From the Desk of the Vice President

September 3, 2021

Dear Colleagues, 

I wanted to send a sincere thank you and congratulations for the hard work put forth in making this year's Welcome Weekend and Opening Week a huge success. Our events marked the start of a semester unlike any other and I hope it's an indicator of the many memorable moments to come this fall.

Together, we welcomed thousands of students to a variety of engaging events including the iconic Interlocking UB, Welcome Carnival, Campus Fest, a late night dance party, Bulls Welcome Back Blast and our student tailgate party last night.

Thanks again for all of your support during my first few months on campus. I'm confident our students had a great kickoff to the fall semester and appreciate the effort you put towards making their UB experience memorable.

Sincerely,

Brian F. Hamluk
Vice President for Student Life

July 1, 2021

Good Afternoon Student Life Colleagues,

Thanks again to all of you who participated in our Student Life Professional Development Conference this week. It's critical that our journey does not end here, and I challenge you to think about how we can take this conversation to enact real, measurable outcomes on campus.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with some of our UB students and experience the genuine enthusiasm they have about the upcoming return to campus. The excitement is contagious and I share their passion in seeing campus alive and bustling once again. I am extremely excited for the upcoming academic year and returning to an in-person living and learning environment. 

The University at Buffalo student experience is critical. It is in part why our students selected UB and is invaluable to their development of being productive contributors to society. The same can be said for fostering connections and a lifelong commitment to their alma mater. The work that we do now and the student experience we provide today, pays dividends to our students individually and our institution collectively for years to come.

As Student Life professionals, we play a pivotal role in that student experience. Whether it is the major initiatives or the smaller individual interactions, our work with students is essential to their growth and development. When I come to campus each day, I am energized to see our staff transitioning towards a return to a thriving, vibrant, in-person atmosphere where we are once again working side by side with our students to guide their experience. I can't wait to see what you have planned for the fall, and look forward to stopping by some of your fall programming.

In closing, I hope that everyone has a great 4^th of July holiday weekend and continues to enjoy their summer. We will all be back together on campus soon, and I'm excited to have our entire UB community at home once again.

Sincerely,

Brian F. Hamluk
Vice President for Student Life

June 4, 2021

Dear Student Life Colleagues, 

As I conclude my first full week here at UB, I am extremely excited to be in Buffalo and honored to lead Student Life during this pivotal time. I genuinely appreciate your efforts during this challenging year and look forward to slowly returning to a vibrant, in-person campus this fall.

With that said, I am also looking forward to meeting all of you. I've had the opportunity to briefly visit some of our Student Life areas over the past few days, and in the coming weeks will begin my departmental Meet and Greets. These meetings will give me the opportunity to personally visit your area, meet our staff, and get a better understanding of the outstanding services we collectively provide our students.

As I personally take time to reflect on week one, I can’t help but be energized by the tremendous impact we all have in Student Life. What I anticipated from the search process has proven true - UB is a special place.

Thanks again for providing me with this great opportunity to lead, collaborate and ultimately enhance the experience for the students we serve.

With Gratitude,

Brian F. Hamluk
Vice President for Student Life

I am reminded of a saying that “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” and admittedly over the past year I have experienced some of the same fears, frustrations and uncertainties you have. That said, I have also witnessed firsthand how incredibly lucky we all are to collaborate with colleagues who continually work for the benefit of the students they serve.
 
From a virtual commencement to innovative ways to engage students, both virtually, and in person, we have met the challenges head-on. During this entire period, I have been guided by the expertise of our Health Services staff and have gratitude for their counsel and leadership during this global health crisis. Equally impressive, Student Life delivered a completely online Orientation program this summer, transitioned student wellness to virtual support systems, served unprecedented number of students through our emergency fund and Blue Table and together we created a comprehensive, one-stop Student Guide website providing students up-to-date information and tips on navigating the UB experience for this unique fall opening.

And as we enter the fall, the hard-working dedicated staff in Campus Living and Campus Dining and Shops are successfully welcoming almost 5,000 students safely into our residence halls, are prepared to offer care and accommodation for our positive student cases and have re-imagined students on-campus dining experience, among many other accomplishments.

I believe we are in a good place to start the semester, but we must be committed and prepared to provide our students with the best possible UB experience, no matter the circumstances.
 
None of us could have ever imagined that this was how the fall semester would unfold, but I ask for your continued hard work and support over the weeks and months to come. Please consider joining your fellow colleagues and me in taking the UB pledge, a shared commitment to protecting yourself and others as we enter the fall.
 
Looking back, we have all accomplished so much during this time, not only at work, but away from the office as well. There is certainly much to celebrate. With that in mind, our professional development staff in Student Life had the wonderful idea to commemorate your personal accomplishments over the past months by documenting your life moments in the video at the top right of this letter. I think we can all agree that it really puts things into perspective.
 
Wishing you all the best this semester - and remember, after all we have been through to never take for granted those typical Wednesday afternoons.

Together we are UB!

Christina Hernandez

After a year in Student Life, I continue to learn about the important and impactful work we do collectively to elevate the student experience at UB. From residence to dining halls, student unions to our health, counseling and wellness offices, from our work in accessibility, orientation, career exploration, entrepreneurship, student conduct, engagement, and veterans, Student Life staff engages our students in meaningful, purposeful, and helpful programs and services, allowing them to grow and prosper. I am excited and energized by our work. 

In January, Student Life Directors met to review and share how each office can contribute to the advancement of University and Student Life priorities. The discussion was lively, engaged, and signaled a deep commitment to our goals. The four priorities of Student Life, which we will pursue with determination are:

1) Elevate academic success.

2) Advance student wellness.

3) Promote and understand post-graduation success.

4) Improve our physical environment.

Priority 1 will work to define and improve the first year experience as a component of improving retention and academic success. Our plan for action steps and time lines for the first year experience will be delineated by the end of spring 2018 with implementation to begin immediately.

For priority 2, we have renewed our commitment to build a wellness center on the North Campus and I expect to help shepherd this to fruition within five years. This will be a collaborative project with our students and many campus partners.

In priority 3, Career Services will conclude their self-study this semester, with recommendations for the future. At the end of spring semester 2018, we will launch a more rigorous first destination survey to track graduate outcomes. A pilot study of our Student Employment Initiative is underway as well, with plans to roll out a more robust program in fall 2018.

Finally, priority 4 will offer improvement to our physical environment and the programs they offer. We will conclude Campus Life’s self-study this spring and couple these findings with our recently initiated Student Union master plan, yielding results that will impact the future of both student unions. In addition, set to conclude in fall 2018, the Campus Living master plan will illuminate the future of UB housing. The Global Market Café is under design with construction to start later this year or early next year. 1Capen continues to bring great value benefit to our students and serves as a shining example of what we can achieve together.

In summary, we have big goals and are pursuing them with rigor, integrity and campus-wide collegiality.  This is a very exciting time in Student Life and I feel privileged to be a part of this journey with you. I look forward to continuing to share the progress we are making toward these priorities and collectively defining new ones as we continue to achieve success.