Since fall 2016, all reports to the College Senate have been posted on the College Senate website. The most recent reports are from the October 13, 2017, Senate meeting.

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 podcast web page. Senate meeting summaries are also posted to the website after they are presented to the Senate.

The Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall is pleased to present "An Evening with John Sebastian" on Friday, November 3, at 8:00 p.m.

Over four decades, the contributions of John Sebastian and the Lovin' Spoonful have become a coursing thread in the American musical fabric. You know the songs: "Do You Believe in Magic?" "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice," "Daydream," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" "Summer in the City," "Rain on the Roof," "Nashville Cats," "Darling Be Home Soon," "Younger Generation."

Don't miss this intimate evening of music with one of rock's legends. Tickets for faculty and staff are $35 in the lower tier and $27 in the upper tier. Tickets can be purchased at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, by phone at (716) 878-3005, or online.

The SUNY Center for Professional Development is seeking applications from faculty members who want to redesign a course with open educational resources (OER). The center will host a two-day OER course-design workshop at the SUNY Center for Professional Development in Syracuse on Monday and Tuesday, December 18 and 19. Organizers are looking for participants who will (re)design a general education course they plan to teach in the spring, summer, or fall of 2018 using OER. The workshop will be facilitated by members of SUNY CPD and SUNY OER Services. Preference will be given to applicants with some experience or knowledge of OER.

Applications (due Wednesday, November 1) and more information are available online.

Registration is now open for a daylong workshop focusing on the effective use of open educational resources in our classrooms on Tuesday, November 14. The event will be held on campus and is open to everyone.

The OER field is seeing an increased focus and investment within SUNY, and is a socially responsible and pedagogically sound alternative to traditionally restrictive learning materials. Hear from your SUNY colleagues about their OER experiences, and hear from SUNY OER experts about how SUNY is investing in campus OER initiatives.

More details about the workshop are available on the Butler Library website. To register, please visit the SUNY Center for Professional Development's registration page.

SUNY has a strong history of openness and instructional innovation, including the use of OER to provide measurable impact on student success. This year invites a large scale-up of OER thanks to the Excelsior Scholarship, which includes in its 2017–2018 funding “$8 million to provide open educational resources, including e-books, to students at SUNY and CUNY colleges to help defray the prohibitive cost of textbooks.”

In response, SUNY OER Services is coordinating workshops to invite faculty, librarians, instructional designers, administrators, and other campus stakeholders to explore the possibilities of OER more deeply.

As a participant in this one-day workshop, you will

• interact with faculty and librarians across SUNY who have firsthand experience with OER,
• understand the distinctions between traditional and Creative Commons copyright,
• discover OER materials in your subject area, and
• apply OER content to help meet your course outcomes.

All skill and comfort levels with both OER and campus technology are welcome. Participation is free for all SUNY affiliates.

Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to explore OER and work directly with faculty experts in various disciplines. We look forward to your participation.

Steve Burgeson, lecturer in the Hospitality and Tourism Department, will present "Irish Cuisine: Thyme Has Changed," an overview of his travel experiences and culinary observations from his visit to Ireland in March, on Thursday, October 26, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Caudell Hall foyer (Statler Foundation Room). This is the second presentation in the fall 2017 “Artists on the Road: Travel as Source of Inspiration” series.

Join Ken Giangreco, multimedia design specialist, and John Myers, video journalist and production assistant, from RITE Creative Media Services for the workshop "Setting the Stage for Quality Audio and Video" on Thursday, November 9, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Bulger Communication Center 122. Come and explore techniques that will help you create quality video content for your courses using equipment available right here on campus. Techniques will include identifying light sources, camera positioning, basic editing, and capturing quality audio. All these methods will be demonstrated using the iPad recording kits available for loan through Butler Library.

Please register for this workshop through the Workshop Registration System.

Do you know what the Employee Assistance Program is? Do you know what it can do for you? Come to the EAP open house on Friday, November 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Bulger Communication Center third-floor lobby and find out. EAP provides support to all New York State employees, retirees, and family members, including referral services, as well as wellness and support services. Stop by and meet the EAP committee members and coordinators and see the EAP Office. We will share information and answer questions about what the committee does and what services the coordinators provide. We hope to see you there.

Lilana Fernndez Mollinedo, professor of history at the University of Havana, Cuba, will discuss the history and current state of conflict between the United States and Cuba on Friday, November 3, from 2:15 to 4:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West. A question-and-answer period will follow the lecture. This event is free and open to the public.

From the Director of Business Services
There’s still time to complete the Procurement Customer Service Survey. An e-mail was recently sent to faculty and staff members inviting you to complete a Procurement Customer Service Survey so that we may acquire feedback about your experiences.

If you have not had a chance to complete this survey, please take a few moments to do so now. The survey will close Friday, November 10.

All responses will be anonymously recorded. Those completing the survey will be entered in a drawing for lunch for two at Campus House with me. The winner will be randomly selected from eligible entries on November 13, and the winner will be notified by e-mail.

Thank you.

Robert Baumet
Director of Business Services

Edreys Wajed, the Dr. Margaret E. Bacon visiting visual artist, will create a new drawing, Get in Line, on the wall in Upton Hall from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Monday, October 30; Tuesday, October 31; and Wednesday, November 1. The Buffalo State community is welcome to meet and talk with Mr. Wajed on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. near the drawing.

Sponsored by the Dr. Margaret E. Bacon Visiting Visual Artists Series Fund.