Joe Ball, associate director of Campus Services and Facilities at Buffalo State College, has been named the 2007 recipient of the New York State Disability Services Council’s Campus Access Award in honor of his support of students, faculty and staff with disabilities.



Campus Access Award nominees must be non-disability-services employees, departments or alumni on a SUNY campus who promote or provide outstanding access to the campus’s disabled community.



Ball, who has worked at Buffalo State for more than 30 years, has developed a reputation for going above and beyond his duties to accommodate the special needs of disabled Buffalo State students, faculty and staff.



“If a student has a problem, such as an automatic door not opening or a walkway not being cleared sufficiently in the winter, Joe has been known to give students his personal cell phone number so he may be reached quickly when needed,” said Director of Disability Services Marianne Savino, who nominated Ball for the award. “Some students even give Joe their schedules so he can prioritize plowing on heavier snow days.”



Ball started his career at Buffalo State in 1976 as a university police officer, a position he held until 1981. Starting in 1981, he served as assistant to the director of the Physical Plant before assuming his current position in 1998. Ball sits on Buffalo State’s ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Committee.



Ball and his wife, Linda, reside in the Town of Tonawanda.