The International Student Advisory Council is pleased to invite the campus community to the presentation "Homeland Security Rules and Regulations for International Students and Scholars," by James D. Eiss, Esq., immigration attorney, on Thursday, March 31, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Assembly Hall 1 of the Campbell Student Union. This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Jean F. Gounard, director of international student affairs, 878-5331.

If you love weather and climate—especially local weather—or if local weather and climate affect your organization, you will want to attend "It's Local!" a conference on what's new in local weather and climate information and research, on Saturday, April 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Classroom Building (signs will direct you). Sponsored by the Buffalo office of the National Weather Service and Buffalo State's meteorology and climatology program, the conference will feature a number of presenters on weather and climate, including Tom Niziol, winter weather expert with the Weather Channel, and Don Paul, former chief meteorologist (retired) from WIVB-TV. There is also an opportunity to sign up for one of two workshops.

Advance registration is required. For more information, please download the event flier (PDF).

Nominations are now being accepted for the Volunteer and Service-Learning Celebration of Service Awards. The awards recognize students, faculty members, and community partners who participated in service-learning and volunteer initiatives throughout the academic year. This year's award recipients will be recognized on Tuesday, May 3, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

The campus community is invited to nominate individual students, student groups, community partners, faculty members, or classes for their outstanding achievements in fall 2015 and spring 2016 volunteer or service-learning activities.

Help us recognize individuals who have gone above and beyond this year. Information and the nomination web form can be found on the VSLC website. Nominations will be accepted through Monday, April 25.

The Western New York Chapter of the American Meteorological Society will sponsor the second of its spring 2016 seminar series presentations, ‘Severe Weather Coverage and a Day in the Life of a TV Meteorologist,’ by WGRZ Channel 2 meteorologist Jennifer Stanonis, on Tuesday, April 19, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Science Building 272.

Stanonis moved to Western New York in 2005, when she started forecasting on Buffalo television. She has covered most severe weather events here since that time, anchoring in the studio and reporting out in the field, including the pre-Thanksgiving lake effect "Snowvember" storm of 2014, the October snowstorm of 2006, the Cheektowaga tornado of 2006, and numerous damaging snow and wind events. She has earned the highest weather seal possible for meteorology in television, the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) Weather Seal, given by the American Meteorological Society. Stanonis has a meteorology degree from the College at Brockport.

The Statewide Financial System (SFS) will be unavailable from Wednesday, March 30, to approximately Monday, April 11, because of fiscal-year-end processing by the Office of the State Comptroller. The Accounts Payable and Travel Services Office will continue to process payments at Buffalo State; however, checks and Automated Clearing House transactions from Albany will not be issued until the SFS is back online in April.

Please call the Accounts Payable and Travel Services Office at 878-4117 with questions.

Until June 1, both manila and white business envelopes bearing obsolete college logos are available free from Central Stores for non-mailing use only. Please use the order form (PDF) on the Campus Services website or call 878-5729 for assistance.

500 white #10 business envelopes
100 manila 10 x 15 inches
100 manila 6½" x 9½ inches

Please include your name, department, telephone extension, and the location where they are to be delivered.

The Grant Allocation Committee (GAC) requests proposals from individuals, departments, and student clubs and organizations for funding of programs, speakers, and events to take place during the 2016–2017 academic year.

The deadlines for submitting applications under this funding cycle are Friday, April 29, for fall 2016 program proposals; Friday, September 16, for fall 2016 and spring 2017 program proposals; and Friday, November 18, for spring 2016 program proposals. Applications for funding and complete details of requirements may be found on the Student Affairs website. In an effort to cut costs and in keeping with our efforts to go green, all proposals must be submitted electronically to marzolkl@buffalostate.edu with one hard copy delivered to Cleveland Hall 519.

Questions about the GAC may be addressed to Daniel Vélez, associate vice president for student success, 878-3506, or Kathy Marzolf, secretary 2, 878-4704.

An introductory workshop on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) review process and ethics training requirement to help researchers whose projects involve human participants determine appropriate levels of review will be held on Wednesday, April 6, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. in Bishop Hall 18. RSVP to Gina Game, research compliance manager, by Monday, April 4.

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.

The Graduate Student Association is currently accepting nominations for its executive board and campuswide committees (College Council, College Senate, Faculty-Student Association, and Grant Allocation Committee) for the 2016–2017 academic year. To date, the GSA has offered nearly $75,000 in support of student research, scholarship, and professional development opportunities. This would not be possible without the dedicated effort of an executive board each year.

Please encourage your students to visit the GSA website to submit their nominations. All nominations must be received by Wednesday, March 23.

Please join us for the next Women and Gender Studies Brown Bag Series discussion, "Creating Pedagogies of Diversity in the Undergraduate Classroom," featuring panelists Ruth Goldman, assistant professor of communication; Lisa Anselmi, chair and associate professor of anthropology; and Jill Singer, professor of earth sciences and science education, today, March 17, at 12:15 p.m. in Butler Library 181B. Please feel free to bring your lunch; cookies will be provided.