Business Services Employee Engagement Hub

Annette Saraceno (Financial Management)
After 22 years of dedicated service to UB, we bid farewell to Annette Saraceno. Her career included 14 years in AP and 8+ years with Campus Mail, with significant contributions to ShopBlue's implementation and success. Known for her kindness, strong work ethic, and compassion, Annette has been an invaluable resource across campus. While we'll miss her positive spirit, we're excited for her next chapter and thank her deeply for her many years of service to the UB community.

Justine Wheeler (Campus Mail)
After a remarkable career, Justine retired from UB, leaving behind a legacy of excellence. Starting at BFI (now Modern Disposal) at age 17, Justine joined UB's Campus Living team in 2013. Her strong work ethic and care for students earned her a promotion to Housing Operations. In 2022, she became Campus Mail's in-house supervisor, where she modernized processes and elevated customer service while managing student staff. Justine's impact has been felt across every department she's touched. We wish her all the best in this well-deserved new chapter!

Kathy Roach (Print Services)
With mixed emotions, we announce Kathy's retirement from Print Services. Joining UB 8½ years ago during our rebranding initiative, Kathy's design and print expertise made her integral to our team's success. Her attention to detail and strong customer relationships helped make Print Services what it is today. Thank you, Kathy, for your incredible work ethic and contributions—we wish you all the best in this exciting next chapter!

Cheri Weber (Purchasing and Contract Services)
After 33 remarkable years, Cheri retired from UB on April 15, 2025. Beginning at UBMicro in 1992, she became vital to technology purchasing across the university, supporting students, faculty, and staff throughout the SUNY system while leading the Technology Procurements team. We thank Cheri for her dedication and True Blue spirit. While we'll miss her presence, we're excited for her well-earned next chapter.

You, your family and your not-so-spooky friends were invited to a special family-friendly and free Community Halloween Night on Oct. 30, 2025, from 5-7 p.m. at 955 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14203, at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. We carved out community organizations with Halloween-themed kids' activities, special prizes for all attendees and dinner and treats for everyone!

We invited everyone to join us for a day of fun as we enjoyed a spooktacular Halloween celebration. We encouraged everyone to get their costumes ready and dress up on Thursday, Oct. 30. Fun activities were planned and prizes were awarded as colleagues brought their best looks and enjoyed some festive fun together.

The ShopBlue 101 training course helps authorized UB faculty and staff learn how to use ShopBlue to order necessary goods and services for university business. Topics include navigating ShopBlue, profile management, all order types and completing form requests. This two-hour course is scheduled monthly via Zoom and in person. Bring a laptop to in-person sessions. Previously presented on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.

SIRI (Strategic Information Reporting Initiative) is UB's online reporting tool that brings important university data into one place. Staff can view reports and dashboards related to finance, HR, enrollment and more, depending on their role. Because supervisors provide access tailored to your job responsibilities, everyone's view of SIRI looks different—but the goal remains the same: to make it easier to find, understand and use data in your daily work.

Our presenter will give a high-level overview of SIRI and walk you through what the system looks like and how it works. You'll see examples of reports and dashboards, learn how staff across UB use them and discover how SIRI could support your work. This introduction provides a firsthand look at the tool and a foundation for using it effectively. Previoulsy presented on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025.

Utilizing AI in Your Daily Job: This presentation highlighted how to use basic AI features in your everyday job. Highlights included showing off Microsoft Copilot and AI features in Zoom. Previously presented on July 15 and 22, 2025. View the slides. 

Presented by Susan O'Rourke (Student Engagement), this presentation examined how generational differences affect workplace dynamics. To request a copy of the slides, please email Mike Koziej. 

Watch Ed Brodka from UB's Career Design Center as he explained how to enhance your LinkedIn profile. Originally recorded on Tuesday, June 17, 2025.

Empathy and AI might seem like opposites—one deeply human, the other distinctly technological. But what if AI could enable empathy at scale? In an era defined by declining enrollment and rising expectations for personalized, trust-driven engagement, higher education leaders urgently need to rethink their approach. Enter Conversation Intelligence, an emerging and essential technology that helps institutions foster trust-driven, meaningful connections in a way that traditional tools like CRMs simply cannot. Originally recorded on Wednesday, February 26, 2025..