Each year, Buffalo State hosts up to 20 international visiting scholars who conduct research, teach courses, and expand the viewpoints in our courses. Join Robert Summers and Michelle Eisenstein of the International and Exchange Programs Office on Tuesday, September 30, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 418 as they introduce the many benefits of hosting visiting scholars. This presentation examines the ways of expanding on-campus international programming as well as the nuts and bolts of finding compatible international scholars and arranging their campus visits.

Register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

Note: This workshop has been rescheduled from September 25 to September 30.

United University Professions (UUP) faculty members have a wide range of employee benefits available. You might be surprised what you don’t know. Join Jeannita McKnight, employee benefits administrator, for this informative presentation on the range of benefits available to all Buffalo State faculty members, including adjuncts, on Thursday, September 18, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 181B.

Please register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

Open educational resources (OER) are part of a growing trend in education, but they can be difficult to define and use. In order to develop a better understanding of OER, the Faculty Development Center, Instructional Resources, and Butler Library will host a workshop series for faculty called "Understanding OER."

The series will address questions such as

• What are open educational resources and how are they used in a classroom?
• Can these tools help improve my teaching and my students’ learning?
• What is the Open SUNY Textbooks project?

Four workshops will be held over the course of the semester:

• OERs and Creative Commons: An Overview
  Thursday, September 18, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
  Butler Library 316
  Registration Link
   
• Open SUNY Textbooks, with Kate Pitcher of SUNY Geneseo
  Thursday, October 9, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
  Butler Library 318
  Registration Link
   
• Locating and Using OERs
  Thursday, October 23, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
  Butler Library 316
  Registration Link
   
• FACT2 Symposium Webinar
  Friday, November 7
  Time and location to be announced

A few slots remain in our Buffalo Public Schools–sponsored universal pre-K program at the Buffalo State Child Care Center. This program is open to the Buffalo State and local communities. Please feel free to pass this information along to family and friends. 

The universal pre-K portion of the day is free of charge, and affordable wraparound services are also available. Breakfast and lunch are included.

Please call the Child Care Center at ext. 5335 for enrollment information.

Jesse Walp will talk with Buffalo State students about his exhibition Ripe on Friday, September 19, at 3:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Sylvia L. Rosen Gallery for Fine Art in Craft Media.

Walp, recipient of the 2014 Langley Kenzie Award, created organic sculptural forms in various species of wood. The works in Ripe, though not representational, are derived directly from various organisms in different stages of development.

Free for Buffalo State faculty, staff, and students.

The midterm grading window will open in Banner on Monday, October 13, at 9:00 a.m. and close Friday, October 24, at 9:00 p.m. In addition to an estimated midterm grade, faculty 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.

Although all faculty members can provide midterm feedback for any of their students in Banner, the Early Intervention Program (EIP) seeks information on particular student populations. Faculty members with EIP students in their courses will receive a list of students requiring midterm feedback. Your comments concerning attendance and performance are deeply appreciated and quite helpful to us in our academic intervention efforts. Please note that students will be able to view their grades in Banner after the midterm grading window closes.

Should you have questions or concerns, please call ext. 5222 or e-mail Heather Maldonado, assistant dean of University College. Thank you for your commitment to our students’ success.

TIAA-CREF representative Richard Thompson will be on campus for individual consultations with Buffalo State faculty and staff members on the following days:

Tuesday, September 16
Tuesday, October 7
Tuesday, October 21
Wednesday, October 29
Monday, November 10
Tuesday, November 25
Wednesday, December 17

Sessions are by appointment only; all appointments are between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in Butler Library 210B.

Gain a greater level of confidence in your retirement portfolio. Visit www.tiaa-cref.org/moc or call (800) 732-8353 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. to schedule an appointment.

It will soon be time to again celebrate the first full day of fall with the traditional Fall Equinox Pumpkin Drop. Join us on the south side of the Classroom Building on Tuesday, September 23, between 1:15 and 1:30 p.m. for cider and cookies, to sign a pumpkin (brings good luck), and to witness not one but two pumpkins dropping from the roof of the Classroom Building. This event is sponsored by the Meteorology and Climatology Club, the Geography and Planning Department, and the Arthur W. Gielow Meteorology Fund. It may be the best few seconds on campus!

The September 11 National Day of Service and Volunteer Fair has moved to the Campbell Student Union Social Hall today from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. because of the weather. Faculty and staff members are encouraged to come and spend 10 minutes or two hours completing valuable projects for community organizations, including making blankets, assembling welcome kits for newly arrived refugees, building and painting birdhouses for community gardens, and making stress relief balls for Compeer clients. See you there.

Friday, September 12, is M&T Second Friday at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, featuring the following events:

Opening Celebration
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Judith Olson Gregory: Taking Tea, on view in the Charles Cary Rumsey Gallery
Taking Tea, an installation by artist Judy Gregory, consists of a minimalist “house” constructed from used tea leaves and tea bags, echoing the tumultuous journey of tea from the mountains of China to the lace cloths of British aristocracy and beyond. The installation provides a contemplative, contemporary site for tea ceremonies as well as for the interpretation of messages found in tea leaves. This exhibition is presented by Nancy and Kevin Gavagan and QCI Asset Management with additional support from Cameros Family Lead Trust.

Art-Making Workshop
5:30–7:30 p.m.
Studio Classroom
This month's activity is based on the exhibition Displacement: Barge Prototype.

UVB-76 in the Front Yard
5:30–7:00 p.m.
UVB-76 is a left-field electronic music duo who are attempting to transform Buffalo's rust into a fiber-optic dream land while making people move.

Electronic Poetry Center 20th Anniversary Celebration
7:00–10:00 p.m.
Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium
Cecilia Vicuña performance with introduction by Dennis Tedlock; also Loss Pequeño Glazier, Elizabeth Willis, and Charles Bernstein. Learn more at mediastudy.buffalo.edu.

VJ Brian Milbrand in the Front Yard
8:30–9:30 p.m.
In preparation for breaking the Guinness World Record for longest video-jockey at Squeaky Wheel on September 19, Milbrand will do short sets of his VJ performance drawing on pop-media influences, electronic music, and social commentary with great beats.

Gallery hours are until 8:00 p.m.
More information is available on the Burchfield Penney website.