How long have you worked at Buffalo State and, if applicable, what other areas have you worked/positions have you served in at the college?
I have been a graphic and web designer in Instructional Resources since August 2001. Most of the past 18 years has been within the IR office. Several years ago, my office went from being named Instructional Resources to RITE and now I am part of the Creative Services area in Marketing and Communications.
What motivates you to provide excellent services for your colleagues, students, and supervisor?
I find joy through helping others. My main objective is to make others (and their events) look good. I thrive on the variety of design and print work that comes my way and am always challenging myself to discover new ways to promote our departments, offices, and the college. Designing doesn’t feel like a job to me. It is more of an opportunity to find out what else is happening on the campus and to meet a variety of people from across the campus community. Often, I get just as excited about their projects as they are. This campus is like a family to me.
What personal philosophy about working with others guides your day-to-day work?
In my office, I usually have about seven students working with me. This puts me in a position to be a mentor and teacher. I strive to teach my students to be kind, patient, and respectful of others. We often deal with quick turnaround times. During these times, we come together as a group and support each other. It is this positive, lighthearted environment that adds to the success of my students, myself, and what we do.
What do you do when you are not working?
I am an avid reader—usually reading about 75 books a year. I enjoy murder mysteries, fantasies, and romance novels. I enjoy spending time with my husband and my two sons. We’re all movie buffs. Much to my family’s chagrin, I’m a Hallmark Channel fanatic. Needless to say, the only company I have during these movies are my four cats.
I am always amazed by the professionalism and dedication of Kaylene and her students in designing and creating superb outcomes. They show selfless communication, collaboration, and kindness through their words and body language.
Kaylene always has a smile on her face when helping faculty and students under stress and aids them in meeting deadlines with grace. I am grateful for Kaylene's kindness and selfless performance to enhance Buffalo State's mission—to connect the campus and the community. Kaylene Waite is a true ambassador for the college and communicates with the community and the campus through her designs and mentorship of her students.
When discussing ideas to be designed, Kaylene's shared wisdom from her years of experience creates a caring environment for all students and faculty to reach our highest potential. Kaylene is a true mentor to all of her amazing students. She also helped me to find ways to promote and advance my academic areas using the campus's resources.
While Kaylene does all of the above things to support the current students and faculty, she is also aware of the changes to come. Due to her highly sensitive emotional intelligence, she is always demonstrating flexibility and adaptability by positively reacting to new situations.
Kaylene is a key partner for many campus activities that require special printing services. For example, she has involved herself directly into the Student Research and Creativity Conference (SRCC), Graduate Student Research Fair, and the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference each spring by reviewing each poster that is submitted for printing by a participating student, which can number more than 200 during a two-to-three-week period. She collaborates with the students to enhance the posters to reflect positively on their creative and scholarly efforts—lining up paragraphs, fixing typos, increasing font sizes, and adding complementary background images where applicable. While all this is going on, she creates advertising posters, name tags, banners, and the entire program for the event.
Kaylene treats her student assistants with respect and entrusts them with many responsibilities so that they have the capabilities to manage the office whenever she’s attending a meeting or out of the office. The students are encouraged to work directly with clients (faculty and staff) and come up with their own creative designs and solutions. This increases their independence and confidence in themselves and their work, thus promoting their success in the future. The atmosphere is very friendly and casual, yet professional. Kaylene enforces her values of good service to others, patience, understanding, as well as work integrity.
Kaylene has shared many resources, from creating additional Buffalo State slide presentation templates to hundreds of PowerPoint poster templates for students and faculty to use for conferences. When several departments came to her for advertising ideas for promoting their programs, she came up with a set of designs for trifold brochures, banners, and table runners that unified the various departments by having a more consistent Buffalo State appearance. These designs were announced to each department by Kaylene personally attending all four School Dean/Chairs meetings early in the spring semester, which allowed time to get them created before the Spring Open House. In the past, these materials have been so expensive. Kaylene enthusiastically found a cost-effective solution for the campus.
She's very understanding when it comes to needing to call out last minute to finish a project or even just when you're having an off day. Kaylene gives everything she has until there is nothing left. She's a mom figure to all the younger workers. She's respectful and has a very cute sense of humor. I love her <3.
I don't think I've ever walked into Kaylene's office or run into her on campus without being met by her beaming, bubbly personality. Despite tight deadlines, procrastinating students, and last-minute requests, Kaylene consistently produces exceptional work while maintaining the utmost level of respect for her staff and student colleagues.
I believe Kaylene epitomizes the phrase "generously shares resources!" She provides a wealth of knowledge in her graphic-design ability, offers constructive feedback on projects, and continuously strives to serve the needs and requests of the campus community.
Kaylene's job, by nature, is challenging. Students are anxious about presenting their research on their well-crafted posters, offices are placing last-minute requests to try to problem solve a communication challenge, the semester is winding down, and everyone is feeling the time constraints. But Kaylene continuously extends guidance, support, and faith that jobs will get done and will get done well. The best way I can describe it is, the moment you hit "submit" to Kaylene, you instantly feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. You know the product will look flawless and it will arrive with plenty of time to spare.
Kaylene is always available to lend a hand for the growth and development our of scholars. She's a great mentor for those in the field of graphics and web design. Her approach as a leader is genuine and sincere.
Eight of our scholars attended the 26th annual CSTEP conference in Bolton, NY, last month. Two needed to create posters for their presentations. Kaylene took time out of her schedule to meet with both and devise a plan for developing an award-winning poster. And win we did...one of our scholars took first place for her poster at the conference. It was because of Kaylene's willingness to assist at the last moment, and by making critical changes to the poster after it was already printed, that made all the difference.
Kaylene is always a phone call away and students love her and her work. The office is warm and filled with great energy and laughter between her and the students who work with her. She would be a wonderful recipient for this award.
I have never felt a more jovial and altruistic person, especially one who happens to be my employer. If a student is in need of a job done quickly at the last minute, she always tries to accommodate them and we work as a team to make sure it is finished. Faculty members can really count on her in a pinch and she has one of the greatest response ethics.
Kaylene is an exemplary individual, who is incredibly welcoming and cheerful both in and out of the office. From the very beginning, I have enjoyed our silly and fun conversations and her unique personality really invigorates us to our height of productivity.
The atmosphere at Creative Services empowers us and our clients to create artful designs for the rest of the campus and quickly to boot. That, of course, stems from Kaylene. She works with us and individual clients in the office, is hands-on, and listens to their ideas and suggestions.
When we were suddenly renamed Creative Services from RITE Graphics, she took the transition in stride with unerring efficiency. Her dedication to the continuing efforts for students and faculty alike is commendable and Buffalo State College would not be the same without her.
Over the years, Kaylene has made thousands of posters for students, faculty, and staff presenting research on and off campus.
Students that I mentor return from an appointment with Kaylene and always give her high praise and mention how caring she is as she helps them solve any poster challenge they are facing. Kaylene exhibits a special level of kindness and patience as she works with all members of the campus community on design elements for posters, flyers, brochures, etc., to ensure images are high resolution and that the layout maximizes available space.
No matter how busy she is, Kaylene always greets students, staff, and faculty with a warm, friendly smile, carefully listens to their needs, and then quickly comes up with options about layout, style, and other design elements.
She works efficiently and that is why she always seems to have time for one more request—no matter how close to the deadline—and never seems flustered (even if the person making the request is!).
The posters Kaylene has designed for me have been presented at conferences across the country and never fail to garner high praise (and some level of "friendly envy") from my colleagues. My typical response is, “Kaylene Waite designs all my posters and she makes me look better than I really am!” I say that jokingly, but sincerely mean it. Kaylene is a wonderful colleague and an asset to the Buffalo State community. She generously shares her knowledge to make all of us "look better!"
