Interim Vice President News from Jim Wall
As we work toward the end of the Academic Year, Administration and Finance will be focusing on the 2024-2025 budget, summer projects, and moves. It appears that the State budget will be delayed, but this will not stop us from working with the divisions to finalize our 2024-25 plans. A five-year model review has been scheduled with JPBC for May 2nd, as well as a Budget Town Hall Meeting in the McCue Auditorium that same day. A review of all requested office moves is underway, and a plan (thanks, Stasia Molyneux!) is being developed to ensure we have the necessary people-power and financial resources available. Summer workers have been approved by President’s Cabinet to help with our many tasks. President’s Cabinet has also approved Facilities Maintenance and Operations’ request to spend $89K in asset/equipment replacement; Julie Caswell will be reviewing the priorities. Many thanks to all of the Administration and Finance Division for your dedicated support and service!
Departmental News
Human Resources (HR)
Save the Date: Employee Appreciation Day is May 21, 2024; we hope everyone can join us for a fun filled event! Details coming soon.
Brockport Information Technology Services (BITS)
ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are both artificial intelligence (AI) technologies designed to assist users in various tasks, but they have distinct differences:
ChatGPT
- Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a natural language processing technology that uses machine learning, deep learning, and natural language understanding.
- It mimics human conversation by understanding questions or comments and responding in an engaging and conversational manner.
- Trained on a vast amount of human language data from the internet, including books, articles, websites, and social media.
- Available as an API that can be integrated into different applications.
- Works like a chatbot, generating responses based on patterns learned from human language.
- Can assist with tasks such as composing essays, writing code, summarizing content, and searching the internet.
Microsoft Copilot
- An AI-powered digital assistant embedded in Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, etc.).
- Combines large language models (LLMs) with your data from Microsoft Graph (calendar, emails, chats, documents, meetings, etc.).
- Personalized assistance for tasks related to Microsoft 365.
- Helps unleash creativity, boost productivity, and enhance skills.
- Not limited to chatbot interactions; it integrates seamlessly with your daily workflow.
ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot: What’s the difference? In summary, while ChatGPT is more general-purpose and chatbot-like, Microsoft Copilot is specifically tailored to enhance productivity within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Finance & Management / Office of Student Accounts and Accounting (F&M/OSAA)
The OSAA is busy with New York State fiscal year-end reporting requirements. In addition to the myriad of data that must be compiled and reconciled, there is a moratorium on disbursing many types of financial aid, including scholarships and waivers. Once NYS alerts us that we can resume normal activities, we will process the pending aid awards as quickly as possible to ensure students have the funds they need. A huge shout-out to Colleen Crouse and Patrick Stellman for their year-end efforts! We are also knee-deep in several other major projects, including the very complicated Banking Services RFP, summer tuition & fee assessment, the Banner SSB9 conversion, the Nelnet Connector upgrade, SICAS Auto-Refunding, and more. And enormous thanks to our amazing staff for their patience and good humor as we work our way through these, and for the extraordinary effort they put forth every day.
We would also like to send a huge “Thank You!” to Nick North, Dan Murdoch, and Sandie Almekinder of BITS for their incredible efforts transitioning Banner SSB8 processes to Banner SSB9. There is no way to quantify the hours they have spent delving into every painstaking detail to ensure the transition is seamless for our students. There is also no end to their patience, especially with our endless “And one more thing” requests, so … THANK YOU!
Sadly…
We have recently experienced the loss of several colleagues across campus. Although we are surrounded by caring individuals in a supportive community, please know that our Employee Assistance Program is also here to support you with free and confidential assistance. And please look out for friends and colleagues who could use your support, while also taking good care of yourselves.
Upcoming Events
- April 5 – First Friday at Alumni House - starting at 4pm
- April 8 – Total Eclipse of the Port! - actual eclipse starts at 3:19:44pm – Check out campus events and activities on the Webpage)
- April 19 – Honors & Awards Ceremony
- May 17 – Commencement
- May 21 – Employee Appreciation Day
- May 23 – University Recognition Dinner AND The JP Morgan Corporate Challenge
If you have an item you’d like included in a future issue, please send to Laurie Smith (lausmith@brockport.edu).