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UB offers jobs to displaced workers
By JESSICA KELTZ
Reporter Contributor
In addition to enrolling at least 12 students from schools in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina, UB is offering jobs to displaced student affairs personnel, and will continue a variety of fund-raising efforts through October and beyond.
"I'm always impressed by how quickly people can focus on something that's very alien to them, and how creatively they can respond," said Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs. "Lots of people see something like this, and they stop and watch it on TV, or they go to the Web sites. Other people stop and look at that and say 'What can we do?' I'm always so impressed by those who think quickly."
Efforts undertaken by UB students include selling Mardi Gras beads to raise money in the vein of the popular Lance Armstrong "livestrong" bracelets that raised money for cancer research and donation drives at FallFest, the annual Linda Yalem Run and at the first home football game of the season on Saturday. (A list of efforts follows this story.)
UB had enrolled 12 visiting students from the Gulf Coast region as of Monday, including several from Tulane, Black said, adding that a few more could be coming. In addition, the Office of Student Affairs has undertaken a unique effort to find jobs for displaced university staffers.
"We were talking with people from our career services office, and they have a search that they were just about to begin," Black said. "One thought was, wouldn't that be an ideal situation for somebody who was displaced from the Gulf Coast?"
Student Affairs has found four vacancies that could be filled by displaced personnel. Appointments will be temporary—either three or six months—and if the new employees decide they like Buffalo so much that they want to stay permanently, they would be eligible to compete in the search for a permanent person to fill the position, Black said.
"If someone is looking to make a change, certainly they would be able to apply in the spring when we do the searches," Black said. He said that Tulane and the other New Orleans institutions plan to reopen in the spring.
The four positions are in Judicial Affairs/Residence Halls, Orientation/First Year Experience, Residential Life and Career Services. Student Affairs has asked for the assistance of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), National Orientation Directors Association (NODA), Association of College and University Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I) and Gulf Coast schools in helping to find job candidates. The university will help interested individuals find short-term housing. More information is available at 645-2982 or mail@vpsa.buffalo.edu.
Other UB offices have joined in the relief effort as well. Campus Dining & Shops will allow students to donate Campus Cash to the relief effort, said Mitch Green, executive director of campus dining and shops. Green said that students can make the donations now, but the program will become official with more information available in the next week or two.
"We did this last year with the tsunami relief effort," Green said. "It was a way for us to support the campus efforts to provide some assistance."
Black said that the best way to get information on how to help at UB is to visit the We Care Web site at www.student -affairs.buffalo.edu/wecare. The site lists the days, times and places for fund-raising events, as well as information on how to donate goods and contribute in other ways to the relief effort.
Here are a few Hurricane Katrina relief efforts underway at UB:
Blood Drive: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 27 at the medical school on South Campus.
Cash donations: Cash donations will be collected at the UB Bulls home opener vs. Rutgers, 8 p.m., Saturday; Linda Yalem Memorial Run, race registration, 4-7:30 p.m., Sept. 23, and 9:30 a.m., Sept. 25, Alumni Arena; Health-Related Job Fair, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 3, 105 Harriman Hall; FallFest, Oct. 21, Alumni Arena. Checks, made out to Campus Dining & Shops—Hurricane Katrina Fund, also may be sent to the UB Card Office, Suite 101, The Commons, North Campus.
Campus Cash: Students wishing to donate campus cash can download a form from the "donate" portion of the We Care Web site.
Skip-a-meal: Students can donate the cost of a meal-plan meal as many as three times, once per week from Oct. 3 to Oct. 21. To donate, go to any dining hall or the UB Card office and tell the cashier you want to donate a meal to UB's Hurricane Relief Fund.
Food donations: Nonperishable items can be taken to the Harriman Hall student center on the South Campus and the information desk in the Student Union, North Campus.