Initiatives

One World Café is a new and exciting dining center that will reflect the university’s determination, vision and pride. Located in the center of campus, between Capen and Norton Halls, the facility will serve students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors.

In partnership with the university, and with the approval of the Capital Planning Board, Campus Dining and Shops is bringing a new dining experience to life as part of UB’s overall Heart of the Campus (HOTC) initiative.

Designed by the UB community, for the UB community, the new dining center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2022. The three-story, 53,500-square-foot facility will feature:

• Seating for 800+
• A global array of authentic, internationally-themed meals, snacks and drinks
• Five international food platforms
• A pre-function space for events in the Buffalo Room
• The University Club, including multiple conference rooms and a bar

As part of the One World Café planning team, Student Life has played an integral role in all phases of the One World Café project, including conceptual design and naming/branding of the facility.

During summer 2017, the University of Buffalo initiated a comprehensive student housing master plan across its three campuses. We are committed to better understanding the most appropriate and efficient use of all current and future campus student living space. The need to provide a memorable UB living experience for our students during their education is a fundamental aspect of the UB student experience.  The housing master plan study sought to:

1. Assess our existing conditions
2. Study the market realities of our area
3. Develop a strategic vision for student housing; and
4. Make recommendations on future steps. 

To operationalize this effort, a committee has been functioning under the leadership of Tonga Pham, associate vice president for facilities.

The final report is due from the consultants during the fall 2018 semester.

As Student Life evolves its programs to meet changing student needs, so should the university’s Student Unions, where many of these programs are housed and/or conducted.  Starting in fall 2018, Student Life will retain the services of a nationally recognized firm to perform a master plan for future use of the North Campus Student Union and Harriman Hall on the South Campus. 

Task Force Goals

• Through focus groups, surveys, town halls, and other instruments, solicit broad and inclusive feedback from the university community on the future of UB campus store needs and operations. 
•  Review other peer institutions and third party vendors to assess current models of campus store operations.
• Using data and feedback obtained from the university community, external peers, and third party vendors, make recommendations on campus store service levels to be provided to the University at Buffalo. These recommendations should include consideration of traditional textbooks sales and rentals, the continued emergence of digital textbooks and other recent industry innovations, university apparel, supplies, and other related retail opportunities associated with campus stores, such as food service, package delivery service, post office services, etc. The Task Force recommendations will address service level expectations for each campus.   
• Consider opportunities for corporate and philanthropic partnerships as part of its recommendations. 
• Provide a framework for the university to move forward with the task force recommendations including delivery of service models, management and financial models of operation (university run operations or in conjunction with a third-party contractor), desired locations, and a time line for execution.

Structure

The task force will utilize the following subcommittees to collect and evaluate data:

• Delivery of Academic Material
• Contracts
• Physical Space Review
• Assessment

Timeline

• Faculty-staff web survey (open) - November 2019
• Student survey (by invitation, cross-sample) - November 2019
  
• Facilitated student focus group(s) - November 2019
• Open focus group activity 
  • Harriman Hall, South Campus 11/20/19
  • Student Union, North Campus 11/21/19

The university is committed to providing students with opportunities to customize and enhance their college career.  We recognize that you learn by doing, and UB provides learning opportunities that connect students to their interests while bridging with their academics. These opportunities span all majors and are offered in many forms including research, internships, and community service. Experiential learning is learning fostered by reflection, and is available to all students while also engaging faculty, staff, and community partners who are dedicated to the intentional and guided educational experiences offered to students. Experiential learning compliments the university’s mission to research, educate, and serve by offering opportunities that will prepare students for their professional careers and provide those skills to continually contribute to their communities in a world that is ever-changing.

Student Life’s Office of Assessment and Evaluation oversees the collection of undergraduate outcomes data by administering the annual UB Next survey. This data provides a snapshot of student outcomes six months after graduation, be it employment, graduate school, volunteer work, or other pursuits. This information helps us identify opportunities for our new graduates, better serve alumni, work with our community partners and employers, and helps current and future students understand the possibilities available to them through their University at Buffalo education.

Through a collaborative effort between Enrollment Management and Student Life, New to UB enhances the student experience through the university’s pre-existing assets with new programs and services. The joint effort serves as a tool for ensuring student success, and highlighting the benefits to be gained from improved interaction between the many high-quality programs and services UB already provides for first-year and transitioning students.

The task force solicited broad and inclusive feedback from the University community on the future of UB campus store needs and operations through a series of subcommittees:

• Delivery of Academic Material
• Contracts
• Physical Space Review
• Assessment 

Committees reviewed other peer institutions and third party vendors to assess current models of campus store operations; including traditional textbooks sales and rentals, the continued emergence of digital textbooks and other recent industry innovations, university apparel, supplies, and other related retail opportunities associated with campus stores, such as food service, package delivery service, post office services, etc.

The task force submitted their findings during the Spring 2020 semester.

As part of the university’s Heart of the Campus Initiative (HOTC) and through collaboration across divisional hierarchies, 1Capen and 1Diefendorf were designed with the goal of providing integrated student services in support of our students’ success. 1Capen will welcome students, parents, faculty/staff and visitors on the ground floor of Capen Hall. 1Diefendorf is strategically placed in the core of our South Campus, adjacent to Abbott Library in Diefendorf Hall. The service centers represent models of service integration, continuous improvement of processes, diminishing silos, all in efforts to positively impact students’ experience with service on campus. Both centers began welcoming students during the fall 2017 semester.

As part of an overall restructuring of Student Life announced in May 2017, the departments of Counseling Services, Health Services, and Health Promotion will coordinate and align their activities through the creation of Student Wellness -- a single entity to promote the connection between student wellbeing and academic success.  Student Wellness will provide strategic vision, leadership, advocacy for, and management of these three critical departments within Student Life. Additionally, Student Wellness and its leadership team will work to ensure that the University at Buffalo is adopting effective, ethical, culturally appropriate, and research-based counseling, health and wellness policies, programs and services that help to create a resilient campus culture at both the individual and community level. Clinical and prevention services will remain a top priority and will be coordinated and integrated appropriately, as Student Wellness continues to develop and assess learning outcomes for programs and services.    

For a number of years, there has been general dissatisfaction with the current academic integrity policy and its implementation at UB.  The dissatisfaction results primarily from two issues:

1. The current policy is legalistic and bureaucratic, which can frustrate and disincentives consistent faculty and student participation; and
2. There is potential for inconsistency in the execution of the policy. 

To address this concern a university-wide Committee on Academic Integrity was convened in early 2016 to evaluate the current climate and make recommendations for improvement. These have resulted in a recent report that has been presented to the Faculty Senate for their review and endorsement. Basic recommendations included in the report included:

1. The adoption of a more streamlined and understandable policy,
2. Establishment of an Office of Academic Integrity responsible for proactive education and enforcement, and
3. A process for enforcement that would follow a model similar to student conduct and advocacy that relies much more heavily on student participation than our current approach.  

As of May 2017, the Faculty Senate has endorsed the report from the Committee on Academic Integrity and asked for an expeditious review by the Faculty Senate Committee on Policy and Grading so that the full senate may consider any revisions to the university policies by this fall.  Furthermore, the initiative has received funding to establish the Office of Academic Integrity as a resource to faculty and students and implement any policy revisions as they are approved.