Author: slfrank

Looking for any students interested in serving on a group that will work along side the Student Life committee of department and organizational leaders to help collaborate on ways to improve student engagement across campus.  The group will bring together student leaders from a variety of offices and student governments to determine why students aren’t interested in current programming being offered and what they actually might want. We will then take the findings of our conversations to the larger group.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form here and Matthew Taboni will be in touch.

The GSA Winter Break Schedule will be as follows:

• GSA open remotely through Monday, December 14^th
• GSA closed Tuesday, December 15^th – Monday, January 4^th
• GSA on Summer Hours Monday, January 4^th – Friday, January 29^th
  • Open remotely Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 4:00pm, closed on Fridays
• GSA closed Monday, January 18^th for MLK Jr. Day (University Closed)
• Regular Business Hours resume Monday, February 1^st with the start of the Spring semester

Dear Member,

By now, you must have heard about the successful campaign at Stony Brook University against fees for graduate student employees. We want the same for our campus, and for UB graduate employees to not have to pay fees to be able to work here. If graduate student fees are eliminated at UB, it could potentially mean thousands of dollars in savings for each of us every year.

Therefore, we would like you to take 2 minutes of your time to fill out the UB GSEU Fees Survey. With your support and the information you provide, we will be able to make a better case in front of the administration to bring an end to graduate student fees at UB.

The MyUB Development Team is looking for current UB students to share feedback on a new platform: MyUB Beta. 

They are hoping to gather real student feedback to optimize the experience for all students using MyUB. Their feedback will be used to help improve the new platform before it’s released to all students. Would you be willing to share this information with the graduate students?

To participate in this limited pilot project, they should be:

• • A currently enrolled UB student that uses or has used MyUB
  • Willing to use the MyUB Beta (for the balance of the semester)
  • Willing to share their feedback on the new MyUB Beta

A limited number of students will be selected for this pilot. To register, please go to: https://buffalo.edu/ubit/myub-beta

Good fellow student leaders,

SUNY Board of Trustees will be holding a virtual public hearing to discuss  “University Issues”. There has not been a more important time than now to shake the table, hold SUNY and the BOT accountable to the students. We need your voices at the table, now more than ever. Here are some important information for you all about the hearing:

WHY IS THIS HEARING IMPORTANT:

During this pandemic when students are facing financial hardships, the Board of Trustees is looking to raise tuition, which may be up to $1,000. SUNY should not be unjustly placing the financial struggles of the institution on students’ backs and must seek state support instead, as a public university system.

This hearing is an opportunity for students to hold the Board of Trustees accountable to the students, and raise the alarm on the insurmountable hardships we have been facing: mental health, international student concerns racial justice, accessibility services, and difficulties encountered with online learning.

They are only giving each student 3 minutes to speak, but that 3 minutes can turn into 300 minutes with a massive student movement of diverse voices that will shake the table. Our time is NOW. 

This is THE MOST IMPORTANT opportunity to stop tuition increase and make our voices heard. This is our moment to make sure SUNY places students, first!

Hearing Date:

November 17, 3PM via zoom.

Due Date to Submit Registration to SUNY SA:

Monday, November 9, by 9PM. Via this >>>LINK<<<

Due Date to Submit Registration to Board of Trustees:

Tuesday, November 10, by 3PM

IMPORTANT: Each student that will be at the hearing, must email the Board of Trustees from their own email to “request” to be at the hearing. SUNY SA will send all students who have registered with us (by MON 9PM) a “template email”, to send to the Board of Trustees to confirm their attendance (before TUE 3PM), as well as the email address, this is why it’s important to register with us ASAP.

What can you do:

1) Push members of your cabinet and senate to attend, as student representatives this is their opportunity to represent their constituents at the most important table of SUNY

2) Gather coalitions from student organization presidents at multicultural organizations

3) REMEMBER: register with SUNY SA by Mon, 9PM, and keep an eye out for SA’s. email to register with the Board of Trustees by Tuesday 3PM.

NOTE:

We will meet as a group before Nov 17 hearing to discuss the testimonials.

From the bottom of my heart thank you all for being willing to fight this fight with us. Only together, we can.

Yours in advocacy and solidarity,

Eusebio Omar van Reenen
Vice President
He/Him
Student Assembly of the State University of New York
State University Plaza – Albany, NY 12246
Your Voice. Your Student Assembly.

Dear UB Student,

Please take a few minutes to complete this short, anonymous survey: Latinx, Latin American, Caribbean Student Experience.  We’re looking to build the foundations for a program and center for Caribbean, Latin American, and Latinx studies and students. We would very much appreciate your insights regarding your experience as a Latinx student on campus, and thoughts as to what you’d like or need to support your success, and that of Latinx communities at UB.

Hello!

My name is Brenna Butler, and I am a doctoral student inviting you to participate in a research study about the writing needs of international doctoral students (IDSs) whose strongest language is not English who are currently enrolled at institutions across the United States. This research study consists of a brief online survey asking about your writing needs during your PhD program that should take you between 15-20 minutes to complete. The data from this survey will be shared with higher education individuals that work with IDSs who make decisions regarding graduate student resources and policies.

There are minimal risks to this study and responses will be kept completely confidential by the researchers. All potential participants can enter a raffle for a chance to receive one of 20 books on scholarly writing (“The Dissertation Journey” by Carol Roberts or “Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks” by Wendy Laura Belchner), or one of 10 $15 Amazon gift cards. All potential participants can receive a scholarly writing guide that includes videos and a handout with resources developed by the researchers that provide tips on improving your scholarly writing skills.

Your participation is voluntary. If you wish to participate in this study, and/or enter the raffle for a scholarly book or gift card, and/or receive the writing guide, please click on the link below:

https://tiny.utk.edu/IDS

Do you know of an international doctoral student that might be interested in participating? Please feel free to pass this survey link along to them!

Thank you for your time!

The UBIT Student Experience Survey is now live at buffalo.edu/ubit/survey

There are also still some spots left in our Student Input Sessions this week as well, students can click the following links to register via Zoom:

• Register: 10/20, 3-4 p.m.
• Register: 10/21, 1-2 p.m.
• Register: 10/21, 5-6 p.m.

Get Involved webpage: http://www.buffalo.edu/inclusion/getinvolved.html

Looking for an opportunity to get some volunteer hours without having to leave campus? Volunteers are needed to assist at the COVID-19 surveillance testing sites here at UB. PPE will be provided for volunteers upon arrival including lab coat, surgical mask and gloves. Please review the Overall Pooling Day Process video to see a sample test site and then follow this link to volunteer – https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4fa5af22aafdc25-volunteers.