The first Buffalo Humanities Festival, “Migration Nation: Moving Stories," will take place on the Buffalo State campus and at the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on Friday and Saturday, September 26–27. The festival is open to the public.

The festival begins on Friday at the Albright-Knox with an 8:00 p.m. reading, on-stage interview, and book signing with Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure, his acclaimed memoir about growing up Jewish in the Soviet Union and New York City, where he immigrated as a child. Tickets are $20, $15 for students. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for a wine-and-cheese pre-event reception with the author at 7:00 p.m. The cost of $60 each or $100 for two includes admission to Saturday’s events.

On Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., visitors can attend 16 interactive talks on the first floor of Ketchum Hall and in the Burchfield Penney's Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium. The day pass for $12 ($10 for students) includes a box lunch from the West Side Bazaar if purchased from the Buffalo Humanities Festival website by September 24. A number of cultural events in Horace Mann Quad (formerly Rockwell Quad) will be free.

The festival is presented by the University at Buffalo’s Humanities Institute in partnership with Buffalo State, SUNY Fredonia, Canisius College, and Niagara University. For more information, including a full schedule of events, please visit the Buffalo Humanities Festival website.

Interested in going to graduate school in history? Unsure if graduate school is for you? The History and Social Studies Education Department will conduct a workshop on the graduate school experience on Thursday, September 25, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 418. Topics will include how to find a graduate program, the application process, what to expect in graduate-level classes, coping strategies, and potential pitfalls. All are welcome.

In accordance with the UUP Agreement, a 0.5 percent pool has been established for distribution of discretionary awards. Awards will be made as a lump-sum payment and will not be added to base annual salaries. Twenty-eight percent of the total pool is intended for distribution to part-time employees. Discretionary awards will be reflected in the paychecks dated December 17, 2014.

Eligible UUP employees may self-nominate for a discretionary award by completing a nomination form and submitting it to their department chair, director, associate vice president, or other direct supervisor by Friday, September 26. Information and forms can be found on the Human Resource Management website.

If you have questions regarding the discretionary award process, please contact Susan Earshen, associate vice president for human resource management, ext. 3042.

Through National Student Exchange, students have the opportunity to study for a semester or an academic year at one of 200 participating colleges or universities at affordable tuition rates. Please contact Christine Frezza, ext. 4328, to schedule a class visit. Provide your students with this possibility for enriching their college experience and let them know about the upcoming information session today, September 11, from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 219. Thank you.

The Faculty Development Center, Instructional Resources, and Butler Library will host the workshop "Locating and Using OERs" for faculty members on Thursday, October 23, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 316.

Open educational resources (OERs) are part of a growing trend in education, but they can be difficult to locate and identify. This workshop, part of a series called Understanding OER, will address questions such as

• What types of open educational resources are available?
• Where can I find high-quality OERs to use in my courses?
• Can OERs help improve my teaching and my students’ learning?

Please register online through the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

The Faculty Development Center, Instructional Resources, and Butler Library will host the workshop "Open SUNY Textbooks" for faculty members on Thursday, October 9, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 318. OERs are part of a growing trend in education, but they can be difficult to define and identify.

This workshop featuring Kate Pitcher from the Open SUNY Textbooks Project will address questions such as

• What is the Open SUNY Textbooks Project?
• Can these texts help improve my teaching and my students’ learning?
• How can I get involved in creating Open Textbooks?

Register for this workshop.

This workshop is the second in the series Understanding OER.

View and register for other workshops in the series.

The Faculty Development Center, Instructional Resources, and Butler Library will host the workshop "Open Educational Resources and Creative Commons: An Overview" for faculty members on Thursday, September 18, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 316. OERs are part of a growing trend in education, but they can be difficult to define and identify.

This workshop, the first in a series called Understanding OER, will address questions such as

• What are open educational resources (OERs) and how are they used in a classroom?
• Can these tools help improve my teaching and my students’ learning?
• What are the different types of Creative Commons licenses and how do they promote the sharing of educational resources?

Register for this workshop.

View and register for other workshops in the series.

Register for a Blackboard training session before it is too late. Several sessions are available the week of September 15. View and register for available sessions 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
   
• Open SUNY Textbooks, with Kate Pitcher of SUNY Geneseo
  Thursday, October 9, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
  Butler Library 318
   
• Locating and Using OERs
  Thursday, October 23, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
  Butler Library 316
   
• FACT2 Symposium Webinar
  Friday, November 7
  Time and location to be announced

For more information or to register for any of all of these workshops, please visit the CyberQuad Workshop Registration System.

View a short video on the nature and value of OER. Password: OER

The Elementary Education and Reading Department will hold workshops this semester to help teachers and teacher candidates become prepared to provide equal access to all content for second-language learners. This content may also be useful to those who must take the EAS exams for certification. The workshops are open to the entire campus community.

Three dates are available. All sessions are on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon in Bacon Hall 115. Please select one and register by e-mail: 

September 27
October 25
November 22