An introductory workshop on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) review process and ethics training requirement will be held on Wednesday, April 6, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. in Bishop Hall 18.

Before the review process, researchers must be sure that their project is, in fact, research with human participants as defined by the federal government. To qualify as research with human participants, the following must be true: (1) The participants must be living. Thus, oral history projects fall under the guidelines, but research involving diaries kept in the 1800s does not. (2) The project is a systematic investigation; that is, it is designed to be a study. For example, instances in classrooms where teachers ask students’ opinions on the material to gauge progress are not research; however, if that same teacher designs a study to evaluate two methods of teaching the material to see which is more effective, this would be research if the third criterion is met. (3) The project is designed to contribute to the generalized knowledge. To qualify as research, the person conducting the project must intend for it to be disseminated at some level.

On our campus, we also review student projects that may not be disseminated but that meet the first two criteria so that our students will learn the process of research with human participants and because we have contracted with the federal government to do so.

RSVP to Gina Game, research compliance manager, by Monday, April 4.

Please join us for Runway 9.0, Buffalo State's annual spring fashion show, on Saturday, April 16, at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Founded in 2008, the Runway event allows fashion and textile technology (FTT) students enrolled in apparel design, textile design, and fashion show production to professionally showcase their talents. Tickets can be purchased online. All proceeds go to the FTT scholarship fund.

This year’s Runway theme, "Eco-lution: Ecology plus Evolution," celebrates the love of what surrounds us, thoughtfulness of the environment, and sustainability. It also emphasizes the gradual development of the simple to the complex: students into designers and merchandisers; cloth into garments; and the apparel industry model from wasteful to thoughtful.

Up to nine senior designers will show their collections, sharing the runway with undergraduate designers and unveiling a collaborative project with the Burchfield Penney Art Center. FTT students in two classes were challenged to design and develop garments using fabric printed with wallpaper designs by Charles E. Burchfield. These garments will debut at Runway 9.0 before joining the Burchfield collection at the museum.

Please join us for the Western New York Network of English Teachers Youth Voices Speakers Series on Thursday, April 14, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 313.

Showcasing the work that young people have conducted in English classrooms throughout Western New York, the series seeks to reclaim space for the voices of youth and their English teachers, and to reposition English classrooms as learning spaces of meaning, purpose, and power in the Buffalo-Niagara region. 

The event will feature presentations by students from the Elmwood Village Charter School, Cheektowaga Central High School, Frederick Law Olmsted High School, Maritime Charter School, Saint Francis High School, and other schools in the Buffalo-Niagara region. Specific presentations include the following:

Abdul Sami – "Between Two Worlds: Identity and the Individual Experience of Immigration"

Nichole Graham – "Persevering through Troubling Times: Support Systems, Personal Growth, and Pathways to Individuality"

Curtis Watts and Olivia Brewster – "A Defense of Black Culture"

Hana Zulqarnainn – "I Am Not Oppressed: Muslim Women and Western Culture"

Rebecca Leon and Lyla Giallombardo – "Am I a Feminist?"

Marianna Sanchez – "Students’ Perspective on the School Experience: Stress, Standards, and the Real World"

London Banks – "Coloring in the Lines: Self-Segregation in Black Culture"

Jakera Lewis and Summer Walters – "They Can’t Define Me: Stereotyping, Identity, and Reclaiming Our Voices"

Anthony Marzullo and Timothy Kurucz – "New Perspectives: Young Men and the Critical Reading of Gender in Literature and the World"

Please see the English Department website for additional events.

Please join us for the talk "Partnerships across Boundaries: Arts Integration at an Urban High School," presented by Alice Pennisi, associate professor and chair of the Art Education Department, on Thursday, April 7, from 12:15 to 1:25 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 313. Light refreshments will be served.

Pennisi will discuss how New Design High School in New York City incorporates well-designed arts integration curricula to help its students combine distinctive forms of literacy to create meanings in the classroom and of the world.

Pennisi has been an art, language arts, science, and social studies teacher and arts integration specialist in New York City, where she co-founded New Design High School. Her interests include reengagement of secondary students through art curricula centered on social theory and teacher-student curriculum negotiation.

The English Education Brown Bag Lecture Series is a free, ongoing speaker series sponsored by the English Education Student Association at Buffalo State. The series seeks to engage faculty and students across campus in meaningful discussions about teaching and learning in twenty-first-century classrooms.

Please see the English Department website for other upcoming events.

Please join us today for the presentation "Private Brands Design Process and Merchandising" by Elizabeth Enoch, senior technical designer for women's apparel at JCPenney, during Bengal Pause (12:30–1:30 p.m.) in Technology Building 258. This event is sponsored by the Fashion and Textile Technology Department.

Elizabeth Enoch started her career in the apparel industry as a pattern maker and grader on the manufacturing floor almost 35 years ago. Technical design positions evolved in the 2000s, and her move to this new way of doing business has been both challenging and enjoyable. Her industry experience covers many areas of misses, women’s, men’s, and children’s categories. As a senior technical designer for JCPenney, she has had opportunities to work with a wide variety of apparel within any given product category. Currently, she is primarily responsible for juniors products, with expertise in bottoms and denim products. She loves working with denim because of its unique technical characteristics and cultural significance. She recently earned her M.F.A. from the University of North Texas, where she teaches part time.

Assistant professor of sociology Lindsey Freeman is offering a study-abroad course, "French Culture, Society, and Everyday Life," in Caen, France, during summer 2016. The 6-credit course is open to students from all disciplines. No previous knowledge of the French language is required. For more information, please contact Professor Freeman.

Buffalo State's Fashion and Textile Technology Department will host an exhibition by Choi Jeong Wook, Transcontinental Fashion Crossroads between the U.S. and Korea in the 20th Century, from Monday, April 4, through Wednesday, April 13, in the Technology Building's third-floor showcase. A reception will be held Tuesday, April 5, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in the Technology Building's third-floor lobby.

Women’s fashion has always reflected changes in women’s status and roles in society as well as played a key role in the history of the women’s liberation movement and participation in political activities. Choi's exhibition demonstrates how American culture has influenced the dramatic and dynamic changes in women’s fashion in Korea during the twentieth century. Choi is a professor in the Department of Textile and Clothing Design at Kyung Hee University in Korea and is currently a visiting professor in the Buffalo State Fashion and Textile Technology Department.

This event is supported by the Buffalo State Faculty-Student Association.

The annual Design Student Exhibition will be on display in Upton Hall's Czurles-Nelson Gallery from Thursday, March 31, through Thursday, April 14. A reception for the exhibition will be held Thursday, April 7, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Upton Hall's Czurles-Nelson Gallery with a student award ceremony at 6:00 p.m.

Please join us to celebrate and recognize our talented student designers in ceramics, fibers, metals/jewelry, wood/furniture, communication design, and foundations. For additional information, please contact the Design Department office at 878-6032.

Instructional Resources is now offering a four-course Blackboard Specialization Certificate. Blackboard Learn is the official learning management system (LMS) at Buffalo State College that allows for dynamic learning to occur in the online environment. Earning a Blackboard Specialization Certificate will demonstrate your ability to enhance student learning and foster better engagement, interaction, and quality learning. This certificate is suitable for instructors teaching face-to-face, hybrid or blended, or online courses.

Earn a Blackboard Specialization Certificate by attending the following workshops:

1. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Introduction
2. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Assessments
3. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Grade Center
4. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Collaboration Tools

By earning the Blackboard Specialization Certificate, you will be able to

• create content items to present a variety of learning activities to enhance student learning;
• deliver authentic assessments to evaluate student knowledge in a variety of meaningful ways;
• record data, calculate grades, and monitor student progress;
• effectively use select collaboration tools to increase student engagement by providing a means to share and create knowledge.

You may also earn an Advanced Blackboard Specialization Certificate by attending the four workshops identified above and the following three workshops:

1. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Utilizing Rubrics in a Blackboard Course
2. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Student Performance and Retention Center
3. Blackboard Learn 9.1: Achievement Badges

By earning the Advanced Blackboard Specialization Certificate, you will be able to

• create and use rubrics to evaluate student work;
• use the Retention Center to monitor student performance and identify at-risk students;
• provide opportunities for students to earn recognition for their work in the form of badges and certificates.

Please download the Blackboard Training Workshops PDF to learn more about these courses.

For more information, please contact Michael DiFonzo, Blackboard trainer.

Ted Schmidt, associate professor of economics and finance, will present an overview of his recently published book, The Political Economy of Food and Finance (Routledge, 2016), on Tuesday, April 5, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in Bulger Communication Center West. The book details how financialization of the U.S. economy has influenced U.S. and global food systems.

A reception will be held at Campus House from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.