The Small Business Development Center presents “Survive and Thrive: Essentials for Starting Your Own Business,” a workshop covering all the essential information needed to start a business, on Tuesday, February 27, from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Burchfield Penney Art Center (second floor). Specific topics will include creating a business plan; competition analysis; and tax, legal, and insurance issues. The workshop is free for Buffalo State College faculty, staff, students, and alumni as well as U.S. military veterans and $20 for all others.

Registration will take place immediately before the workshop, from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. To register in advance, please call the SBDC at 878-4030.

Buffalo State’s Rotaract Club will host its annual Valentine’s Day Bake Sale on Monday, February 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Butler Library lobby. All baked goods are made fresh, right here on campus in the Caudell Hall kitchen, and will be sold for $1 each. Raffle tickets ($1 each) for a “Good Nutrition”-themed basket will also be available. If you are unable to stop by our table, please e-mail rotaractclub@mail.buffalostate.edu and a member of the club will make a special visit to your location with raffle tickets and a basket of goodies to choose from. Please show your support for our club. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Food Bank of Western New York.

The Buffalo State Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will host the NYS Citizen Preparedness Corps Training on Thursday, February 22, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall.

The purpose of the training program is to provide citizens with the tools and resources to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond to emergencies and disasters, and recover as quickly as possible. 

This training is open to everyone, but you MUST register in advance. All registered participants who complete the training will receive a free NYS Disaster Preparedness Response Kit.

Space is limited, so please register early.

Contact Rick Myers, university police officer 2, 878-6921, with questions.

All members of the Teacher Education Unit (TEU) are invited to attend the Teacher Education Council (TEC) meeting on Friday, February 9, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Carmine A. Grande Conference Room, Cleveland Hall 418. Current issues in teacher education and assessment will be discussed.

By popular demand, the Buffalo State Alumni Association has again teamed up with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company to offer a defensive driving course to Buffalo State faculty, staff, alumni, and students on Saturday, March 3, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 113.

Save money on your auto insurance by taking this class offered through Liberty Mutual. Friends and relatives are also welcome if accompanied by a faculty or staff member, alumnus, or student. The discount is 10 percent off liability insurance in New York State, regardless of one’s auto insurance provider; this course will also remove points from your driver’s license. The cost of the class is $25 per person.

Attendees should park in Lot R-2 or along Rockwell Road and enter Ketchum Hall through the door on the west side of the building (across from Moot Hall).

To enroll, please call Damien Lawrence, Buffalo State’s local representative, at (716) 984-9111. The registration deadline for this class is Monday, February 26.

The Buffalo State College Professional Development Center invites staff and faculty members to take advantage of the following professional development opportunities. All sessions will be held in Butler Library 181B. To register for a session or for details, please click the session title link, which will take you to the Workshop Registration System.

We want to thank UUP, the Professional Staff Caucus, the Faculty and Staff Welfare Committee, the Creative Studies Department, and faculty and staff presenters for partnering with the Professional Development Center. With the support of our campus partners, the Professional Development Center was able to accomplish the following:

• Average faculty and staff attendance per workshop grew from four participants in 2015–2016 to 8.3 participants in 2016–2017 to 11.6 participants during the fall 2017 semester.
• Out of a sample of 44 faculty and staff members who participated in professional development workshops, 92 percent used the ideas, methods, or strategies they learned to further improve their work practices.

Leadership Development

• Crucial Confrontations
  Tuesday, March 20, 12:15–1:30 p.m.
• Managing Student Workers Part 2: Creating Student Employment Learning Experiences
  Thursday, March 22, 9:00 a.m.–Noon
• Learning about Learning in the Workplace and Beyond
  Wednesday, April 4, 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Introvert Thinkers: Understanding the Power of Introverts in the Workplace
  Thursday, April 26, 10:00 a.m.–Noon

Change Management

• The Times Are Changing: Strategies to Personally Manage Transitions at Work
  Tuesday, March 13, 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Facilitating Change for a Department, Committee, Program, Process, or Initiative
  Thursday, April 12, 9:00 a.m.–Noon
• Managing the Polarities of Organizational Change
  Tuesday, April 24, 12:15–2:15 p.m.

Relationship Management

• Purposeful Networking: Creating Valuable Professional Connections
  Wednesday, February 28, 12:15–1:30 p.m.
• Techniques and Approaches for Delivering Excellent Customer Service
  Tuesday, April 17, 9:00 a.m.–Noon

Enhancing Productivity

• Facilitating and Structuring Effective Meetings
  Thursday, February 22, 12:15–3:15 p.m.
• Rethinking Productivity: Methods for Managing Time and Tasks
  Wednesday, March 7, 9:00–11:00 a.m.

Images and artifacts from the Buffalo History Museum’s Howard D. Beach Photography Collection, including more than 100 photographs of five prominent Buffalo families—Beach, Coit, Knox, Park, and Weed—are on view at the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 453 Porter Avenue in Buffalo, through February 27. Kimberly Bruckman, M.A. museum studies '18, researched, cleaned, digitized, and now presents images from the Beach collection as her master's project. The exhibit is a culmination of three semesters of coursework and independent research, including the service-learning class MST 623: Digital Museum Collections taught by Noelle Wiedemer, '14, lecturer of museum studies. The exhibition is on view Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. through February 27 and is free and open to the public.

The Undergraduate Research Office's Small Grants Program provides up to $400 to assist students in carrying out their research, scholarly, or creative activities during the academic year; up to $600 may be requested for a single project that involves two or more students. Funding is intended to help defray the cost of travel, supplies, and other materials necessary to conduct a research, scholarly, or creative project. It does not support travel to a conference to present research findings or as salary for the student(s). Students receiving small grant awards in the fall or spring round of the program are required to participate in the 20th annual Student Research and Creativity Conference, scheduled for May 4 and 5. 

Deadline for student input: 10:00 p.m. Monday, February 26
Deadline for faculty input and approval: 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 28

Applications for the Small Grants Program are completed online.

Please join the Biology Department, the Great Lakes Center, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program today for the seminar "Ecosystem Resilience to Global Change in a Biodiversity Hotspot," presented by Adam Wilson, assistant professor of geography at the University at Buffalo, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Please join the Biology Department, the Great Lakes Center, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program for the seminar "Ecosystem Resilience to Global Change in a Biodiversity Hotspot," presented by Adam Wilson, assistant professor of geography at the University at Buffalo, on Monday, February 12, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.