The SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITG) website states that IITG Round 8 funding is anticipated for 2019 and that an announcement will be made before the end of the fall 2018 semester. Previous years have established three funding tiers: Tier 1 up to $10,000, Tier 2 up to $20,000, and Tier 3 up to $60,000. Proposals have generally been due in February, giving faculty members time to work on proposals during the winter break. Please review the site for the program mission and themes. Information on current and past funded projects is also on the site and includes Buffalo State peers.

Proposals must be routed through the CIO and Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing, and Communications Office to ensure support. More information on the Buffalo State process will be provided.

Faculty members should run their ideas by John Draeger, director of the Buffalo State Teaching and Learning Center, and Meghan Pereira, director of instructional design and training. Please work within your department’s internal protocols.

Please remember that all software and hardware purchases must follow the Information Technology Purchases/Acquisitions Policy (PDF, 126 KB).

A component of the NYS Public Integrity Reform Act (PIRA) of 2011 established a publicly accessible online database hosted by the Office of General Services (OGS). The database is meant to provide the general public with an opportunity to see what entities and individuals are interacting with state decision makers and state decision advisers before committing to formal procurements over $25,000.

If you interact with a vendor and are considered to be a campus decision maker or adviser, then you will be required to report all vendor interactions, including webinars, within three days, to Procurement Services. Procurement Services is responsible for entering the details of the interactions into the online New York State Project Sunlight database.

A summary of Project Sunlight can be viewed on the Buffalo State Procurement website. A more detailed explanation of Project Sunlight can be found in this SUNY PowerPoint presentation (1.2 MB).

Please contact Steven Olson, director of contract management, 878-4113, with questions about Project Sunlight.

All members of the campus community are invited to participate in a Campus Day of Service featuring two projects today, October 11, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Perry Quad. Volunteers with the first project will assist with cleanup efforts to beautify the campus grounds. Volunteers with the second project will decorate bags for the Buffalo City Mission. These bags will be filled with warm meals and are to be delivered to needy families during the upcoming holidays.

Lunch will be provided for all participants. The weather forecast is calling for rain, so please dress appropriately. RSVP to Jude Jayatilleke, senior academic adviser in EOP and UUP steward for professionals, 878-6028.

This event is sponsored by United University Professions (UUP), Friends of the Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum, and Facilities and Grounds and Custodial Operations in collaboration with the Civic and Community Engagement Office.

This event is sponsored by United University Professions (UUP), Friends of the Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum, and Facilities and Grounds in collaboration with the Civic and Community Engagement Office.

All members of the campus community are invited to participate in a Campus Day of Service featuring two projects tomorrow, October 11, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Perry Quad. Volunteers with the first project will assist with cleanup efforts to beautify the campus grounds. Volunteers with the second project will decorate bags for the Buffalo City Mission. These bags will be filled with warm meals and are to be delivered to needy families during the upcoming holidays.

Lunch will be provided for all participants. The weather forecast is calling for rain, so please dress appropriately. RSVP to Jude Jayatilleke, senior academic adviser in EOP and UUP steward for professionals, 878-6028.

This event is sponsored by United University Professions (UUP), Friends of the Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum, and Facilities Grounds and Custodial Operations in collaboration with the Civic and Community Engagement Office.

Buffalo State alumna Alyssa Moss, B.S. ’17, will speak about her career path and offer advice for health and wellness students on Tuesday, October 16, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Technology Building 160. Ms. Moss currently works in Provider Services at Blue Cross Blue Shield and hopes to move to the Health Promotions Department. She earned her B.S. in health and wellness from Buffalo State and her A.S. in health and wellness promotion from Erie Community College. After graduating from Buffalo State, she became a certified health education specialist (CHES). She is also a certified Zumba instructor. Her main focus is worksite wellness.

From the Associate Vice President for Educational Pipeline Initiatives
I am happy to announce the creation of the Educational Pipeline Initiatives Office (EPIO). EPIO educates, enhances, and provides five essential pathways that support and foster Buffalo State’s commitment to social responsibility and civic engagement. For nearly two decades, EPIO has been leading the way in K–12, college, and community partnerships under its creation as the former Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education (CEURE). Founded under the leadership of former Buffalo State President Muriel A. Howard, CEURE has been responsible for 45 initiatives and partnered with over 200 public, private, and charter schools.

EPIO encompasses five divisions:

1. Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education (CEURE)
2. Community Academic Center (CAC)
3. Middle Early College High School Program (MECHS)
4. Precollegiate Academic Success Center (PASC)
5. West Side Promise Neighborhood Project (WSPN)

Top five things to know about...the Counseling Center, located in the Weigel Wellness Center:

1. Our services are free and confidential to students.

2. Hours of operation are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; urgent care and walk-in hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

3. Help is available after hours—seven days a week, 24 hours a day—by calling Crisis Services at (716) 834-3131; University Police (UPD) at (716) 878-6333 (for on campus); the Buffalo Police at 911 (for off campus); or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-TALK (8255).

4. If the immediate safety of a student or any person is a concern, do not wait. Please call UPD and the 24/7 numbers above immediately and get them involved.

5. Complete a Student of Concern online reporting form immediately and follow your own department protocols, including informing your chair and/or supervisor. More information about our scope of practice, services, and trainings is available on the Counseling Center website.

The “Top Five Things to Know About…” series is sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Center. If you’d like to contribute to the series, please e-mail John Draeger, TLC director.

Because of a delay in receiving information regarding our campus pool for 2018 UUP Discretionary Awards, the campus schedule has been revised.

The deadline for award recommendations from deans, directors, and associate vice presidents to the provost or vice president is now Wednesday, October 17.

Award letters will be sent out Thursday, November 15, and the deadline for appeals is Monday, November 26.

Discretionary award payments will be made in the December 26, 2018, paychecks.

Professor Andrea Guiati's "Conversations in and out of the Disciplines" talk, originally scheduled for Friday, November 2, has been postponed until spring 2019 (date TBA).

The remaining "Conversations" will proceed as scheduled: Bhakti Sharma, associate professor of art and design, will present “Honey, I Shrunk the Retail” on Friday, November 30; and Melanie Perreault, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will present “Servants, Slaves, and Unruly Mistresses: Interpersonal Violence in the Early Chesapeake” on Friday, December 7. Both talks will begin at 3:00 in Ketchum Hall 320. A short wine and cheese reception will follow. Everyone is welcome.

Parking Lot I-32 will serve as the construction staging area for the Academic Commons project and will be taken off-line beginning tomorrow, October 10, through the completion of the project in spring 2020. The resulting loss of 70 faculty and staff parking spaces from this lot will be offset by a reassignment of at least half of Lot R-13 (70 spaces) from student parking to faculty and staff parking. This map shows the temporary parking changes.

All of Bacon Hall’s entrances will remain open, but Butler Library’s east and north entrances will be closed (used as emergency exits only) for the duration of the project. The south (StudyQuad) entrance will be unaffected. The west (Plaza) entrance will be closed for limited durations at various points during the project, to be announced separately. The sidewalk between Butler Library and Bacon Hall will be closed; pedestrian access to points east of Butler Library will be accessible north of the library or south of Bacon Hall.

Your patience and understanding are appreciated during this key campus project. Buffalo State is co-locating and centralizing academic support services in Butler Library as part of its Academic Improvement Plan. The resulting Academic Commons will include academic advising, tutoring, the Writing Center, the Math Center, the EOP Academic Center for Excellence, renovated circulation and RITE support desks, Student Accessibility Services, and more. Areas of the first and second floors of the library are being reconfigured and upgraded in this $15.3 million project, which is slated for completion in spring 2020.

Questions may be directed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.