval: New Courses: SCI 445 Literacy for Teaching Science. Prerequisites: EDF 303, EDU 416, SED 200, acceptance into a teacher certification major program. The study of literacy related to secondary science. Students promote literacy, conduct an action research project on identifying student literacy levels, and plan literacy activities based on data collection. Trustees' Designation/Social Science ANT 101 Understanding Culture. The concept of culture by which human groups satisfy needs, regulate size and social power, and manage natural resources. Diachronic and comparative overview of global trends shaping the modern world. Trustees' Designation/Non-Western Civilization ANT 327 Medical Anthropology. The history and development of concepts and practices of medicine worldwide. Theories and procedures in illness, sickness, health, and well-being from a variety of cultural perspectives—historical and contemporary, Eastern and Western. Topics include Stone Age, folk, shaman, traditional Western, and herbal medicines, including healing and religion, homeopathy, and anthropological study of health care institutions. Trustees' Designation/Non-Western Civilization ANT 329 World Prehistory. Overview of the major developments in human culture as inferred from the archaeological record. Past cultures of hunter-gatherers, the first farmers, early civilizations, and their legacies to the modern world.

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