The CSEA Local 640 will hold elections in June for the positions of president, vice president, recording secretary, and treasurer. Candidate eligibility forms and individual and slate petition requests may be obtained from Koleen Greenawalt or Amy Kline beginning Monday, April 10. Petitions may be picked up beginning Tuesday, April 25, and signatures may be collected until 5:00 p.m. Monday, May 15, when petitions are due back to an election committee member.

If you have any questions about the election forms or process, please call one of the CSEA Local 640 Election Committee members, listed below.

Mary Codick, Committee Chair; Secretary 1, Teacher Certification Office
Chase Hall 222, 878-6121, M–F Days

Amy Kline, Agency Program Aide, Admissions Office
Moot Hall 110, 878-5713, M–F Days

Koleen Greenawalt, Supervising Janitor, Custodial Services
Moore Hall 125, 878-3406, S–T Nights

Kathleen Mills, Secretary 1, Career and Technical Education
Bacon Hall 122, 878-4303, M–F Days

Amy McMillan, associate professor of biology, will share the ways she used Camtasia to create instructional videos for BIO 303 during the next session of the FITT Spring Symposium on Thursday, April 6, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Technology Building 160. The FITT Spring Symposium, a signature event of the Fostering Innovation in Teaching with Technology (FITT) Academy, is a series of final presentations given by the academy's group of inaugural faculty participants throughout the month of April.

All presentations are open to faculty, staff, students, and guests.

Please join us for a special guest speaker event highlighting the experiences of refugees settling in America on Tuesday, April 4, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 208. Myo Thant from Journey’s End Refugee Services will share his personal experience as a former refugee from Burma and discuss the organization’s work resettling refugees in Buffalo. Donations of school supplies and personal care items will be collected. This event is free and open to the public.

Contact Katie Bertel, outreach and engagement librarian, with any questions or to arrange a pickup of donations.

Today is your last chance to attend "Unlock Your Course," a hands-on faculty development workshop on incorporating open educational materials into your course, presented today, April 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Butler Library 314. This workshop will be presented by Alexis Clifton, the new director of SUNY OER Services. Learn from open educational resources (OER) experts and find out how SUNY can support OER use on campus.

Course materials are an important path to course content for your students. But what if they can’t afford the textbook? Find out how to harness the "power of open" to break down barriers to course materials for your students. OER are designed to improve student engagement by ensuring day-one, no- or low-cost, continuous access to course materials.

Buffalo State faculty members are already breaking ground with initiatives in affordability and OER. At this workshop, you’ll hear from your colleagues at Buffalo State and from the new SUNY OER Services. Learn about best practices in OER adoption, and then receive hands-on support in opening a course of your own. Leave this workshop with practical skills in backward-design and OER adoption that you can bring to your course.

Space is limited; register now. For more information, please visit Butler Library’s Affordable Learning Materials Initiative website or contact Leah Galka, outreach and engagement librarian.

Join your colleagues for the faculty workshop "Unlock Your Course" on Wednesday, April 5, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Butler Library 314.

Course materials are an important path to course content for your students. But what if they can’t afford the textbook? Find out how to harness the "power of open" to break down barriers to course materials for your students. Open educational resources (OER) are designed to improve student engagement by ensuring day-one, no- or low-cost, continuous access to course materials.

Buffalo State faculty members are already breaking ground with initiatives in affordability and OER. At this workshop, you’ll hear from your colleagues at Buffalo State and from the new SUNY OER Services. Learn about best practices in OER adoption, and then receive hands-on support in opening a course of your own. Leave this workshop with practical skills in backward-design and OER adoption that you can bring to your course.

Space is limited; register soon.

For more information, please visit Butler Library’s Affordable Learning Materials Initiative website or contact Leah Galka, outreach and engagement librarian.

The GLC-Biology seminar 'Benthic Life in the Dead Zone of Central Lake Erie' by Ronald Griffiths, scheduled for today, April 3, has been canceled.

The following Blackboard professional development workshops will be held in April:

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Achievement Badges
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Introduction
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Assessments
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Grade Center

Detailed descriptions of each training session (PDF, 65 KB) are available on the RITE website. All sessions will be held in Bulger Communication Center 122 or in an online webinar format.

All workshops are suitable for instructors teaching face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses. All workshop presentations will be one hour and are limited to 10 participants. The instructor will be available for an additional 30 minutes after each workshop for additional questions and discussion (optional).

Please register online through the Workshop Registration System.

Today is the final day to submit nominations for the second annual Buffalo State Internship Supervisor of the Year Awards. Nominate an individual who has supervised a Buffalo State intern during summer 2016, fall 2016, J-Term 2017, or spring 2017 (anticipated).

Selection Criteria

• Creates and ensures a good learning experience for the Buffalo State student intern. Goes above and beyond to ensure a good learning experiences for the intern.
• Provides regular feedback and supervision to the intern
• Provides guidance, mentoring, and professional growth experiences and opportunities for the student intern
• Demonstrates commitment to a positive working relationship with academic department and/or Buffalo State College

Nomination letters must be submitted electronically; nomination forms can be found under the Events tab of the Career Development Center website.

Today is the final day to nominate your undergraduate or graduate student for the second annual Buffalo State Intern of the Year Awards. Eligible students will have completed an internship during summer 2016, fall 2016, J-Term 2017, or spring 2017 (anticipated). Students who have graduated since completing their internships are also eligible.

Selection Criteria

• Intern performance exceeds employer expectations, and intern demonstrates a high level of learning and growth during the internship.
• Intern exceeds responsibilities and/or established performance standards (Learning Agreement).
• Intern accomplished or contributed in ways that other interns have not.
• Intern exhibits professionalism in interactions at the internship, including professional characteristics, skills, and/or personal traits (i.e., punctuality, responsibility, initiative, communication, attitude, creativity).

Nomination letters must be submitted electronically; nomination forms can be found under the Events tab of the Career Development Center website.

Registration is now open for the 26th annual Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT), which will be held Tuesday, May 30, to Friday, June 2, on the campus of SUNY Oneonta. CIT is SUNY's largest and most prominent event on instructional technology in educating, providing a forum for faculty, instructional support professionals, and policymakers to present, discuss, and explore innovative avenues for integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment.

The theme for CIT 2017, "Teaching and Learning in Multiple Dimensions," is supported by the following tracks:

• Diverse Learners, Diverse Learning Styles
• Post-Traditional Learners/Lifelong Learning/Career Retooling/Career Credentialing
• Student Success: Retention and Remediation
• Professional Partnerships
• Iterative Journeys

Teaching and Learning in Multiple Dimensions challenges presenters to demonstrate how they strategically use tools, media, and pedagogy to stimulate learners to respond with greater cognitive gain. As we seek more effective ways to deliver content to our students, encourage engagement, measure learning outcomes, and foster completion, we discover an ever-widening spectrum of unique circumstances, each requiring insight and sensitivity. Meeting these unique needs is often a process of experimentation and exploration that requires patience and fortitude. This, coupled with the continued growth and sophistication in the areas of gamification and virtual reality, offers new dimensions in teaching and learning.

Register early and save. Full registration is $250 for SUNY participants who register before Sunday, May 14. After May 14, registration will increase to $300. Please see the list of fees and additional registration options.

Scholarships are available. The SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²) will award a limited number of $50 scholarships to attend CIT. A Statement of Interest indicating why the applicant should be considered for a FACT2 Scholarship must be sent to Nancy Motondo, conference director, by Wednesday, April 19. A limited number of scholarships for registration will be made available by Buffalo State's Resources for Information, Technology, and Education (RITE). Contact Meghan Pereira, director of instructional design and training, for details.