History
The School of the Professions was established in fall 2005 as a result of the academic restructuring of the university from three faculties into four academic schools. The Faculty of Applied Science and Education (FASE) was reformulated into the School of Education and the School of The Professions.
Philosophical Structure - 2005
The School of the Professions (SOP) is an academic deanship composed of eleven departments and one center.
The departments are aligned in two strands:
Business and Industry (BI) unit: BI departments are Business, Computer Information Systems, Criminal Justice, Engineering Technology, and Fashion and Textile Technology. The Small Business Development Center is most closely aligned with the BI Unit in SOP.
Human Service (HS) component: HS departments are Creativity & Change Leadership; Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics; Hospitality and Tourism; Social Work; Speech-Language Pathology; and Higher Education Administration.
It is the role and responsibility of the Dean’s Office to facilitate the forward movement of each department toward its goals. This is accomplished through the mission, vision, and values of SOP and in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the State University of New York. It is the understanding of each member of the Dean’s Office that we work for and with our constituents (K. Mulcahy, 2009).
History 2012 - Present
- The Student Personnel Administration Department changed its name to the Higher Education Administration Department, to reflect current terminology in the discipline.
- The Fashion and Textile Technology program, formerly within the Technology Department, became the standalone Fashion and Textile Technology Department.
- The new Technology Building was opened, housing three SOP departments: Fashion & Textile Technology, Computer Information Systems, and Technology. In conjunction with this event, the Technology Department was re-named the Engineering Technology Department, to better highlight the engineering technology programs.
- The Dietetics and Nutrition Department left SOP to merge with the Health and Wellness Department in September 2015 to become the Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department. The new department moved to the School of Natural and Social Sciences.
- The newly renovated Caudell Hall became the space for Hospitality and Tourism, Speech-Language Pathology, and Social Work. With a new two-story main entrance and the stunning Russell J. Salvatore Demonstration Kitchen and culinary theatre accessible from an expansive lobby, Hospitality students enjoyed the use of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.
- The Creative Studies Department changed its name to Creativity and Change Leadership and changed the name of the International Center for Studies in Creativity to the Center for Applied Imagination.
- The Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department moved back to the School of the Professions from the School of Natural and Social Sciences.
- The School of the Professions updated the SOP Strategic Plan (2023-2028) to further its mission, vision and values as well as to align itself with the University's goals
This department was established in 1979 and offered a 36-hour Office Administration program designed for students transferring from two-year programs in secretarial science. This evolved into the Business Studies program and, in the late 1980s, expanded its initial 36-hour program to a 42-hour program. This program remained until the current 60-credit-hour B.S. in Business Administration was implemented in 2003.
The genesis of the Computer Information Systems Department at Buffalo State was the introduction of a major in Information Systems Management in 1976. The early 1990s saw a change of department name from Information Systems Management to Computer Information Systems to more closely match the development of the major curriculum.
The Creative Studies Department was founded in 1967. While it is more than 50 years old, its history goes back to one of the pioneers in the creative education movement, Dr. Alex F. Osborn, who founded the Creative Education Foundation in 1954. Later this Foundation led to the establishment of the Creative Studies Department at Buffalo State, now known as the Creativity and Change Leadership Department.
This Buffalo State department had its beginnings in 1970. The initial emphasis was to train and educate law enforcement personnel, such as police officers, probation and parole officers, prison personnel and security personnel. The department as it exists today was created in 1986.
This department can trace its roots back to 1906 when the Industrial Arts Education Department was started at the Normal School at Buffalo. In 1931, the department moved along with the college to a new campus at 1300 Elmwood Avenue. Shifting the emphasis from industrial arts to engineering fields, the department as it exists today was created in 2013.
Since the 1960s, fashion-related courses were taught in the Environmental and Consumer Studies Department in the Faculty of Applied Science and Education. While in this department, the program had two options – Apparel Design or Textile Sciences. The program transitioned through numerous departments before finally finding its home in SOP in 2012 as an independent department.
The history of Dietetics and Nutrition Department traces back to the establishment of Household Arts Program in 1910. In 1971, The Coordinated Program in Dietetics (CPD), currently Dietitian Education Program (DEP), was accredited as an undergraduate program. In 1973, the Nutrition and Food Service (NFS) Department formed. The department was reorganized as separate Nutrition and Dietetics and Hospitality and Tourism departments in 2000, and in 2015, the Dietetics and Nutrition and Health and Wellness departments merged into the Health, Nutrition and Dietetics (HND) Department.
The Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration master’s program, initially called the Student Personnel Administration program, was initiated in 1971 when administrators at Buffalo State found a lack of fully qualified professionals in the hiring pool. In 2005, the program transitioned from being a program in the Educational Foundations Department within the Faculty of Applied Science and Education to its own department in the School of the Professions.
This department has evolved through the hard work of dedicated educators, which began in 1962 with Myrtle V. Caudell, a pioneer in education from the Normal School. Its roots were in home economics, nutrition and food science, environmental and consumer studies, human development, and family and community relations. Shifting its focus to hospitality, culinary, and travel, the department as it exists today was created in 2001.
This department earned its first accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education in 1975, when the B.S. program was organized within the Department of Human Development, Family, and Community Relations. The program was integral in the development of the Social Services Training Project, later renamed the Center for Development of Human Services, which provided training to social workers currently employed in the field. The Social Work department as it exists today was created in 1986.
This department began in the early 1950s, as a specialty area within the Department of English. In 1968, the program was renamed Communication Disorders and was located in the Department of Exceptional Education, where it began specializing in the treatment of voice disorders, stuttering, and audiology. In 1987, Communication Disorders became an independent department called Speech Pathology and Audiology and moved to the Faculty of Applied Science and Education. In the mid-1990s, the name of the department changed to Speech-Language Pathology.
This SUNY Buffalo State center provides management and technical assistance to start-up and existing small businesses throughout Erie County and the Niagara Frontier. The center also houses the university's Bengal Entrepreneurship Program, which is a hands-on program that has the purpose of igniting and nourishing the entrepreneurial spirit and skills in our student community.