Learn how to strengthen your online and hybrid skills to enhance your course design and increase student engagement with the Online Course Development Series. This series prepares instructors to design, teach, and enhance online or hybrid courses using best practices of online teaching and learning.

Workshop Information
Both the basic and advanced Online Course Development Series will be offered in an online asynchronous format during the spring 2020 semester. All activities will occur in Blackboard for the duration of the series.

The basic Online Course Development Series is composed of the following six modules:

1. Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning
2. Backward Design Step 1: Developing Course Objectives and Priorities
3. Backward Design Step 2: Developing Course Assessments
4. Backward Design Step 3: Developing the Learning Plan
5. Interaction: Communication and Collaboration
6. Designing and Organizing Your Online Course

The Advanced Online Course Development Series is composed of the following four modules:

1. Creating Interactive Content for Your Course
2. Authentic Assessment
3. Universal Design for Learning
4. Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) Rubric

Registration Details
Both of these asynchronous courses will begin Monday, March 2, and end Friday, March 27. There is no cost to participate in this series. Instructional Design and Training recommends taking the Online Course Development series at least one year before teaching online.

For more information about the Online Course Development Series, please visit the Instructional Design and Training website. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer.

Register for the online asynchronous Online Course Development Series.

The Teaching and Learning Center invites full- and part-time faculty members to participate in a voluntary class visit program. Buffalo State College could not exist as an institution without faculty members working hard to facilitate student learning. This program is designed to create opportunities for faculty members to learn from one another across academic disciplines. The program is completely voluntary and separate from any teaching evaluation process. The goal is merely to learn how others approach their craft.

If you’re interested, please fill out the online form.

Please join us for an estate planning seminar presented by Voya Financial on Tuesday, February 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Caudell Hall 234.

Estate planning is not just for wealthy, married, or older people. Everyone has something he or she cares about or wants to protect. This seminar helps educate individuals about the basic aspects of an estate plan, considerations for getting started, and the value to planning for all facets of life, including one's legacy. Lunch will be provided.

Seating is limited; reservations are required. Please contact Molly Pecoraro, (716) 626-3928, to register.

Come and celebrate the First Friday of each month at 8:00 a.m. in the Newman Center Chapel. We will gather for Mass and start the month with a renewed perspective. Stay for a cup of coffee afterward or take a cup to go. Our next celebration will take place this Friday, February 7. All are welcome.

The Newman Center is located at 1219 Elmwood Avenue, across from the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Cultural Café, an event series that brings together international and domestic members of the Buffalo State College community over conversation, culture, and coffee, meets monthly on Fridays from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Global Lounge on the third floor (southeast quad) of Butler Library. Meet new people and find common ground with other globally minded members of the community in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. 

Free coffee and other light refreshments will be served. All are welcome!

Spring 2020 schedule:

• February 7
• March 6
• April 17

Cultural Café is a partnership between the International Student Organization, the International Student Advisory Council, the Center for Global Engagement, Equity and Campus Diversity, and Butler Library.

Interested in sponsoring or partnering for a Cultural Café event? Please contact Katie Bertel, outreach and engagement librarian.

Buffalo State College has adopted the Open SUNY Course Quality Review (OSCQR) tool for continuous improvement of online and hybrid courses. The course design review process uses a team approach along with Buffalo State's customized version of OSCQR to focus on how instructional design and pedagogical best practices can be applied to online or hybrid courses.

Come and learn more about the OSCQR tool and the process that is currently being used at Buffalo State on Tuesday, February 18, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Chase Hall 109. Hear from your colleagues about their experiences using this tool and the benefits of participating in this process.

Moderator:
Brooke Winckelmann, Instructional Designer, Information Technology Services

Panelists:
Jill D’Angelo, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice Department
Carol DeNysschen, Chair and Professor, Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department
Deborah Silverman, Chair and Associate Professor, Communication Department

Please be sure to register for this upcoming session.

Looking for something fun to do with your family? How about dozens of things? Join the Burchfield Penney Art Center for $5 Family Day, presented by Hyatt's All Things Creative, on Saturday, February 8, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For just $5 per family, you can enjoy kid-friendly gallery tours, hands-on art-making workshops, and more.

As a special bonus, Hyatt’s All Things Creative has made it possible for the Burchfield Penney to offer $50 family memberships to all new members who sign up at Family Day. That’s a $25 savings. Each new member will also receive a $25 gift card for any purchase at Hyatt’s All Things Creative.

For the schedule of events, please visit the Burchfield Penney website.

RSVP on Facebook and invite your friends.

Please join us for the professional development workshop "Managing Student Workers Part 1: Supervising as a Coach" on Wednesday, February 19, from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the Grand Conference Room, Cleveland Hall 418.

Student workers can be vital to the success, operations, and productivity of many departments, but at times their skills and perspectives are underutilized. Supervising student workers using strengths-based coaching strategies provides opportunities for students to develop career competencies and can help supervisors improve student performance in their department. During this session, participants will explore and practice student worker management coaching strategies.

Please note: Managing Student Workers Part 2: Creating Student Employment Learning Experiences will be offered on Wednesday, March 4, but you do not need to attend both sessions, and Part 1 is not required to attend Part 2; however, those who attend Parts 1 and 2 will receive a certificate.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System. Light refreshments will be provided.

Friends of the Buffalo State College Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum and the Burchfield Penney Art Center invite the campus and the greater Buffalo communities to a timely discussion on the positive ways in which trees affect our ecological systems on Thursday, February 13, at 6:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney's Tower Auditorium.

The talk, "Revealing the Extraordinary Impact of Trees in Our World," will be led by Mark A. Bradford, professor of soils and ecosystem ecology at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Robert J. Warren II, associate professor of biology at Buffalo State College. The presenters have both authored numerous academic papers in the fields of environmentalism and ecology.

Come and learn more about the crucial role trees play in staving off many of the negative impacts of climate change. The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Susan McCartney, director of Buffalo State's Small Business Development Center.

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