You will always be part of the UB family - stay connected, and involved.
With much of our country and the world navigating an uncharted course through the short- and long-term impact of COVID-19, we extend our most heartfelt and best wishes for the health and safety of you and your families. Our concerns and support extend beyond our own community to all who are affected by this health crisis. We know that many of our alumni and friends across the world are being impacted by this issue, and we continue to keep you in our thoughts during these challenging times.
As you may know, the University at Buffalo has implemented a distance learning model for our students and is moving to a remote work accommodation for our faculty and staff to the extent possible. It’s important to share that, in this ever-evolving situation, our two guiding principles are the health and safety of our community, and the continued academic progress of our students.
In many ways, it is your ongoing support of UB that enables the university to provide the resources to support our community in these difficult times. Whether your gifts have been to the UB Fund, or to a specific scholarship or research initiative, each and every day we put your contributions to work where they will have the maximum impact at UB. Thank you for your investment and commitment to UB.
While we won’t be able to see you in person at UB programs and events in the short term, we are working on ways to keep your connection to UB – and to each other – strong. Pursuant to recent University, CDC and local health department guidelines, all alumni, in-person gatherings, including events, conferences, meetings and other forums, are being cancelled or postponed until at least early June.
Noteworthy Alumni
Published March 11, 2020
In an article recently published for UBNow about communication related to COVID-19, UB Associate Professor Janet Yang, PhD, spoke about the mass confusion and misinformation that is permeating the general public.
Janet Yang, a UB health communication expert who also serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, was recently quoted in an article regarding COVID-19 for UBNow. The report urges health experts and governmental agencies to keep COVID-19 communication clear and straightforward for ordinary citizens to understand. "Experts and government agencies need to keep the public informed on the development of coronavirus in the United States to maintain trust," says Yang when asked to offer professionals a few guidelines for getting out the right message about the outbreak.
This idea of building trust through transparency is Dr. Yang's response to the intentional cover-ups in China that occurred with the initial disease outbreak. Dr. Yang follows up by providing other helpful suggestions like, "provide consistent and timely updates", "educate and take countermeasures", along with mentioning how social media can be a powerful tool in debunking rumors about the virus. The article is timely as it comes just a month after the Erie County Department of Health released a statement in the form of a tweet in response to COVID-19 related rumors circulating social media.
Read more here.