As per SUNY Administration directives, Travel and Non-Employee Travel (NET) Citibank cardholders are prohibited from using their cards to obtain lodging through Airbnb.

Airbnb is an online marketplace that allows individuals to rent personal properties or spare rooms to guests. Travelers who wish to use Airbnb for lodging may do so only by using personal funding. Travelers will be reimbursed after travel takes place at a rate that is within the allowable per diem. Travelers assume a very high risk of non-reimbursement from state funding if a cancellation occurs through an Airbnb reservation.

Alexis Clifton, executive director of SUNY OER Services, will be on campus today, January 17, from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. in Bulger Communication Center 120 for questions and conversations about the use of open educational resources (OER) in your courses. SUNY is currently investing in campuses to expand their OER initiatives, and faculty members across the state are revising their courses to meet students’ needs. This is a great opportunity to learn about how you can be involved with this important initiative.

Buffalo State’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and University Police will conduct an Active Shooter Response Drill in Buckham Hall E-Wing on Thursday, January 18, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

During this exercise you may see police cars, police action, simulated smoke, and actors portraying victims. Police will use blank rounds to simulate gunfire as part of the training. Please do not be alarmed; this is a simulated event.

If you have questions, please call University Police at 878-6333 or ext. 6333 from a campus phone.

Interested in learning how to better serve our homeless, food insecure, and foster youth students? The Student Life Office invites you for a conversation and repeat showing of the webinar "Homeless, Food Insecure & Foster Youth Students" on Thursday February 8, from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in Campbell Student Union 415 (conference room).

The federal government announced in May 2016 that the U.S. Department of Education and college financial aid offices need to remove barriers to higher education and give more assistance to homeless and foster youth.

Each year, thousands of students indicate on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that they are homeless while accessing higher education programs. One recent study of 4,000 students attending 10 community colleges across the United States suggested that more than half of all community college students struggle with food insecurity. In addition, more than 32,000 young adults exit the foster care system as they age out to independence each year—and 70 percent of them plan to attend college, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway. Unfortunately, only 3–11 percent actually earn a degree.

Please join us on February 8 as expert presenters explain ways to implement successful support strategies at Buffalo State to help us engage, retain, and graduate our homeless, food insecure, and foster care students. Learn to decrease the unique barriers that these students face and increase their success by engaging in targeted efforts that meet their unique needs.

Participation Outcomes
You will learn

• how to define students that experience homelessness, food-insecurity, and foster care and engage in coordinated outreach efforts to help ensure their success both in and outside the classroom;
• higher education policies and guidance that support students who experience homelessness and foster care so you know exactly what you are encouraged and required to do to increase their persistence toward graduation;
• resources available to assist students who experience homelessness and foster care so you can draw upon best practices and implement targeted initiatives on our campus; and
• strategies for reaching out to at least one community-based agency to establish collaborations for increasing students' access to housing and food.

Please register for this webinar online.

Questions may be directed to Kristen Helling, assistant director of student life, 878-4631.

The Newman Center will host its annual meat raffle on Saturday, March 3, at the Knights of Columbus, 1530 Kenmore Avenue, Buffalo 14216. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.; first spin is at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are $5 per person. Tables of 10 are available for $45. All entrance tickets include a door prize raffle, beverages (beer or soda), and pizza. Other raffles taking place throughout the event consist of a stocked freezer chest, a 50/50 split raffle, a lottery ticket raffle, and a basket raffle. Those attending must be at least 18 years old. Outside food is welcome, but no outside alcoholic beverages are allowed.

For tickets call the Newman Center at 882-1080 or e-mail newmancenter@buffalostate.edu.

All proceeds benefit our services to Buffalo State students (service projects, retreats, leadership training, and ministry resources).

Please join the Great Lakes Center, the Biology Department, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program for two presentations—"Attached Algae as Indicators of Stream Ecosystem Function in the Headwaters of the Lake Erie Watershed," presented by Hannah Fazekas; and "Estimates of Depth-Specific Benthic Primary Productivity in Lake Erie and Lake Huron," presented by Leon Katona—on Monday, March 19, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. The presenters are graduate students in the environmental sciences program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Please join the Great Lakes Center, the Biology Department, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program today for two presentations—"Attached Algae as Indicators of Stream Ecosystem Function in the Headwaters of the Lake Erie Watershed," presented by Hannah Fazekas; and "Estimates of Depth-Specific Benthic Primary Productivity in Lake Erie and Lake Huron," presented by Leon Katona—from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. The presenters are graduate students in the environmental sciences program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Please join the Great Lakes Center, the Biology Department, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program for the seminar "The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework: A Spatial Framework, Ecological Classification, and Tools to Meet the Needs of Great Lakes Management and Research," presented by Catherine Riseng, associate research scientist at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability, on Monday, April 23, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Please join the Great Lakes Center, the Biology Department, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program today, April 23, for the seminar "The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework: A Spatial Framework, Ecological Classification, and Tools to Meet the Needs of Great Lakes Management and Research," presented by Catherine Riseng, associate research scientist at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome.

Please join the Great Lakes Center, the Biology Department, and the Great Lakes ecosystem science program for the seminar "Emerald Shiners as a Bioindicator of Urban Water Pollution in the Upper Niagara River," presented by Jo Johnson, GLES graduate and current Ecological Planner at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, on Monday, March 12, from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. All interested faculty, staff, and students are welcome.