The Small Business Development Center will present “Survive and Thrive: Essentials for Starting Your Own Business,” a workshop covering all the essential information needed to start a business, on Tuesday, October 18, 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.

Please join us for an information session about the New York State Mentoring Program on Thursday, October 13, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Bacon Hall 116B. Pixita del Prado Hill, professor of elementary education and reading, is working with Buffalo Public School 76, Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy, to connect mentors to students in the fourth through sixth grades.

Our partnership will allow Buffalo State faculty and staff members to mentor a student for one hour a week on Tuesdays from 2:40 to 3:40 p.m. Mentors must be willing to commit this time every week throughout the school year. Mentors will engage with students and their interests through discussion, activities, and games to develop relationships. Volunteers will be trained by the Mentoring Program, and a staff member from the school will supervise the sessions and be available to mentors throughout the program. Spanish speakers are particularly encouraged to participate.

As state employees, Buffalo State mentors must make sure that the time they spend mentoring is their own, either through flexible scheduling or by using personal time. If their job responsibilities allow them to make this weekly commitment, interested participants are asked to please discuss their participation with their supervisors.

Please consider joining us for the information session if you want to make a difference in a child's life this year.

We invite everyone to meet Chartwells' on-campus dietitian, Kyle Odebralski, on Tuesday, October 4, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Residential Dining Hall. We hope to see you there.

The following Blackboard training sessions and workshops will be held in October:

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Enterprise Surveys
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Student Performance and Retention Center
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Achievement Badges
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Introduction
Blackboard Learn 9.1: Assessments

Detailed descriptions of all training sessions (PDF, 197 KB) are available on the RITE website.

All workshops are suitable for instructors teaching face-to-face, hybrid, or an online course. All workshop presentations will be 1 hour and is limited to 10 participants. Instructor will be available for an additional 30 minutes after the workshop for additional questions and discussion.

Please register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration website.

The Instructional Design and Training team within RITE will offer training sessions in Office 365, the new e-mail, calendar, and collaboration solution for Buffalo State faculty and staff. It is highly recommended that all employees attend. For more details and the most up-to-date offerings, please see the Office 365 website or the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System. All sessions will be held in Butler Library 318.

What Is Office 365?

• Friday, October 7, 9:00–11:00 a.m.
• Monday, October 17, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

This session will provide an introduction to the basic features and benefits of Office 365 e-mail and calendar. The session will address frequently asked questions as well as training opportunities and resources. Time will be allotted for questions from participants.

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What's New in Mail and Calendar – Office 365?

• Wednesday, October 5: 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
• Thursday, October 13: 2:00–4:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 19: 1:00–3:00 p.m.

This session will provide an overview of the new features in Mail, Calendar, and People in Office 365. The session will emphasize the differences between desktop, online, and mobile versions.

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Microsoft Office in the Cloud (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive)

• Friday, October 7: 1:00–3:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 18: 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

This session will outline features in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel online, as well as OneDrive in Office 365. The workshop will emphasize new features and include resources where users can find more information and support.

Please register for all training sessions through the Cyberquad Workshop Registration System - Office 365 Category.

The McNair Scholars Program will host an information and recruitment session on Thursday, October 27, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Science and Mathematics Complex 175.

The McNair Scholars program helps prepare first-generation, low-income, or underrepresented Buffalo State students prepare for graduate study. Students who participate in this program are provided with research opportunities and faculty mentors. Please inform any student you feel qualifies for this program. For more information, please call the McNair office at 878-3411 or e-mail Jennifer Johnson, program coordinator.

For more information about the program, please visit the McNair website.

The Great Lakes Center and the Biology Department invite you to join us for the seminar "The Maumee River: A Fish-Eye View," presented by Christine Mayer, professor of ecology at the University of Toledo, today, October 17, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West 2. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Tributaries to large lakes provide important spawning and nursery habitats for many species of migratory fish. The presence of spawning stocks in multiple tributaries and other locations adds stability to the lake-wide populations of fish. The Maumee is the largest tributary into Lake Erie and hosts many migratory fish species, including walleye. Approximately a half-million adult walleye enter the Maumee River annually to spawn, and 11 million to 85 million larval walleye exit the mouth of the river. Many other species also spawn in the Maumee, and the diversity of the larval assemblage has increased since the 1970s, suggesting that water quality or other conditions have improved; however, there are impediments to some fish species using spawning habitat in the river. Surveys of relative abundance of walleye eggs in 2014 and 2015 showed that egg density declined about 30 km from the river mouth, even though there is high-quality habitat upstream. There may be a velocity barrier at this location that prevents walleye from swimming farther upstream, possibly causing habitat limitation for spawning. Unlike walleye, which are still numerous, lake sturgeon are now extirpated from the Maumee River and Western Basin, even though they were once highly abundant. A habitat-suitability model has shown that there is still relatively abundant appropriate habitat in the river, despite the lack of spawning by this species for over 100 years. In summer 2017, a rearing facility for lake sturgeon will be constructed at the Toledo Zoo, and juvenile sturgeon will be released in 2018. The value of spawning habitat in the Maumee River will be enhanced by reintroducing native sturgeon and could be further improved by restoration that reduced high-flow conditions, which may limit access by slower-swimming fish such as walleye.

The Great Lakes Center and the Biology Department invite you to join us for the seminar "The Maumee River: A Fish-Eye View," presented by Christine Mayer, professor of ecology at the University of Toledo, on Monday, October 17, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West 2. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Tributaries to large lakes provide important spawning and nursery habitats for many species of migratory fish. The presence of spawning stocks in multiple tributaries and other locations adds stability to the lake-wide populations of fish. The Maumee is the largest tributary into Lake Erie and hosts many migratory fish species, including walleye. Approximately a half-million adult walleye enter the Maumee River annually to spawn, and 11 million to 85 million larval walleye exit the mouth of the river. Many other species also spawn in the Maumee, and the diversity of the larval assemblage has increased since the 1970s, suggesting that water quality or other conditions have improved; however, there are impediments to some fish species using spawning habitat in the river. Surveys of relative abundance of walleye eggs in 2014 and 2015 showed that egg density declined about 30 km from the river mouth, even though there is high-quality habitat upstream. There may be a velocity barrier at this location that prevents walleye from swimming farther upstream, possibly causing habitat limitation for spawning. Unlike walleye, which are still numerous, lake sturgeon are now extirpated from the Maumee River and Western Basin, even though they were once highly abundant. A habitat-suitability model has shown that there is still relatively abundant appropriate habitat in the river, despite the lack of spawning by this species for over 100 years. In summer 2017, a rearing facility for lake sturgeon will be constructed at the Toledo Zoo, and juvenile sturgeon will be released in 2018. The value of spawning habitat in the Maumee River will be enhanced by reintroducing native sturgeon and could be further improved by restoration that reduced high-flow conditions, which may limit access by slower-swimming fish such as walleye.

Kenneth Woods, Fidelity director and retirement planner, will be on campus to meet with faculty and staff members on Wednesday, October 5, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 416. Appointments are required.

Manage your retirement savings goals, review your investment choices, build a plan that’s easy to put into action, or set up a SUNYORP account with Fidelity Investments. Consider bringing relevant account statements and any paperwork to help address your retirement questions.

To schedule a free, confidential, one-on-one appointment, call (844) FOR-SUNY or register online. Fidelity can help make your plans possible. Sign up today.

Please join us to discuss and explore the challenges and benefits of co-teaching on Tuesday, November 15, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 181B. Co-teaching as a service delivery model has been used in P–12 settings to build inclusive classrooms and meet the needs of all learners.

Faculty members Angela Patti and Pixita del Prado Hill jointly planned, delivered, and assessed a block of methods courses for a mixed group of special general education majors. They documented the teaching and learning process through field notes taken during weekly meetings as well as individually written journal entries. Participating students completed pre- and post-course surveys, as well as a post-course interview. A control group completed the pre- and post-course survey. The presenters of this session will provide an overview of the model, report the results of the project, share tools and strategies used during the project, and facilitate discussion about ways to improve co-teaching at the college level.

?Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Please register through the Workshop Registration System.