The Small Business Development Center at Buffalo State College is proud to introduce the BALLE Quick Impact Assessment, a free online tool to help you improve your social and environmental impact and begin to “measure what matters.” Participants will learn how to use the Quick Impact Assessment to achieve the following during this one-hour workshop on Friday, February 27, at 1:00 in Butler Library 318:

• Assess how your company performs against best practices on employee, community, and environmental impact.
• See how your company stacks up against thousands of other businesses.
• Create a plan to improve your company’s practices and help your staff implement them easily with best practice guides.

This workshop is a program of the Social Enterprise Center at the SBDC and is free and open to the public. To register, please contact Andrew Delmonte, social enterprise coordinator, ext. 4030.

Please advise seniors who will graduate in May 2015 that the deadline to submit applications for graduation is Friday, February 6. Students may download the form from the Registrar's Office website or complete the form in the Registrar's Office in Moot Hall. The minimum number of credits for an undergraduate degree is 120; some majors require more. Students should contact their advisers with questions.

School of Education faculty members Pixita del Prado Hill, Jevon Hunter, and Awilda Ramos Zagarrigo invite you to join Club HoLA on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 116. HoLA stands for Hour of Latino Awareness, and we use bilingual children's literature to build language and cultural knowledge. The club's first meeting is February 11. Come and join us to learn Spanish in an informal and fun setting. You will receive three bilingual children's books to begin building your teaching library when you participate. No prior Spanish experience is necessary.

For more information, contact Pixita del Prado Hill, associate professor of elementary education and reading.

Dates for Club HoLA
February 11
February 18
February 25
March 4
March 11
March 18
March 25 – No meeting; spring break
April 1
April 8
April 15
April 22

Nominations will be accepted through Monday, February 9, for the 2014–2015 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service. This SUNY system-level award recognizes superior performance and extraordinary achievement by classified-service employees. Members of the Buffalo State community are encouraged to submit nominations for deserving colleagues.

Nominations will be accepted through Monday, February 9, for the 2014–2015 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service. This SUNY system-level award recognizes superior performance and extraordinary achievement by classified-service employees. Members of the Buffalo State community are encouraged to submit nominations for deserving colleagues.

The nomination form and award guidelines are available online. Thank you.

The following Blackboard training sessions and workshops will be held in February. Please register online.

Blackboard Learn 9.1: Open Lab
This lab is an open forum devoted to answering questions and addressing concerns that faculty may have about navigating Blackboard Learn 9.1.

Tuesday, February 3; 12:30–1:30 p.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104
Thursday February 5; 1:30–2:30 p.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104
Friday February 13; 10:00–11:00 a.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104
Tuesday February 17; 10:00–11:00 a.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104
Tuesday, February 24; 12:30–1:30 p.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104

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Blackboard Learn 9.1: Assessments
Being able to accurately and reliably assess student learning in an online setting is one of the challenges of teaching with technology. This workshop focuses on what tools are available in the latest version of Blackboard Learn and explores different assessment techniques made possible by the learning management system. By the end of this workshop, learners will be able to create, configure, and deploy assignments and tests to students.

Wednesday February 4; 2:00–4:00 p.m.; Bulger Communication Center 104
Thursday February 5; 10:00 a.m.–noon; Bulger Communication Center 104
Friday February 6; 10:00 a.m.–noon; Bulger Communication Center 104
Wednesday February 18; 9:00–11:00 a.m.; Butler Library 316

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Blackboard Learn 9.1: Grade Center
The Grade Center in Blackboard Learn is more than just a way to record students' grades. It is a dynamic and interactive tool, allowing you to collect student submissions, record data, calculate grades, and monitor student progress.

This workshop focuses on the skills necessary to use the Grade Center to manage students' grades for assignments, tests, discussion posts, etc. You can also create grade columns for any activities or requirements you want to grade, such as special projects, participation, or attendance. The Grade Center can be individualized to fit your needs.

Tuesday, February 10; 10:00–12:00 a.m.; Bulger 104
Wednesday, February 11; 1:00–3:00 p.m.; Bulger 104
Thursday, February 12; 1:30–3:30 p.m.; Bulger 104
Thursday, February 19; 10:00–12:00 a.m.; Bulger 104

Resolving conflict in the workplace is not about proving the other person wrong. It is about working with the other person to solve the problem. Gain essential skills for confronting bullies with tact and skill during this professional development workshop on Wednesday, February 18, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Professional Development Center, Butler Library 181B. Refreshments provided.

Register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

For additional information, please contact Lauren Turner, professional development assistant, ext. 3841.

Come and celebrate the First Friday of each month at 8:00 a.m. in the Newman Center Chapel, 1219 Elmwood Avenue. We will gather for Mass and start the month with a renewed perspective. Stay for a cup of coffee afterward or take a cup to go. Our next Friday celebration will be this Friday, February 6. All are welcome.

The spring 2015 "Conversations in and out of the Disciplines" series begins Friday, February 6, when Amy McMillan, associate professor of biology, presents "The Creature from the River Styx: The Life Story of the Hellbender Salamander in New York" at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320. A short, informal wine-and-cheese reception will be held after the talk. Everyone is welcome.

Please also mark your calendars for the other talks this spring:

• M. Scott Goodman, chair and associate professor of chemistry, will present "Two-Step Spin Crossover Behavior in the Iron(II) Complex of Tris(3-methylpyrazolyl)methane: What Could This Title Possibly Mean?" on Friday, March 20.
   
• Carolyn Guzski, assistant professor of music, will present "Manhattan Project: Desegregating the Metropolitan Opera in the 20th Century" on Friday, April 3.
   
• Tim Bryant, assistant professor of English, will present "Will You Play with Me? The Pleasures of Paranoia from the Cold War to Contingent Culture" on Friday, May 8.

All talks will be held at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320.

Membership as a fellow in the Open SUNY Center for Online Teaching Excellence (COTE) provides those interested in effective online teaching and learning with the opportunity to contribute to the SUNY-wide online education community, enables campuses and the center to better identify and meet the specific needs of online practitioners, and promotes visibility and networking among peers with shared interests across the system.

If you are not yet an Open SUNY fellow, please consider participating in an informational webinar to showcase the many opportunities to engage in this dynamic community on Tuesday, February 10, from noon to 1:00 p.m.

Open SUNY COTE celebrates, connects, and nurtures effective online education practitioners across the SUNY system. Since its launch last December, over 800 online practitioners from across SUNY and beyond have joined COTE as fellows. They spent the last year framing and building the Community, Competency Development, and Course Supports pillars of the center.

Accomplishments include:

• An online networking site for those interested in networking around online teaching and learning.
• Open SUNY COTE Fellow Chats: A monthly online speaker series that showcases and shares the expertise of Open SUNY fellows.
• Open SUNY COTE Notes: A series published in conjunction with the Fellow Chats.
• The Open SUNY Online Competency Development Matrices that are foundational to the curriculum designs of the Open SUNY COTE professional development paths.
• The Open SUNY COTE Quality Review (OSCQR) Process and Rubric.

This center was conceived to support and expand SUNY's online learning "community of practice" with formalized fellow roles to recognize the existing informal network of online practitioners and the significant roles they play in online teaching and learning on their campuses and across the system.

As an Open SUNY fellow, you will gain the following:

• Eligibility to submit nominations to the COTE Effective Practice Awards and be recognized by peers for excellence in online teaching and learning best practices.
• The opportunity to engage in the Fellow Chat speaker series as a presenter or participant.
• The opportunity to volunteer for COTE advisory, planning, and working teams.
• The opportunity to network with peers around areas of interest or research through COTE community groups and discussion forums.
• The opportunity to stay informed on the latest news and events through regular communications from COTE.

For more information about the expectations, experience, and expertise associated with each of the fellow roles, please visit the Open SUNY COTE website.