UB to hold 10th annual Shared Governance Day on Tuesday

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo will hold its 10th annual Shared Governance Day on March 4 with a joint meeting of the Faculty Senate and the Professional Staff Senate (PSS).

The meeting is open to the news media and members of the UB community.

When: 4 p.m.

Where: Center for the Arts, North Campus.

What: UB’s inaugural Shared Governance Day took place in 2016 after the Faculty Senate and PSS approved a resolution changing the name of the Faculty Senate and Professional Staff Senate offices to the Office of University Shared Governance.

The senates also declared that the first Tuesday of March be known as Shared Governance Day.

The day allows members of the UB community to observe together the five pillars of shared governance, including faculty, staff, students, administration and councils, as well as alumni associations, through a series of informative, collegial and celebratory events.

Who: SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. will speak remotely via videoconference. Also speaking at the event:

• A. Scott Weber, UB provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
• Keith Landa, president of the SUNY University Faculty Senate.
• Candice Vacine, president of the SUNY Faculty Council of Community Colleges.
• UB SUNY senators R.J. Multari, Kristin Stapleton and Kerry Traynor.
• Giovanni “Gio” Harvey, president of the SUNY Student Assembly.
• UB student leaders Samin Bhuya, president of the UB Student Association; Isaac Kolding, president of the UB Graduate Student Association; and Alika Turton, UB Council student representative and UB Council of Advocacy and Leadership (COAL) chairperson.

The meeting will be hosted by three co-chairs: former Faculty Senate chair and professor Philip Glick, former PSS chair Domenic J. Licata, and UB math professor Barbara Prinari.

The SUNY Governance Handbook defines shared governance as the “structures and processes through which faculty, professional staff, administration, governing boards and students participate in the development of policies and in decision making that affect the institution.” Policy is not something that just happens, organizers say, but rather should involve those with specific areas of experience and expertise who are directly impacted by it.

Organizers will present a Shared Governance Award to the most deserving group on campus that collaborated on an important shared governance activity.

Following the meeting, a reception in the Center for the Arts atrium will feature a jazz quartet of UB students, and attendees will receive a complimentary ticket to the UB Bulls men’s 7 p.m. basketball game versus Miami at Alumni Arena.