BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE ANNUAL REPORT 2005–2006 OUTCOMES DEAR FRIENDS and COLLEAGUES, This Is an Exciting Time at Buffalo State College
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BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE ANNUAL REPORT 2005–2006 OUTCOMES DEAR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES, This is an exciting time at Buffalo State College. Our Strategic Plan continues to yield positive results. We have launched significant academic initiatives, advanced construction of new facilities, increased enrollment, and cultivated off-campus partnerships. I am pleased to report on the successful outcomes of 2005–2006. University College held its inaugural First-Year Convocation in fall 2005 to welcome new students and prepare them to succeed in college. This program supports our prime strategic direction: engaging students in learning experiences that will transform their lives. The 2006 freshman class will become the first to participate in the new core curriculum, Intellectual Foundations, designed to build “the intellectual and creative foundations” for Muriel A. Howard, Ph.D. our students’ futures at Buffalo State and beyond. For our new academic theme, we produced President, Buffalo State College the CD “Great Minds That Shaped Our Intellectual World,” highlighting the achievements of 15 identified “great minds.” When we reorganized our academic departments into four schools last year, we expected to broaden academic opportunities and spark intellectual vitality. We have not been disappointed. The School of Natural and Social Sciences and the School of the Professions are flourishing. So is the School of Education, with its new dean, Ronald Rochon. The School of Arts and Humanities created three new departments: Music, Theater, and Interior Design. We expanded opportunities for research, scholarship, and creative expression. Our recent celebrations, the annual Faculty/Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum and the Student Research and Creativity Celebration, showcased results for all to see. Buffalo State continues to conduct more funded research than all other SUNY colleges combined. Our commitment to professors in the classroom is demonstrated by Buffalo State’s leadership role in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). We are deeply committed to strengthening our educational, economic, and cultural partnerships, thereby contributing to the vitality of the Buffalo Niagara region. To this end, we created the College and Community Partnerships Office to facilitate cooperation between the college and the community. An example of our efforts is a new partnership with the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, through which we are sharing expert- ise and facilities in support of the missions of both institutions. As our role in Western New York evolves, so too does the campus. We broke ground on the long-awaited Burchfield-Penney Art Center museum project and opened the Dick Smith Teaching Pavilion on Buffalo’s waterfront. We are poised to begin major renovations to the Science Building and Campbell Student Union. And we have secured funding for a new technology building. It is not easy summarizing a full year in limited space. We’ve had fine lectures, large graduating classes, continuing success with service learning and undergraduate research, award-winning publications, international initiatives, and many individual accomplish- ments by faculty, staff, students, and alumni. And the coming year looks even better. Nicole Maiorana, ‘06 university college B.A. Psychology “Buffalo State College has given us a solid foundation to build upon by UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, after just two years in operation, has made providing us with programs such as significant contributions to student success and academic excellence. Offices and Programs the Educational Opportunity Program, “We are very pleased that we are creating a lively academic environment Academic Advisement Center the McNair Scholars Program, the and engaging students in a variety of ways, in and out of the classroom,” said Academic Intervention Undergraduate Research Program, Janet Ramsey, dean of University College. Academic Skills Center Academic Standards Office All College Honors, C-STEP, and others. For example, the Learning Community Showcase, a project intended to Academic Support Programs All these programs encouraged us to introduce students to the ideal of academic community, was an overwhelming All College Honors Program keep sight of the rewards of hard work, success. Sixty-one first-year students from different Learning Communities Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship perseverance, and experience.” demonstrated research and scholarship by presenting posters and brief talks. of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) At the annual Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Honors Convocation, Center for China Studies Collegiate Science and Technology 381 EOP students were honored for achieving a 3.0 or greater grade point average. Entry Program (C-STEP) EOP students were well-represented at Commencement: 124 EOP students were Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) among the graduating class. First-Year Programs EIGHTH ANNUAL STUDENT RESEARCH AND CREATIVITY CELEBRATION The number of students participating in the All College Honors Program, Intellectual Foundations + Learn More Online International Education and Exchange a scholarship program for high-achieving students, nearly doubled this year. Under the direction of Jill Singer, professor of earth sciences and science education and Programs director of the Undergraduate Research Office, the annual Student Research and Creativity www.buffalostate.edu/universitycollege International Student Affairs Office Celebration has grown steadily. This year, more than 400 students and 100 faculty mentors www.buffalostate.edu/universitycollege/ International Studies Minor took part. Funds disbursed by Undergraduate Research supported student travel to and intellectualfoundations Assistant Dean Scott L. Johnson participation in other conferences. www.buffalostate.edu/ speaks at First-Year Convocation Learning Communities undergraduateresearch Student Support Services Program Singer was recognized as a member of the Million Dollar Club of the Buffalo State Research www.buffalostate.edu/studyabroad Success Track for Academic Readiness Foundation for helping to bring more than $1 million in funding to the college. (STAR) Program Undergraduate Research Office Writing Program FOUNDATION COMPLETED Preparations for implementing Intellectual Foundations, the college’s new core curriculum, 2005 First-Year Convocation were completed. Pilot sections of the curriculum’s cornerstone course, Foundations of Inquiry, were taught, and the text, compiled by faculty members, was completed. A distinguished scholar of critical thinking, Gerald Nosich, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at the University of New Orleans, offered workshops on critical thinking and first-year pedagogy. STUDENTS BECOME PART OF HISTORY The first convocation especially for Buffalo State freshmen was held in fall 2005. “You are part of a great history,” President Muriel Howard told them, “and your success is our priority.” 180 BRANCH CAMPUSES The new student convocation conveyed the depth and richness of a baccalaureate program Buffalo State, the campus home for the National Student rooted in the tradition of the liberal arts. A video showed students the many ways of learning Exchange (NSE), serves as a model NSE program for new available to them at Buffalo State, including field trips, laboratory work, and service learning. campuses. Wendel Wickland, director of special programs and vice president of NSE, likes to say that, with 180 NSE Gary Marotta, professor of history and social studies education, reminded students that member colleges and universities, Buffalo State has 180 achieving success in college must be their priority. “Define yourself as a student,” he said. branch campuses. “Make that the principal priority in your life.” Student Research and Creativity Celebration 2 3 THE SCHOOL OF Claudine Ewing, ‘92 News Reporter, WGRZ-TV Arts and humanities B.A. Broadcasting “I chose Buffalo State because of its THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES includes the study, teaching, ‘real-world’ broadcast program and the creation, and preservation of the visual and performing arts. The school also includes Departments and Centers hometown internship opportunities. the study of languages, literature, philosophy, the humanities, and communication. Art Conservation Working for the campus television This year, the college’s performing arts offerings expanded to two separate Art Education station really helped me learn what departments, Music and Theater. The theater program received full accreditation Communication it takes to get something on the air, Design from the National Association of Schools of Theatre. The student production of from preparing the teleprompter to English The Rocky Horror Show broke box office attendance records for Warren Enters Fine Arts reading the script.” Theatre. Bradley Fuster, who was hired as associate professor and chair of the new Interior Design Music Department, previously served as director of athletic bands, director of Modern and Classical Languages percussion studies, and interim department chair at Montana State University. Music The interior design program, long offered through the Design Department, Performing Arts Center received independent department status this year. The move supports the accreditation Philosophy and Humanities Theater requirements established by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (formerly IN HONOR AND IN MEMORY the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research, or FIDER). One of Buffalo