Monday, March 2, is the deadline for departments and programs (undergraduate and graduate) to submit listings of students who have received awards and scholarships during their studies at Buffalo State. These students will be recognized in the Commencement booklet distributed at the three ceremonies on Saturday, May 16, provided listed students have applied for their degrees by the application deadlines. Awards submission guidelines are posted on the Commencement website. Thanks to those who have already submitted their lists.

To all faculty, staff, and administrators: online registration for Commencement marchers and volunteer ushers is now open. Members of the Class of 2015 eagerly anticipate celebrating their graduation at the 143rd Commencement on Saturday, May 16, in the Sports Arena. Your participation is important and will make the occasion memorable for our graduates and their families.

Please celebrate with our graduates by marching in the processional or serving as a volunteer usher to help with graduate lineup or to greet and guide guests.

Three ceremonies will celebrate December 2014 and January 2015 graduates, and May and August 2015 potential degree candidates. Bachelor's candidates are recognized at both a 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. ceremony, and master's and C.A.S. candidates are honored at 6:00 p.m. A festive reception follows each ceremony where graduates, their guests, and faculty and staff gather to continue the celebration.

Marchers can register on the Commencement website, as well as find information on academic regalia and Robing Room directives for Commencement day. Regalia rentals should be ordered by April 17.

Volunteer ushers can register and view rehearsal information, attire guidelines, and Commencement day reporting times on the website.

Thank you for your dedication to "being there" for our graduates on their special day.

Buffalo State College and the Margaret E. Bacon Fund are proud to welcome Brad Schwieger, professor of ceramics at Ohio University, for a demonstration and artist's lecture on Wednesday, February 25, in Upton Hall.

Demo: Noon–4:00 p.m., Upton Hall 129
Lecture: 6:00–7:00 p.m., Upton Hall 230

Schwieger has been teaching at Ohio University since 1990. Before that, he was an associate professor at Vincennes University in Indiana (1985–1990). He received his master of fine arts degree from Utah State University in 1983 and his bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Iowa in 1981. Schwieger has exhibited his work throughout the United States, as well as in international exhibitions in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Spain.

These events are free and open to the public. Light snacks and beverages will be provided at the demo.

Bengal Bucks are a declining balance dollar account that can be used not only at any campus dining location but also at select locations off campus. Buffalo State Dining will hold a Bengal Bucks off-campus vendor fair today from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union lobby to allow students, faculty, and staff to meet some of the off-campus vendors that accept Bengal Bucks. Stop by the lobby to meet the vendors, try free food samples, and get menus and coupons for local companies.

A full list of off-campus vendors is available on the Buffalo State Dining website.

Buffalo State Dining has partnered with Buffalo State student groups the African American Student Organization, Tha Ink Club, and Black Active Minds to celebrate Black History Month today in the Dining Hall.

Join us for lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and enjoy a special menu selected and designed by the student organizations. Special performances by the African American Student Organization and Tha Ink Club featuring poetry readings, singing, and dance will start at noon. Enter with a meal swipe or lunch door price of $8.99. We hope to see you there.

For more information on Buffalo State Dining, please visit our website.

Early morning system maintenance affecting Banner, Degree Works, the Library Catalog, and Opinio is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25. We anticipate that these systems will be inaccessible between midnight and 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, while work is being completed by our service provider.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

In celebration of the Year of the Innovator and National Engineers Week, please join us for the presentation “Headfirst into Innovation: Painful, and Somewhat Effective,” featuring Darren Coon, president of Teacher Geek, on Thursday, February 26, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in Technology Building 160. Refreshments will be provided by students from the Hospitality and Tourism Department.

Buffalo State welcomes renowned poet and novelist Marge Piercy on Tuesday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium.

Knopf recently published the paperback of Piercy's 18th book of poetry, The Hunger Moon. Her 19th, Made in Detroit, is scheduled for March. Her poetry has been anthologized well over 100 times. Piercy has written 17 novels, most recently Sex Wars. PM Press just republished Dance the Eagle to Sleep, Vida, and Braided Lives with new introductions and in May, her first short story collection, The Cost of Lunch, Etc. The paperback will appear in September with two new stories and an introduction. Her memoir, Sleeping with Cats, is out from Harper Perennial. Her work has been translated into 19 languages.

Co-sponsors:

Buffalo State Communication Department
Buffalo State English Department
Buffalo State Equity and Campus Diversity Office
Buffalo State School of Arts and Humanities
Buffalo State Women and Gender Studies Program
Burchfield Penney Art Center
Canisius College Women and Gender Studies Program
Congregation Havurah
D’Youville College Department of Liberal Arts
Just Buffalo Literary Center
UB English Department
UB Transnational Studies/Global Gender Studies Department

The campus community is invited to attend a screening of the Paraguayan film 7 Boxes (7 Cajas) on Thursday, March 12, at 5:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East. The film is one of only a few Paraguayan feature films, and the only one in Jopará (a mixture of Spanish and the indigenous Paraguayan language Guaraní). The screening is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Equity and Campus Diversity Office and Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society.

All elementary education majors, including undergraduate CED, CEN, CIT, CMT, CRF, CSH, CSS, ECC, ECE, and EXE, as well as graduate MIITC, are required to attend a mandatory student teacher orientation meeting on Monday, March 2, or Wednesday, March 4, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Bacon Hall 117 if they plan to student teach in fall 2015.