Buffalo State College won a State University of New York Council for University Affairs and Development (SUNY/CUAD) Best of Category Award for Excellence for its video, "Teachers or Oz," and a Judge's Citation for its acceptance package that is sent to new students.

The awards were presented by SUNY Chancellor Robert King at SUNY/CUAD's annual educational conference held this year at the Lake Placid Hilton. Now in its 48th year, SUNY/CUAD represents the state university's public relations, publications, electronic communications, development, alumni relations, governmental relations and marketing functions.

"Teachers or Oz" was conceived by Carmine A. Grande, Buffalo State College vice president of Institutional Advancement and Development and Distinguished Alumnus, SUNY Honorary Degree recipient and Emmy Award-winner Tom Fontana, executive producer of the HBO series, "Oz." A hard-hitting video, it is based on the characters that inhabit Oswald Correctional Facility, the fictional maximum security prison that is the setting for "Oz," and features the show's talented cast. It is narrated by Oscar, Grammy, Tony and Emmy-award winner Rita Moreno who received a SUNY Honorary Degree and gave the keynote address at Buffalo State College's 2001 commencement. The actors volunteered their services; "Teachers or Oz" was produced for the college for free.

The premise of the video is that society can either train better teachers now or build more prisons later, since research has shown that good teachers can have such a profound influence on a young person's life as to make the difference between whether that person becomes a contributing member of society or lives a life behind bars.

The video's objective is two-fold - to raise funding for Buffalo State's teacher-training Center of Excellence for Urban and Rural Education and awareness of the pressing need to provide high-quality teachers specially equipped to handle the particular problems associated with both rural and urban schools. "Teachers or Oz" is specifically targeted to state and federal lawmakers.

The acceptance package, developed by Ann Brown, College Relations publications manager, designed by graphic designer Lynda Donati and copy edited by communications specialist Nancy Paschke, consists of a comprehensive welcome packet of information with easy-to-complete forms and return envelopes. It replaces the four mailings - each with its own response mechanism - from four different offices accepted students previously received. Initial response has been extremely positive.