The newly forming Buffalo State College Chess Club will hold an organizational meeting on Thursday, September 6, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in Classroom Building C214. All skill levels, from beginner to grand master, may participate. All members of the Buffalo State College community are welcome. Interested in improving your chess game? Want to help start a new club? Please join us. For further information, please contact Daniel Blum, lecturer in the History and Social Studies Education Department.

The Student INC.ubator at Buffalo State College is an extension of the Buffalo Small Business Development Center and is housed under the School of the Professions. The INC.ubator was created to provide resources that help nourish and promote students’ entrepreneurial ambitions. The INC.Ubator offers a collaborative and professional work environment for student entrepreneurs to gain invaluable skills, knowledge, and experience along the way.

Come and meet the INC.Ubator team at our INC.Ubator Suite in Buckham Hall A107. The INC.Ubator will hold INC.Ubator member meetings on Tuesdays and INC.Ubator workshop discussions on Thursdays, both during Bengal Pause, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.

Upcoming Dates
Tuesdays: September 4, 18
Thursdays: September 6, 20

The Early Childhood Music and Movement program will hold free demonstration classes for children from birth through age 5 on Saturday, September 1. The 10-week fall session begins Saturday, September 8. To register, please visit the Buffalo State Music Department website.

The deadline for submission of abstracts for the SUNY FACT˛ symposium on virtual immersive technology has been extended to Saturday, September 8. The one-day symposium will be held Friday, November 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Zimpher Boardroom, SUNY System Administration, SUNY Plaza, Albany NY.

The symposium will explore the emerging role of virtual and augmented reality tools in teaching-learning and research spaces. The day's events will feature presentations and discussions about how these emerging tools are being used in academia today. In addition to presentations, there will be an open exposition period for posters and hands-on activities with mixed-reality tools. 

Faculty or staff members who are currently using virtual, augmented, or mixed-reality tools in their teaching or research practice and would like to present are encouraged to submit an abstract proposal using the online application form. Abstracts must be submitted by September 8. Decisions will be made by September 30.

The fifth annual Western New York Blackboard User Group (WNYBUG) eLearning Day will be held Friday, November 9, at Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York.

If you are using Blackboard Learn, Collaborate, or any other educational technology or teaching practices in innovative ways and are interested in presenting at the event, please complete the abstract proposal form.

If you are interested in attending the event, please complete the registration form.

Buffalo State will host a panel discussion on mental health, depression, and suicide prevention on Thursday, September 6, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the Jacqueline Vito LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center at the corner of Rockwell Road and Grant Street. The event, titled “A Community Conversation: Mental Health, Depression, and Suicide Prevention,” is free and open to the public; advance registration is encouraged. September is National Suicide Prevention Month.

The panel will feature local activists and mental health professionals and will be moderated by Joan McCool, director of Buffalo State’s Counseling Center. Panelists will discuss their personal and professional experiences with suicide and depression as well as strategies for supporting those with depression.

Panelists include Dan Lukasik, an attorney and mental health advocate; Celia Spacone, coordinator for Crisis Services and the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Erie County; and Allison Schroeder, a firefighter with the Buffalo Fire Department and a community activist.

Details and registration information are available on the Alumni Engagement website.

Residence Life will move in more than 2,000 Bengals over the next week, and we extend an invitation to members of the Buffalo State community to volunteer in welcoming our new first-year students to campus on Thursday, August 23. If you are interested, please submit your information online, and a representative from Residence Life will be in touch.

The Alumni Engagement Office, formerly located in Cleveland Hall, has moved to the new Jacqueline Vito LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center on the corner of Grant Street and Rockwell Road. Please direct students, faculty, staff, and alumni looking for services related to alumni communications, events, and services to the new building.

Introduction to Service Learning and Community Engagement, an interactive session designed for faculty and staff members new to community-engaged learning and the practice of incorporating a community-based project into a course, will be held Tuesday, August 21, from 10:00 a.m. to noon in Classroom Building A209.

Topics will include

• an overview of the theory and practice of service learning,
• strategies for identifying reciprocal and meaningful community partnerships, and
• a discussion of effective methods of incorporating student reflection to connect the service and course learning.

Adjunct faculty members may be eligible for a $100 stipend from the provost. Please register by e-mail.

From the Chair of the College Senate
Reports to the College Senate are posted on the College Senate website. The most recent reports are from the May 11, 2018, Senate meeting. The College Senate Standing Committee Final Reports for 2017–2018 are also posted on the Senate website.

Podcasts are now the official audio record of each College Senate meeting. If you missed a Senate meeting and want to catch up, podcasts are posted to the Senate's podcasts web page. Senate meeting summaries are also posted to the website after they are presented to the Senate.