Graduate Student Association

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.

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.

While the physical GSA office will remain closed until further notice, graduate students are still eligible for all of the funding and support services we provide.  For example, conference funding is still being awarded on a monthly basis to students who are attending or presenting at virtual events; MDRF grants are still available to support expenses related to final project, thesis and dissertation research, and the GSA Editorial Services are still offering copy editing services via online submissions.  Check out the GSA website for more information about these and all of our other opportunities!

Furthermore, Departmental clubs are able to provide conference and research support to their students, so make sure to inquire with your club officers about additional financial support.

All funding provided through your mandatory student activity fee.

The GSA Election Committee is pleased to announce the results of the 2020-2021 GSA Officer Elections and Referendum vote:

President:

J Coley: 468
(110 abstentions)

Vice President:

Connor Walters: 472
(106 abstentions)

Treasurer:

Joshua Joseph: 475
(103 abstentions)

These elected candidates will officially take office immediately.

Referendum:

That the student activity fee be MANDATORY for all graduate students: 329

That the student activity fee be VOLUNTARY for all graduate students: 249

Thank you to all of the graduate students who participated in these votes!

Sincerely,

GSA Election Committee

Tania Islam (EC Chair)
Xingyu Chen (EC)
Sadat Khan  (EC)
Olabowale Olola (EC)
Amber Rivera (EC)

Every two years the SUNY Board of Trustees mandates that all student governments must put their student activity fee up for a referendum vote.  GSA’s fee will be voted on this Fall from September 14th to 17th.  Without a mandatory student activity fee, GSA will not have the revenues to provide all of our funding and services to clubs and graduate students.

On Monday, July 6th, 2020, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that international students in the U.S. whose schools switch to online classes for the fall semester will have to leave the country or risk violating their visa status. The decision would prohibit any student on an F-1 visa from remaining in the country under the aforementioned circumstance.

The University at Buffalo Graduate Student Association condemns this decision in the strongest possible terms. On July 14th, 2020, the Trump administration rescinded the policy that would have deported international students not taking in-person classes. While we are grateful for this rescission, we are still concerned for international students under the current administration.

The UB Graduate Student Association E-board urges President Tripathi and Vice President Weber to be proactive in protecting all international students from instances like this in the future. UB Administration should develop a concrete plan to protect international students in case something like this happens again. International students should not have to live in fear of being deported. They need to know that UB administration will fight for them against the xenophobic and overzealous Trump administration.

The University at Buffalo prides itself in being a top destination school for international students. Now is the time for UB administration to show up for international students in a big way. The UB GSA stands in solidarity with international students at UB and everywhere. We encourage UB administrators to show they do as well.

J. Coley, GSA President
Connor Walters, GSA Vice President
Joshua Joseph, GSA Treasurer

Due to the recent ICE announcements that will affect the international students at UB, especially after Thanksgiving when all classes will go online, some UB Graduate Students have started a petition to urge the UB administration and the President to create a one-credit course for all international students and continue in person instruction post-Thanksgiving break. If you are interested in supporting this initiative, please sign the petition via the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-l4oWK-6_pmNJNwX4mcysERa3BDQWd83VyQLLmArxyk/edit

Dear UB Community:

We are researching the presence and effects of cyberbullying and substance use, in general and for LGBTQ+ individuals, among students, faculty, and staff in higher education. Research shows that LGBTQ+ secondary-age youth are disproportionately more likely to experience cyberbullying and associated trauma than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts; however, limited research explores this relationship among adult learners and higher education (Abreu & Kenny, 2017).

We request your input to help us gain a better sense of our community’s perspectives and experiences. To that end, we’ve developed a survey that will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. There are multiple choice questions as well as opportunities for a more extended sharing of experiences. Attached to this post is an informed consent document that outlines the details of this study and will help you decide if you would like to participate.

At the end of the survey, you will be asked about your willingness to participate in a one-time, 1-hour interview with the researchers via Zoom. If you indicate your willingness to participate, please include your email so that we may follow up to schedule the interview. If you would prefer not to submit your email with your survey response, you may email the researchers separately to schedule the interview. For your participation in the interview, you will receive $25.00.

Link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XGFBMVX

 Please complete the survey by the closing date, July 31, 2020, and contact us at crdoxbec@buffalo.edu or tbkarali@buffalo.edu for more information.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Courtney Doxbeck
Ph.D. Student
Department of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology

Tiffany Karalis Noel, Ph.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Learning and Instruction

IRB Approval

Informed Consent Form