Graduate Student Association

Check out some of the great events GSA has to offer this month!

*Paid for by your Mandatory Student Activity Fee*

Check out some of the great events GSA has to offer this month!

*Paid for by your Mandatory Student Activity Fee.*

Dear guests,

We regret to inform you that the Distinguished Speakers Series lecture featuring Winston Duke scheduled for Thursday, November 4, at 7:00 p.m. has been cancelled due to a conflict with Mr. Duke’s filming schedule.

Ticket refund information can be found below:

• Guests who paid with a credit card will be automatically refunded within 30 days.
• Guests who paid with cash should email ubcfatickets@buffalo.edu, or visit the Center for the Arts Box Office during office hours to initiate your refund. Office hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from noon – 6:00 p.m. When requesting your refund, please be prepared with your order information and ID.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions about this update, or the series overall. We look forward to seeing you at a future Distinguished Speakers Series event; please visit our website for more details about each speaker.

Thank you for your continued understanding, flexibility, and support of the series.

Office of University Events staff
University at Buffalo

(716) 645-3414
ub-speakers@buffalo.edu

Dear Graduate Students,

We seek your input regarding UB’s plan to build Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Centers, in centrally located spaces on the North and South Campuses. We invite you to watch a brief video and participate in a survey to provide input on this initiative, by Nov. 3, 2021.

Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Center Concept Video

Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Center Survey

The creation of these centers seek to build community, promote interdisciplinary interactions, support professional development and enhance wellness/mental health among graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

Thank you for your participation.

Graham Hammill
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Dean of the Graduate School

Check out some of the great events GSA has to offer this month!

*Paid for by your Mandatory Student Activity Fee.*

Dear Club Officers, Representatives and Students,

As noted in the GSA COVID Memo 2021 that was sent out to all clubs with their club activation email on August 2^nd, all in person activities/meetings/events, both on and off campus, require prior approval from both the University and GSA.  Please follow the detailed instructions listed in the memo.  The highlights are listed below.  Any club found to have violated these procedures will have their club derecognized and will lose all of the benefits of university-wide recognition for the year, such as the ability to reserve space, fundraise, and spend your club budget.

We will be relying very heavily on UBLinked this year in order to help us all comply with the various rules and regulations.  A representative from UBLinked gave a tutorial on the site at the GSA Board of Directors meeting on September 8^th.  Here is that portion of the meeting for everyone’s future reference.

Highlights for planning an in person activity:

1. Submit an event request through your club’s UBLinked page.  Make sure to include the link to the GSA Liability Waiver in the event description.  The GSA Liability waiver has been made into a digital form and has been pre-loaded on every GSA club’s UBLinked homepage.  Make sure to cap the maximum number of RSVP spots allowable accordingly based on the occupancy limitations of the space and the current capacity guidelines at the time of your event.
2. Once the event has been approved by the University and EH&S, requisition requests can then be submitted to GSA for review and approval (if necessary).
3. If you will be charging admission for your event, make sure to contact the UB Ticket Office to set up the sale at least 7 days in advance.  Clubs are NOT allowed to collect money from students or community members without utilizing the UB Ticket Office for any reason.
4. Have students RSVP and complete the GSA Liability Waiver via UBLinked if they plan to attend a free event.  Note that they will need to be logged into UBLinked and registered as a club member to access this information.  For paid events, the GSA Liability Waiver will be posted by the UB Ticket Office as a requirement for purchasing a ticket online.
5. Officers and/or event organizers will need to verify that every participant has RSVP’d/purchased a ticket in advance and completed a GSA Liability Waiver before they can admit them to an event.  The UBLinked Event Pass App must be used to check students in at each event.  GSA will be checking these attendance lists against liability waiver lists for all in person events before releasing any payments/reimbursements.

If you have any questions about the new policies or guidelines, please reach out to the GSA office for assistance well in advance.  The process for getting an in person event pre-approved can take several weeks, so please make sure to plan accordingly!

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Please note that as of Monday, August 30th the GSA office staff will be back to working on campus.  However, due to the increasing COVID transmission rates we will be keeping the office door closed throughout the day.  We encourage all students to continue to submit questions and paperwork via email whenever possible. You are also still welcome to slide paperwork under the office door, or campus mail it to 310 Student Union Buffalo, NY 14260.  Staff will also be available any time during regular business hours (Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm, closed for lunch 1:00 – 2:00pm daily) for meetings via Zoom.  You may also call the office at 645-2960. To set up an appointment with the GSA Director of Operations, please use Calendly at https://calendly.com/slfrankgsa.  If an in person meeting becomes absolutely necessary, arrangements will be made accordingly on a case by case basis.

GSA would like to welcome Diane Staly to the GSA Team!  Diane was recently hired as the GSA’s new Associate Director of Operations and will be working to assist students and clubs with all of their needs.  Diane spent many years working at Sub Board I, Inc. before moving over to FSA in order to assist with the UB student governments’ transition to the new fiscal agent in 2019.  We hope you all will join us in offering her a very warm welcome!

Please note that as of Monday, May 10th GSA will be on summer hours:

Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 4:00pm, closed on Friday (closed for lunch daily 1:00 – 2:00pm)

Regular business hours will resume with the start of the Fall semester on Monday, August 30th.

The GSA is currently hiring student staff positions for the 2021-2022 academic year.  Please see the descriptions of the Programming Coordinator and Hourly Associate Editor positions.  If you are interested in either of these postings, please email the required materials listed to the GSA Vice President, El Novak, at gsa-vicepresident@buffalo.edu by Friday, June 18^th in order to be considered.  Applicants must be currently enrolled graduate students who have paid their mandatory student activity fee and must be able to serve for the full term of the position.