President Katherine Conway-Turner Delivers Fall Forum Address

Buffalo State President Katherine Conway-Turner presented highlights from the 2014-2015 academic year as well as an inspiring look at the future of the institution with emphasis on the strategic planning process during her fall forum address Tuesday. Faculty, staff, and students joined Conway-Turner for the address in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall.

“Last year, my first year at Buffalo State, was fast paced and full of many exciting and memorable moments. The year included the sea of orange at Convocation, the spectacular inaugural week activities, and many conversations completed, projects developed, and programs executed. It was also filled with lobbying events as I joined colleagues across the SUNY system to appeal for additional state funds to support our college community. It was a memorable and significant year. The normal year’s events were punctuated in mid-May with Commencement ceremonies that brimmed with joy, laughter, and tears as our 2,500 graduating students transitioned to become the newest members of our Buffalo State alumni body of over 100,000.”

Additional 2014-2015 accomplishments included:

• Buffalo State received a record number of first-year applications (topped by a new record this year);
• Nine of our athletic teams advanced to conference playoffs;
• Jazmin Dunham, ’15, became the most decorated student athlete in Buffalo State’s history with 11 career all American certificates;
• We launched our “I Love Consent” campaign;
• We were again awarded the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award (and received for a third year in a row this year);
• We concluded our successful Transforming Lives fund raising campaign at $27 million dollars, exceeding our $20 million dollar goal.

As the institution begins to engage in strategic planning, President Conway-Turner asked the college community to keep several important tenets in mind during what will be an inclusive, campuswide process:

1. Students are at the center of all we do.
2. We support the development of students strong in the liberal arts tradition. We must create flexible learners who will be ready for our changing future.
3. We are a comprehensive college. We must guide students toward success in the tradition of great colleges.
4. We have a commitment to excellence in teaching, and we believe that the scholarship and creative work completed by our faculty (and the students who work alongside them) lift learning to higher levels.
5. We believe in engaged learning in and outside the classroom.
6. We are Buffalo’s college. We must embrace what it means to be an anchor institution within the city of Buffalo.
7. We are diverse, and it is one of our strengths. This diversity allows us to have nuanced discussions in class and to ask questions that homogeneous campuses cannot fully consider.
8. We are a campus that has a passion for social justice, and we embrace our goal to be a socially responsible campus.

President Conway-Turner concluded her address with, “As we proceed through our campuswide strategic planning process, I ask you to reject the comfort of sameness and instead reach for a path that advances our campus and defines Buffalo State as distinct and ready to be a leader among our peers, across the country, and around the world. I challenge us all to reach for the stars and dare to be distinct.”

Read the complete address on the president’s website >>