Buffalo State faculty and staff members are invited to a workshop on departmental engagement with Kevin Kecskes, associate professor of public administration at Portland State University, on Thursday, April 9, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210.

The academic department sits squarely in the middle of academe: at a crossroads between students' experiences and senior leadership concerns. In addition, it is situated between university disciplinary association priorities and individual faculty scholarly agendas. Complex indeed. Add community engagement to the mix and a powerful opportunity emerges: a richer, more nuanced form of engagement that creates opportunities for deep learning, substantive scholarship, and healthier communities. An engaged department agenda invites faculty—and by extension, community partners and students—to think and work more collectively toward greater impact for all.

The exploration of this theme in a focused workshop format is designed to provide participants with opportunities to share initiatives and ideas, consider department-level community-university partnerships, and further integrate our collective work toward the common good.

Participants will:

• revisit the history of the higher education community engagement movement and consider why the time has arrived to collectivize our impact by focusing on the academic unit;
• explore various tools, strategies, and examples for initiating or supporting departmental engagement;
• envision and plan for specific next steps within academic departments to continue to build the community-engagement agenda.

This workshop is free to Buffalo State faculty and staff as members of the Western New York Service-Learning Coalition. Please register online.

The SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²) is pleased to announce an extension of the deadline for nominations for the inaugural FACT² Excellence in Instruction and Excellence in Instructional Support awards to Friday, February 27. These awards were designed to recognize exceptional instructors, instructional support staff members, and teams who are using and facilitating the use of technology in teaching.

FACT² is an advisory body to the SUNY provost, advocating and acting as a resource for university stakeholders at the nexus of technology, pedagogy, and research. Buffalo State campus representatives are Carlos Jones, department chair and associate professor of theater, and Melaine Kenyon, director of instructional technology in Instructional Resources.

The FACT² Excellence in Instruction and Excellence in Instructional Support awards are system-level honors conferred to acknowledge and provide systemwide recognition for consistently professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence.

These awards underscore SUNY’s commitment to the use of technology to support access to superior education, to advance the boundaries of knowledge, and to serve the public good. Through these awards, SUNY publicly proclaims its pride in the accomplishment and personal dedication of its instructional faculty and technology support professionals.

There are four awards:

• FACT² Excellence in Instruction: Community Colleges
• FACT² Excellence in Instruction: State-Operated and Statutory Campuses
• FACT² Excellence in Instructional Support: Community Colleges
• FACT² Excellence in Instructional Support: State-Operated and Statutory Campuses

FACT² Excellence in Instruction Awards
These awards recognize SUNY full- or part-time teaching faculty, working individually or in collaboration with others, engaging innovative uses of technology in the teaching and learning process. Recipients of this award will have incorporated new or existing technology in ways that enhance the curriculum and engage students using methods and strategies that are scalable and transportable to other settings.

FACT² Excellence in Instructional Support Awards
These awards recognize full- or part-time instructional support staff involved in supporting innovative uses of educational technologies to meaningfully improve teaching and learning by working individually or in collaboration with teaching faculty in the strategic application of curriculum within SUNY. Recipients or teams receiving this award will have demonstrated excellence through instructional support practice and the ability to recognize pedagogical opportunities and to devise strategies for infusing the curriculum with innovative use of technology that aligns with learning outcomes.

You are encouraged to read through the award criteria and rubric (PDF) and nominate a deserving colleague for the Excellence in Instruction or the Excellence in Instructional Support award. Self-nominations are also welcome. The deadline to submit nominations is now February 27.

Click here to begin your nomination process:

1. New users click on "Create New Account."
2. Enter the required information and click "Next Step."
3. Create a password and click "Finish."
4. Select "I have received an email" and click "Continue."
5. Click on the FACT² AWARDS NOMINATION link
6. Complete the submission form.
7. Attach the required documents.
8. Click "Submit Application" when complete.

For more information about FACT² and the FACT² awards, please see the FACT² website.

The Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²) was established in 1986 to give SUNY faculty and staff access to professional development to sustain educational leadership in service to the citizens and institutions of the State of New York.

Please invite all currently enrolled teacher education students to learn more about the Germany for Educators program by attending an information session, sponsored by the School of Education, on Tuesday, February 24, at 3:00 p.m. in Bacon Hall 116A.

This three-week international initiative is open to all undergraduates and graduate students seeking certification at any grade level within any academic discipline. Germany for Educators participants will observe and teach in local schools; examine the German education system and teacher certification process; live with host families; and tour local communities, galleries, museums, and historical sites.

Participants will travel from Buffalo to Stuttgart, Germany, from June 26 through July 15 (dates may change depending on flight availability), including several overnight stays in either Berlin or Munich. Space provided, the program will also be open to Buffalo area educators interested in learning more about German culture and education.

Please encourage your students to consider this wonderful opportunity to study, teach, observe, explore, and discover. Interested individuals can also e-mail Tamara Horstman-Riphahn, executive assistant to the dean of the School of Education, view the program brochure, or download and submit the application to Bacon Hall 306.

President Katherine Conway-Turner will share her experiences and passion for working with H.O.P.E., a nonprofit, volunteer organization that assists the people of Borgne, Haiti, in achieving equitable, just, and sustainable living conditions, on Tuesday, April 7, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 418. Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend to explore opportunities to connect existing courses, new service-learning courses, co-curricular experiences, and internships.

H.O.P.E. collaborates with the residents of Borgne to identify meaningful projects that support education, health, and economic development. Come and discuss how you and your students might get involved.

RSVP to the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center, ext. 5811.

Beth Bouloukos, Ph.D, senior acquisitions editor at SUNY Press, will discuss publishing opportunities and processes on Monday, April 27, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 181B. From edited volumes to single and coauthored works, SUNY Press is committed to finding and publishing quality manuscripts from a broad range of fields. Bring ideas and questions to this informative session on working with one of the nation's premier academic presses. Lunch will be provided.

Please register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System. Contact Lauren Turner, professional development assistant, ext. 3841, with questions.

Please join us for the faculty development workshop "The A's and B's of File Management" on Tuesday, April 14, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 181B. As promotion and tenure materials grow, a nagging question is what to do with them. In this session, we will discuss file management strategies in preparation for reviews for renewal and continuing appointment.

Refreshments will be provided. Please register online via the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System. Please contact Lauren E. Turner, professional development assistant, with questions.

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggests that high-impact practices, such as engaging in service learning or a learning community, can significantly enrich the collegiate experience for undergraduates. Join colleagues in a discussion on how to include high-impact practices in the classroom to increase engagement, retention, and student satisfaction on Thursday, April 9, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Butler Library 181B. Refreshments will be provided.

Please register online via the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

Please contact Lauren E. Turner, professional development assistant, with questions.

Robert Wood, professor of design, will present "Japan: The Opposite Side of the World" today, February 19, at 12:15 p.m. in Upton Hall 230. Wood will discuss his trip to Japan to establish a faculty exchange between Buffalo State College and Kanazawa College of Art, located in Buffalo's sister city of Kanazawa, Japan, and how his travel has influenced his life and work.

"Nothing can supplant the immediacy of the experience we encounter when we stand before or engage the actual object, event, place, etc.," Wood said.

His research in Kyoto (a traditional city) and Tokyo (a modern city), visiting art museums, galleries, artists' studios, and kiln sites, provided contrast and a further understanding of traditional and contemporary Japanese artistic culture.

This presentation is the first in the spring 2015 series "Artists on the Road: Travel as Source of Inspiration," cosponsored by the Design Department and the International and Exchange Programs Office. His talk is free and open to the public.

Are your course assessments measuring achievement of your student learning outcomes? Are they helping students develop critical thinking skills that they can transfer to the real world? This workshop will address the concept of using backward design to link assessments to course objectives, grading criteria, and real-world experience. We will also discuss and evaluate the benefits of authentic assessments.

This workshop will take place on Wednesday, March 4, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., and be repeated on Thursday, March 5, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 120. Presented by Ginger Bidell.

Register for the March 4 workshop.

Register for the March 5 workshop.

Faculty members, please tell your students there is still time to sign up for the summer study-abroad trip to Caen, France, June 5–July 4. Study "French Society, Culture, and Everyday Life" at the University of Caen. Earn 6 credits in the beautiful Normandy region of France. E-mail Lindsey Freeman, assistant professor of sociology, for more information.