Come and join your colleagues for coffee and scholarly conversation about the importance of high-impact practices on Friday, February 3, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. in Butler Library 181B. This session will focus on Finley and McNair's (2013) “Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-Impact Practices” (PDF, 988 KB)

A light breakfast will be provided.? Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Buck, Boogie, Bop & Beyond: The Black and Brown of Broadway Musicals is a spirited homage to the contributions of artists from the African diaspora who have greatly contributed to American musical theater. BBB&B is a song, dance, and narrated musical review that was developed and mounted by students from the Buffalo State Theater Department. The production is conceived, directed, and choreographed by Carlos R. A. Jones, associate dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. Presented by Casting Hall Productions and the Theater Department, with generous support from Andy Anselmo.

Tickets are on sale now at the Rockwell Hall Box Office, 878-3005 or online.

Special pricing for preview night, Tuesday, February 7 at 8:00 p.m.
Runs February 8, 9, and 10 at 8:00 p.m.; and February 11 at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.

In order to improve outreach to the campus and guide the library through upcoming physical and service-related changes, the interim director of Butler Library, Marc Bayer, announces the formation of a Library Advisory Council. The purpose of the council will be to serve as a conduit for communication between the library and campus constituents to promote the best use of library resources and serve as a source of information for the campus on matters related to the library.

Faculty and staff members with an interest in serving on this council should e-mail Katherine Bertel, outreach and engagement librarian, by Friday, February 10. Thank you.

Professional Development's Emerging College Leaders Program (ECL) is now accepting nominations and self-nominations for its 2017 cohort. Do you know of a faculty or staff member who you feel could benefit or grow in his or her career from a leadership development experience? Do you feel that such an experience might help to move you toward your professional goals? Please nominate a faculty or staff member or self-nominate for the ECL Program by Tuesday, February 28.

The ECL Program is a six-day leadership development opportunity for faculty and professional staff members who are interested in becoming more effective leaders. The program will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, to Friday, May 26; Tuesday, May 30; and Wednesday, May 31, with an individual coaching session (by appointment) and two follow-up cohort meetings.

Participants may have never held leadership positions; they may be intermediate supervisors, manage a small unit, or aspire to a new leadership role. The program will include leadership style assessments, workshops, and ongoing development planning. ECL participants will accomplish the following: 

• Increase their self-awareness and mindfulness as leaders  
• Maximize current leadership skills and reflect on skills in need of development
• Explore and understand the complexities of leadership in higher education
• Enhance skills in problem solving, interpersonal communication, delivering feedback, and conflict management
• Create a personal leadership development plan
• Design systems to support future leadership, personal, and professional goals

For more information regarding the ECL Program, please visit the Professional Development website. Please contact Jonathan Hulbert, director of leadership and organizational development, or Lauren Turner, staff assistant, 878-3841, with questions.

The Travel Services Department will begin its 2017 spring semester training on Tuesday, February 7. In addition to travel policies and procedures, we will also discuss NYS Travel and NET cards. Please consider joining us and bring your questions.

Light refreshments will be served. Please contact David Lysiak, office assistant in Accounts Payable and Travel Services, to RSVP.

Please see our website for more available training dates.

Are you interested in teaching online? Perhaps you’re already teaching online but are interested in developing new strategies to help your students succeed. Maybe you would like to incorporate online activities into your face-to-face course. Please join us for the Advanced Online Course Design Specialization Workshop Series. Attend all five one-hour workshops in the series and earn an Advanced Online Course Development Specialization Certificate, or attend only the workshops that interest you. 

All workshops will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursdays in Bulger Communication Center 120. 

• Creating Interactive Content for Your Course – March 16 
• Authentic Assessment – March 30 
• Locating and Using Electronic Resources in Your Course – April 6 
• Universal Design for Learning – April 13 
• Open SUNY COTE Quality Rubric (OSCQR) – April 20

For more information about the Online Course Development Certificate, please visit the Instructional Design website. Visit the Workshop Registration System for course details and to register.

Are you interested in teaching online? Perhaps you’re already teaching online but are interested in developing new strategies to help your students succeed. Maybe you would like to incorporate online activities into your face-to-face course. Please join us for the Online Course Design Specialization Workshop Series. Attend all six one-hour workshops in the series and earn an Online Course Development Specialization Certificate, or attend only the workshops that interest you.

All workshops will be held at 10:00 a.m. Mondays in Bulger Communication Center 120.

• Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning – March 6
• Backward Design Step 1: Developing Course Objectives and Priorities – March 13
• Backward Design Step 2: Developing Course Assessments – March 27
• Backward Design Step 3: Developing the Learning Plan – April 3
• Designing and Organizing Your Course in Blackboard – April 10
• Interaction: Communication and Collaboration – April 17

For more information about the Online Course Development Certificate, please visit the Instructional Design website. Visit the Workshop Registration System for course details and to register.

Buffalo State will host the American Mock Trial Association 2017 Great Lakes Regional Tournament on Saturday and Sunday, February 11 and 12. The college will accommodate nearly 300 guests representing 24 teams from 16 colleges and universities throughout the Northeast. There are two trial sessions each day, with local attorneys presiding as judges. Faculty and staff members who are familiar with the mock trial experience and those with a solid background in evaluating oral presentations may be interested in serving as scoring judges for a session. Volunteers are needed for short-term tasks such as welcoming and directing guests, tabulating results, and posting notices. All activities will be held in the Science and Mathematics Complex. Please contact Jon Lines, lecturer in the Political Science Department, or Kelly Boos, executive assistant to the dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, to volunteer or for more details.

In partnership with New Student and Family Programs, the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center will host two on-campus community service projects on Monday, February 6, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. and Wednesday, February 8, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 306. Students are invited to help us finish community service projects begun during new student orientation. Participants will create materials to benefit Compeer of Greater Buffalo, a local organization that matches volunteers and mentors in one-to-one friendship and relationship with children, adults, and seniors striving for good mental health.

• February 6, 1:00–2:00 p.m.
  Assemble Project Semicolon temporary tattoo bags that will be distributed to Compeer’s clients as a mental health resource. Project Semicolon aims to present hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury.
• February 8, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
  Make sensory/stress balls for senior citizens in Compeer’s programs. Stress balls can be used in a number of ways to meet the specific needs of a client (developing body awareness, providing a sensory activity, increasing mindfulness, managing anger, teaching progressive muscle relaxation, etc.).

Registration is not required. We look forward to seeing you!

SUNY has announced its 2017 request for proposals for the Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG) (PDF, 604 KB) program. An outcome of this program is to support academic excellence and student success. The mission of the SUNY IITG program is to "increase efficiency and capacity for SUNY-wide delivery of high-quality instruction." Award tiers are $10,000, $20,000, and $60,000.

All Buffalo State applications are to be reviewed by the CIO and vice president for enrollment, marketing, and communications to ensure that Buffalo State can support the project. The CIO and vice president will also provide a letter of support from the campus. Proposals are due to the CIO and vice president no later than Monday, February 20, and are due to SUNY by Sunday, March 5. Please e-mail all proposals to Melissa Miszkiewicz, director of academic and research technology planning.

Given Buffalo State’s current strategic plan, projects that address open educational resources, student success, student engagement, student retention, student recruitment, and improving the first-year-student experience are sought.

This year, IITG applications will be stewarded by a team from RITE and Faculty Development: John Draeger, interim director of faculty development; Meghan Pereira, senior instructional designer; and Melissa Miszkiewicz. If you plan to submit a proposal or have ideas for a proposal, please contact one of the above IITG team members for a consultation.