University Life and Services wins two SUNY student life awards

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Two student programs organized by University Life and Services at the University at Buffalo have won State University of New York awards for outstanding student affairs programs.

The two programs receiving state recognition — Assessment Boot Camp and Operation Student Safety — are the latest UB student programs recognized by SUNY’s Office of University Life and its Council of Chief Student Affairs Officers.

“These prestigious and competitive state awards — this being the third consecutive year UB has won them — show the university’s commitment to making our students’ lives as safe and fulfilling as possible,” says Dennis R. Black, vice president for university life and services.

“The award UB received for its Assessment Boot Camp shows our commitment to efficient and meaningful administration and planning. Operation Student Safety is more evidence students’ safety is something we at the university take very seriously. We’re trying to do whatever we can to not only educate our students, but look out for their well-being when they are outside the classroom,” he says.

Assessment Boot Camp is designed to fill the campus need for administrators to learn how to more effectively and efficiently assess their programs and services. The intensive, three-day, curriculum-based workshop helps administrators learn essential assessment skills and tools, such as defining the purpose, writing an outcome and measuring those outcomes.

Assessment Boot Camp began three years ago and was open to anyone affiliated with University Life and Services. The program gradually expanded to include other areas of the university, including the University Libraries, Undergraduate Academies, School of Nursing and the Honors College. The upcoming Assessment Boot Camp scheduled for January is open to all members of the UB community, as well as other institutions in Western New York.

Assessment Boot Camp won SUNY’s Outstanding Student Affairs Program Award in the category of Administrative, Assessment, Information Technology, Fundraising, Professional Development and related programs.

Operation Student Safety brought together UB and the City of Buffalo’s Office of Permits and Inspections to improve safety conditions for students living off-campus, particularly in the University Heights neighborhood. Staff from Off-Campus Student Services and city inspectors visited off-campus student residences on Saturday afternoons looking for safety issues and various housing-code violations.

More than 366 properties have been evaluated, with 192 incurring at least one violation. While most cases were resolved quickly, 35 escalated to Buffalo Housing Court for resolution. In some extreme cases — where students were living without electricity and water, and with missing windows and insect infestation — officials issued an order to vacate and the students were relocated.

Operation Student Safety won this year’s Outstanding Student Affairs Program Award in the category of Off-Campus, Commuter, Non-traditional, Graduate, Professional and related programs.

UB previously won SUNY awards in 2014 for Universal Design Yoga, presented by Accessibility Resources, and Assessment Day, organized by Assessment and Evaluation. In 2013, UB’s Virtual Career Fair, organized by Career Services, received similar recognition.

This year’s winning programs were recognized during SUNY’s Council of Chief Student Affairs Officers meeting held on Oct. 5 in Syracuse.