The New York State Education Department, Office of Higher Education, has issued Buffalo State a limited number of electronic vouchers to be distributed to students to help defray the cost of the registration fees for the New York State Teacher Certification Exams. There are three voucher types: one for the ALST, one for the EAS, and one for the CST. Students should check their Buffalo State e-mail accounts and the Teacher Certification website for eligibility requirements, directions, and the application.

All students are invited to learn more about an international teach and study opportunity in the Dominican Republic during this information session on Tuesday, March 15, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Bacon Hall 305. Please share this information and flier (PDF) with your students.

This unique International Professional Development Schools (IPDS) program will engage teacher candidates in nearly three weeks of study, teaching, volunteering, traveling, and research in and around the coastal city of Cabarete. Students will work with local children and families, complete an intensive Spanish-language course, participate in a pre-travel course, and learn about and experience Dominican history, culture, and education.

Visit the School of Education website or e-mail Tamara Horstman-Riphahn, executive assistant to the dean, or Wendy McLeish, lecturer of elementary education and reading, for more information.

Please join the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Listening In on Lake Sturgeon in the Buffalo Harbor," presented by Jonah Withers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today, March 29, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Science Building 272. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Lake sturgeon Acipencer fulvescens, one of the largest and longest-living freshwater species endemic to North America, were considered a nuisance bycatch in the early and mid-1800s. In the late 1800s, lake sturgeon became targeted for their prized meat and roe once markets became established, which, in combination with a suite of other factors, led to a precipitous decline in populations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recovery efforts are under way, and lake sturgeon are now allegedly resurging throughout their native range from natural recruitment and rehabilitative stocking. Little is known about the status of a remnant population of lake sturgeon in the Buffalo Harbor and upper Niagara River. We are exploring the use of acoustic telemetry to fill information gaps about the range and life history of this ancient keystone species.

Please join the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Listening In on Lake Sturgeon in the Buffalo Harbor," presented by Jonah Withers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on Tuesday, March 29, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Science Building 272. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Seminar Abstract
Lake sturgeon Acipencer fulvescens, one of the largest and longest-living freshwater species endemic to North America, were considered a nuisance bycatch in the early and mid-1800s. In the late 1800s, lake sturgeon became targeted for their prized meat and roe once markets became established, which, in combination with a suite of other factors, led to a precipitous decline in populations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Recovery efforts are under way, and lake sturgeon are now allegedly resurging throughout their native range from natural recruitment and rehabilitative stocking. Little is known about the status of a remnant population of lake sturgeon in the Buffalo Harbor and upper Niagara River. We are exploring the use of acoustic telemetry to fill information gaps about the range and life history of this ancient keystone species.

The Career Development Center is proud to announce the first Buffalo State Internship Awards. Nominations are now open for four award categories:

Undergraduate Student Intern of the Year
Graduate Student Intern of the Year
Undergraduate Internship Supervisor of the Year
Graduate Internship Supervisor of the Year

Guidelines and applications can be found on the CDC website. Please nominate outstanding individuals and encourage your students and employers who host internships to nominate outstanding individuals. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 8.

The internship awards ceremony will be combined with the student employment awards ceremony on Tuesday, April 26, at 12:15 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. The keynote speaker will be President Katherine Conway-Turner. This combined ceremony will acknowledge Buffalo State’s commitment to applied learning and recognize the talents of our students and contributions from the community.

Please help us make this event successful by nominating one of your students or internship site supervisors.

Banner Preview for summer/fall 2016 is scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 9. Only the summer 2016 master schedule will be viewable in both Banner and Schedule Planner beginning on this date. The fall 2016 master schedule is delayed until the completion of the room scheduling process. Students will be able to search the summer 2016 master schedule directly in Banner self-service as well as view their holds (if applicable). Web registration start dates (also referred to as Time Tickets) will also be viewable. Time Tickets are based on earned credit hours. Students should not count their current semester or "in progress" credit hours for the spring 2016 semester.

All registration-related activity begins at 6:00 a.m. on the student's assigned date and is then continuous. Registration for summer/fall 2016 begins Wednesday, April 6. The summer 2016 master schedule is currently available on the Registrar's Office Courses web page. The fall 2016 master schedule will be viewable beginning March 16.

This week is Open Education Week, and the Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence (COTE) is featuring daily webinars and events from noon to 12:30 p.m. to raise awareness and use of OER and other open practices.

Students, Textbooks, and Open Education Resources: Can We Afford Not to Listen? In a fall 2015 survey, Buffalo State students and faculty shared their experiences and opinions about textbook costs and open educational resources. Hear about the results and impact during this webinar today from noon to 12:30 p.m.

MERLOT 101: Features, OER Access, and Community is also scheduled for noon today. MERLOT is one of the largest OER repositories available, and effective use of this tool makes searching for OER quicker and easier.

To find out more about the COTE OER webinars, please visit the COTE Hub, where you can view and access all of this week's COTE webinars. Keep an eye on the Daily for more Open Education Week highlights throughout the week.

TIAA-CREF, one of our financial service providers, has changed its name to TIAA as of February 22, 2016. Likewise, TIAA has simplified its general public web site to www.TIAA.org and its SUNY-specific site to www.TIAA.org/suny.

TIAA.org has less jargon, more useful content, and lots of helpful tools to make saving and investing simpler for you. Although TIAA's name and look are different, their mission for nearly 100 years remains the same: to help those in the nonprofit field lead financially secure lives.

Visit the new TIAA.org to explore and learn more.

The midterm grading window in Banner is now open and will close Friday, March 25, at 9:00 p.m. In addition to entering an estimated midterm grade, faculty members can mark how regularly a student has attended a course by entering 0 (never attended), 1 (sporadic, unsatisfactory attendance), or 2 (consistent, satisfactory attendance) in the “Hours Attended” field. Those faculty members with Early Intervention Program students in their courses will have a hard copy list of students requiring midterm feedback by their programs, but midterm grade submissions for all registered students are useful, as these grades are helpful for campuswide academic intervention and retention efforts.

Students will be able to view their grades in Degree Works after the midterm grading window closes, and advisers can obtain copies of the midterm grading reports for their academic intervention use through their deans’ offices.

Should you have questions or concerns, please contact Heather Maldonado, assistant dean of university college, 878-5222. Thank you for your commitment to our students’ success.

The midterm grading window will open in Banner on Monday, March 14, and close at 9:00 p.m. Friday, March 25. In addition to assigning an estimated midterm grade, faculty members can mark how regularly a student has attended a course by entering 0 (never attended), 1 (sporadic, unsatisfactory attendance), or 2 (consistent, satisfactory attendance) in the “Hours Attended” field.

Those faculty members with Early Intervention Program students in their courses will have a hard copy list of students requiring midterm feedback by their programs, but midterm grade submissions for all registered students are useful as these grades are helpful for campuswide academic intervention and retention efforts.

Students will be able to view their grades in Degree Works after the midterm grading window closes, and advisers can obtain copies of the midterm grading reports for their academic intervention use through their deans’ offices.

Should you have questions or concerns, please contact Heather Maldonado, assistant dean of university college, 878-5222. Thank you for your commitment to our students’ success.