Banner Preview for fall 2016 will begin Wednesday, March 9, and registration will begin Wednesday, April 6. Please view the Web Registration Schedule (PDF) and Deadline Calendar (PDF) on the Registrar's website.

SUNY Buffalo State participates in two cross-registration programs. Detailed information and forms for both the SUNY Cross Registration Agreement for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the WNY Consortium Program for undergraduate students, can be found on the Registrar's Office Cross Registration web page.

The summer 2016 master schedule is available online on the Registrar's Office Courses web page. Registration for summer 2016 begins Wednesday, April 6. View the Web Registration Schedule and Deadline Calendar online. Please be sure to bookmark or print pages for reference.

Applications and nominations are invited for the following student awards. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, February 17. We encourage early nominations to ensure that all deserving students are considered.

Candidates for these awards are leaders in our campus community, participate in civic engagement and service, and demonstrate a commitment to something worthwhile and enduring. These are the qualities that help define Buffalo State as a truly civil and caring academic community. For more information, please visit the Awards and Recognition section of the Dean of Students website.

Nominators for the Mildred Campbell Award, Who’s Who Award, and Student Humanitarian Award are asked to have the students follow these instructions to apply.

Nominators for the Phillip Santa Maria Award for Student Leadership in Equity and Campus Diversity are asked to follow these guidelines.

Student Leadership Awards
Mildred Campbell Leadership Award
Phillip Santa Maria Award for Student Leadership in Equity and Campus Diversity
Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges

Student Humanitarian Awards
Luis Antonetti Humanitarian Award
Minnie and Joe Engel Student Humanitarian Award
Phillip Santa Maria Memorial Award

Please contact the Dean of Students Office, 878-4618, with questions.

Lee Ann Garozzo, a master's degree candidate in forensic science at Buffalo State, will present the literature seminar "Chemistry on Mars" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, February 18, in Science Building 272. Light refreshments will be served before the seminar. This seminar series is supported by the Faculty-Student Association. The abstract of her talk appears below.

Abstract
Elemental surface features of Mars have already been measured through Viking landers, the Mars pathfinder, and two rovers (Spirit and Opportunity) using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, but solution chemistry of the Martian soil had not been thoroughly analyzed until the Phoenix lander. The discovery of perchlorate and soluble chemistry of Martian soil at the Phoenix lander site can contribute further information on concentration of components in the soil and conductivity of ions in the soil, as well as possible evidence of the formation of terrain on Mars, information about the presence of water, and the presence of resources that may be useful for human exploration.

X-ray diffraction analysis has aided in the identification of soil composition on Mars from the CheMin aboard the Curiosity rover. Mudstone, sandstone, and soil samples have been analyzed and compositions compared. Results suggest the possibility that Mars soil has had interaction with water at some point in its lifespan.

Near-infrared spectroscopy analysis and crystal chemistry structure of Fe/Mg rich smectite clay minerals from Mars were compared with smectite clay minerals found on the Earth’s sea floor. The minerals were characterized into groups, and results showed that the clay mineral samples from Mars had dispersion of Fe and Mg elements of different ratios for multiple samples. The presence of clay minerals alone has been a key indicator of aqueous activity, but results suggested that a kind of alteration process may be responsible for the dispersion of these elements in the clay minerals on Mars.

A reminder to academic departments and student programs: Friday, March 4, is the deadline to submit listings of student awards for print in the Commencement program booklet. The booklet will be distributed at each of the three ceremonies on Saturday, May 14. Please forward undergraduate listings to Patricia Alessandra in the Academic Affairs Office and graduate listings to Marnie Letzelter in the Graduate School. Criteria and formatting guidelines are posted on the Faculty and Staff section of the Commencement website.

Thank you for recognizing the achievements of the Class of 2016.

Open SUNY Support Services will have the following modified hours on Wednesday, February 17 (Eastern Time). Please plan accordingly.

Open 8:00–9:45 a.m.
Closed 9:45 a.m.–2:15 p.m.
Open 2:15–6:00 p.m.
Close at 6:00 p.m. instead of 9:00 p.m.

You may contact Open SUNY Support Services during normal business hours via phone at (844) 673-6786 (OPENSUNY) or (518) 320-1300 or call after hours to leave voice mail. You can submit a ticket request at HelpDesk Webpage.

Normal Office Hours (Eastern Time)
Monday–Thursday 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Sunday 1:00–9:00 p.m.

Kevin Railey, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School, will hold a meeting on Friday, February 19, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210. All graduate faculty members, especially chairs and coordinators of graduate programs, are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

Do you want an easy way to share your video and audio files with your students? Ensemble is the media server solution that allows the Buffalo State community to manage and publish audio and video files on websites and in learning management systems such as Blackboard.

Streaming videos through Ensemble eliminates barriers that students experience when trying to view videos that have been uploaded directly into Blackboard. Faculty members benefit by having a media library to organize their course videos. Videos stored in Ensemble can easily be captioned to ensure that they comply with accessibility requirements.

If you would like to learn more about Ensemble, please join us for an Ensemble Campus Video Solution introduction and demo on Wednesday, February 17, at 1:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 104.

Please register through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

All members of the Buffalo State community who are interested in water-based business development—known as the blue economy—are invited to participate in a new certificate program that runs Thursday evenings for six weeks starting February 25 in Rockwell Hall. Speakers will cover a wide range of topics, including why we must all be concerned about the stewardship of water resources in Western New York and what we can do about it, how creative problem solving methodology can create better outcomes, and business and financing opportunities within the blue economy. Speakers include representatives from the WNY Sustainable Business Roundtable, Rich Products, the office of NY State Senator Marc Panepinto, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, and the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. For more information and the Buffalo State discount, please contact Susan McCartney, director of the Small Business Development Center, 878-4030.