Congratulations to Dr. Roswell Park, former Director for Individualized Studies at Buffalo State College, who has received the Caring Bengal Award for December 2019. He retired from Buffalo State on December 31st, 2019, and sadly passed away on April 8th, 2020.
Dr. Park's smile alone empowers and energizes everyone, particularly students, and helps individuals tackle even the toughest of circumstances. Students in Individualized Studies continually remark about how Dr. Park's kindness has helped them maneuver through the chaos of selecting a career best suited to a student's interests and strengths. It can be overwhelming for many students in trying to find a clear career path. Through Dr. Park's kindness, patience and compassion, many students have achieved a level of personal clarity that has alleviated their stress and aided their academic and professional journey. Years after graduating with their Individualized studies degrees, students, while speaking of their success within their chosen degree concentrations, recall Dr. Park's kindness being a crucial factor in their success.
I can't praise Dr. Park enough for the positivity he brings to everyone and his influence in making Buffalo State an inclusive environment. He engages in discussions with everyone and is always willing to lend an ear. Whether it's discussing classes, majors, careers or how someone's day is going, Roswell Park brings everyone together and influences the rest of us, students and staff, to turn around and be as engaging with the campus community. He is amazing!
Every day for Dr. Park is about helping individual students to gain personal, academic and career direction. He takes as much time as it takes to listen to every student, understand the student's concerns/interests, and provide direction. His student-centered approach has most definitely influenced many of the rest of us in our student engagement, showing us how impactful we can be by focusing on students above all.
It's not easy feeling comfortable speaking in meetings, whether it's with a small or large group of faculty and staff. Thankfully, Dr. Park has been an anchor for meetings revolving academic advisement strategies and procedures. He continually helps to build a collaborative environment where those present can feel comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns. Outside of meetings, he continues to build a positive culture of engagement across campus as he facilitates meetings and discussions with or between Buffalo State's staff.
Dr. Park is always one of the earliest individuals, from my experience, to thoroughly investigate and learn new procedures and policies. If he has questions, he asks, and then he eagerly shares what he has learned with others. He helps others to better adapt to change as it happens, which in turn makes Buffalo State better prepared to meet student needs and answer student queries.
"Dr. Roswell Park had much care and love for our students, colleagues, campus and community. His deliberate and calm approach to tackling problems, identifying solutions, and celebrating successes was appreciated by his students as evident by the smiles and devotion expressed by those who came in contact with him. Students recognize him as a leader, supporter, mentor, mender, advocate, and a genuine nice guy. It was an honor to work alongside Dr. Park over the past two decades."
"Emerson most succinctly captured the essence of Dr. Roswell Park when giving definition to “Success” as the ability to, “Laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics … to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeed!” The Caring Bengal Award pays profound tribute to the legacy of kindness, selflessness, and generosity he imprinted upon our campus and community. This award recognizes our pride at calling Dr. Roswell Park a colleague and the honor of having known him as our friend."
" Dr. Park was a class act and admired by everyone who were fortunate enough to have known him. As Director of Individualized Studies (INS), he transformed thousands of students’ lives. He truly believed in treating everyone with dignity, kindness, compassion, and respect that they so deserved. Everyone mattered to Dr. Park. His calm, supportive, and empathetic approach to problem-solving was simply amazing! Occasionally, students would make their way to the INS program in tears because they might be having challenges in their current major and needed to explore different options. At the end of their meeting, the student and Dr. Park would be laughing. He had a way of getting students to believe in themselves while reassuring them that everything would be okay! He was student-centered and every student loved him for that! He was always willing to provide mentorship to students, faculty, and staff because he truly cared about everyone. Whether you had one conversation or many with him, Dr. Park left a positive impression and was an inspiration to us all. His smile, empathetic approach, positive attitude, and sense of humor impacted all of us at Buffalo State and the community! I am honored to have worked with Dr. Park for almost 12 years. I will cherish our friendship! May you rest in peace and sail in paradise, buddy!"
"I had the pleasure of working with Ros for 18 years. Dr. Roswell “Ros” Park was a gentleman, a scholar, and a public servant. Ros was cheerful, witty, compassionate, and empathetic. He was a skilled listener and conversationalist. Ros always did what was best for our students and the college. His effort, commitment, and dedication to the students, faculty, staff, and the institution should be acknowledged at the highest level. He left a legacy of compassionate teaching, mentoring, and service. His death left many heartbroken. His work gave many the heart and courage to move forward."
