Ready or Not, It’s August 2019
The summer months have been extremely busy for Buffalo State College. While some students took courses either here or elsewhere to maintain their academic pace, many returned home to rest, work, or seek renewal before the beginning of another academic year. The campus, however, was busily preparing for just this moment.
Buffalo State anthropology students participated in an archaeological field school that excavated Building 428 near the North Redoubt.
If you crossed campus during the summer months as I did, you saw construction and renovations happening in every corner. Small projects prepared sidewalks and walkways for our use. Large projects such as the next phase of the Science and Math Complex were dominant on campus, and much-anticipated work was completed with the newly installed turf at Coyer Field. We noticed these and many other obvious changes as we moved around campus.
Coyer Field received a new turf this summer.
And tucked away, less visible, were internal modifications to current buildings, upgrades to classrooms, and steady progress on the Academic Commons. These facilities upgrades and modifications are all being done to better serve our central mission to educate our students and launch them to successful next steps.
The Science and Mathematics Complex entered the fourth and final phase of construction.
Faculty and staff members were also working fast and furious to complete projects and tasks before August arrived. Syllabi were updated, courses revised, and assignments developed over the summer months. Staff members were busy with numerous activities, represented by the diversity of offices that are needed to maintain the operations of campus.
New Bengals Ready to Roar at Orientation this summer.
For those who either participated in Orientation activities or viewed them from across campus, the vibrancy of the program was in full swing again this summer. Students and their supporters flocked to campus, eager and somewhat timid, as they prepared for the summer to end and next week to arrive. The energy of new students always reminds me of why I have committed my life to higher education. As new students come on campus, they are reaching for a dream that can be accomplished only by the successful completion of their education.
Students are hopeful and excited. They are anxious and wide-eyed. Students are full of that contagious energy that you see when someone is getting ready to take a leap toward something exciting, but is still a little bit afraid. As our new students settle into Buffalo State, they will soon see this as their home, and they will soon adjust to a comfortable place where they can study, learn, and connect with like-minded others. This excitement and this settling are both predictable and so heartwarming to experience.
So ready or not, it’s August, and students are returning to campus. Faculty, staff, and administrators will be here to greet them and to support them as they move through their years. It is not easy work, but it is worthwhile and allows us to repeatedly contribute to the successful journey of our students. Welcome back to all as we support our students on their individual paths to success.