Current Employee Change Form Revised
Human Resource Management has revised the Current Employee Change Form, which is used to initiate personnel actions for current employees. The revised form can be downloaded at www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/forms.asp.
Departments should begin using the new form for any personnel changes for current employees.
The revised form does not require the initiating department to provide the employee's Social Security number. We are reviewing all Human Resource Management forms and reports to determine whether it is necessary to require a Social Security number, and eliminating Social Security information wherever possible. Employees are encouraged to return any forms that contain Social Security numbers by hand delivery or in a sealed envelope marked "confidential.
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Employee Benefit Enrollment and Change Deadlines
November 10
- Flex Spending Account: Health Care Spending or Dependent Care Advantage Account: Enroll online at www.flexspend.state.ny.us or call (800) 358-7202.
November 24
- Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP): Eligible CSEA, PEF, and classified M/C employees may forfeit three days of vacation or personal leave in exchange for a credit of up to $400 to be applied toward health insurance premiums in 2007.
- Productivity Improvement Program (PIP): Eligible UUP professional and M/C employees may forfeit three days of vacation in exchange for a $400 credit to be applied toward health insurance premiums in 2007.
November 30
- Voluntarily cancel your health insurance.
- Change from family to individual coverage.
- Change your pre-tax status for insurance deductions.
Note: Unless you have a qualifying event, the 10-week waiting period still applies to enroll in health insurance for the first time, or to add previously eligible dependents to your coverage.
Call Human Resource Management at ext. 4821 to make changes to your health insurance coverage or if you have questions.
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Honoraria Reporting
To comply with New York State Ethics Commission regulations (Title 19 NYCRR Part 930 of the Public Officers Law), the college is required to annually report honoraria received by full-time faculty and professional and management/confidential employees. An honorarium is defined as "a payment, fee, or other compensation given to an individual for services rendered not related to the individual's official state duties." It also includes payment for travel expenses when the expenses incurred are unrelated to the employee's duties.
Examples of honoraria include compensation for delivering a speech, writing an article, or attending a meeting. Honoraria do not include salary, wages, or fees earned from outside employment. Faculty are not required to declare honoraria received within their academic disciplines.
Although reporting honoraria is required, obtaining prior approval of requests to receive honoraria is optional rather than mandatory. However, the college encourages employees to seek prior approval from the president's designee (your respective vice president) before engaging in an activity that leads to the receipt of honoraria.
If you receive honoraria during the period April 1, 2006, through March 31, 2007, and do not request prior approval from your vice president, you will be required to report the source, date, and amount of honoraria received to your vice president by May 11, 2007.
Information regarding reporting of honoraria can be found at www.dos.state.ny.us/ethc/rules/Part930.htm. Questions should be directed to Susan Earshen, director of human resource management, at ext. 3042.
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Guidelines for Maintaining the Security, Confidentiality, and Integrity of Customer Information
In compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the rules promulgated
therein by the Federal Trade Commission, Buffalo State College requires that all
employees receive the following guidelines to ensure the security and
confidentiality of customer records and information:
Control access to rooms and file cabinets where paper records are kept:
- All doors to office areas must be locked during nonbusiness hours.
- Work areas where customer information is processed must be behind
locked doors or otherwise secured during business hours.
- Guests should be escorted in areas where customer information is being
processed.
- Guests should be restricted to areas that do not have customer information
in plain view. Conversely, customer information should be kept out of
areas accessible to students and the public.
- File cabinets used to store customer information must be secured in locked
areas.
- Fireproof cabinets used to store promissory notes must be locked
during nonbusiness hours.
- Records containing customer information are to be retained only as long
as they are valid, useful, and required to be retained. When no longer
needed, paper, microfilm, and microfiche records must be destroyed by
shredding. Electronic records must be destroyed according to current
guidelines available from Computing and Technology Services. Retention
guidelines are available from the Campus Services and Facilities Office.
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Control access to information stored electronically:
- Workstations should be behind locked doors or otherwise secured.
- Employees should "minimize" any computer windows not in use, to prevent inadvertent breaches.
- Employees are encouraged to password-protect their workstations when
not in use.
- Employees should use strong passwords for all systems (at least eight
characters, alphanumeric).
- Employees should change their passwords every 60 days or less.
- Employees must not post passwords on or near their computers.
- Access to student and employee records systems will be granted only to
those employees whose job duties require them to access customer
information.
Protect our customers' information:
- Employees should respond to requests for customer information in
accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA questions or potential violations should be referred to the
Registrar's Office.
- Employees should refer to appropriate security policies as needed to ensure compliance.
- Employees must report any fraudulent attempt to obtain customer
information to management, who should then report the attempt to the
Vice President for Finance and Management's Office.
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Fall 2006 Equity and Campus Diversity Minigrants
The following projects have received approval for funding through the Equity and Campus Diversity Minigrant program for fall 2006:
Scatter My Ashes over Havana: A Day in the Life of Olga Karman ($78)
Submitted by Anastasia Stark, president of Adelante Estudiantes Latino (AEL). Cosponsors included the Caribbean Students Organization, the English Department, and University College. Two programs on October 10 and 12 explored current political realities in Cuba as well as challenges faced by the author in her life as a writer in Cuba.
Symposium on Africa ($2,000)
Submitted by Aimable Twagilimana and the African and African American Studies Interdisciplinary Unit. This "Symposium on Africa" on November 9 and 10 provides an overview of the current challenges and problems that the African continent has faced in the near past and continues to face today. The symposium will involve faculty on campus with expertise on African studies and guest speakers from outside the campus to address such issues as the Darfur crisis (genocide) in the Sudan, HIV/AIDS, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
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Understanding the Relationship between China and Tibet: Historical, Geopolitical, and Cultural Perspectives ($200)
Cosponsored by the Center for China Studies; the Sociology, Geography and Planning, and History and Social Studies Education departments; the School of Natural and Social Sciences; the International Students Organization; and the Student Life Office. On September 14, a faculty panel discussed cultural, historical, and current issues in China in the context of the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama from Tibet, who visited the community in September.
China Week 2006 ($1,200)
Submitted by Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies. Cosponsors included the Sociology Department, the International Student Affairs Office, International and Exchange Programs, the Research Foundation, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, the President's Office, and China Center activists. The grant supported China Week at Buffalo State College (October 10–15), a culturally diverse international symposium aimed at increasing the awareness of today's Chinese politics, economy, and culture for Buffalo State College students, faculty, and staff. Seventeen professors who have visited China in recent years discussed issues related to China in their classes during the week. The week concluded with the International Symposium of the Association of Chinese Professors of Social Sciences in the United States (ACPSS).
Faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to submit applications for funding for spring 2007 projects by Friday, December 1. For more information, call Dolores E. Battle, senior adviser to the president for equity and campus diversity, at ext. 6210. Additional information and application forms are available at www.buffalostate.edu/equity/documents/Application.doc.
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College Senate Meeting
The next meeting of the College Senate will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friday, November 17, in E. H. Butler Library 210. Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend.
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Curricular Item
The following has been received in the College Senate Office and forwarded to the Senate Curriculum Committee for review and approval:
New Course:
ENT 335 Industrial Electronics. Essential industrial machines and automation topics such as discrete and analog process control, switches and sensors, control systems, industrial controls, LabVIEW, PLCs, and data acquisition. Laboratory exercises provide practical applications of the industrial electronics that engineering technology graduates are likely to encounter.
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