As recruitment and retention is a campuswide effort, this week’s FACTS article focuses on financial aid considerations and challenges in the undergraduate and graduate admission process. The Undergraduate Admissions Guide and the Graduate Admissions Guide examine several scenarios and offer targeted advice. 

Below are highlights of the admissions guides: 

• Proof of Prior Degree(s): All undergraduate students (new and transfer) must have their final high school transcript on file with Admissions. Additionally, transfer students must submit copies of all final college transcripts. Graduate students must submit an official transcript to the Graduate School as proof that a bachelor’s degree was conferred. Students without the required documentation on file will be denied federal financial aid.
• Eligible Program and Coursework: Students must be admitted into an eligible program and enrolled in required coursework to receive federal financial aid. Students admitted as nonmatriculated are not eligible for any federal or state aid.
• Readmission: Students readmitted to Buffalo State may or may not have aid eligibility upon their return. Encourage readmits to meet with the Financial Aid Office to determine their eligibility before course enrollment.
• Late Admits: Students admitted at the start of a semester often experience delays in receiving refunds, lack eligibility for textbook deferments, and in some cases, are ineligible for aid because of satisfactory academic progress regulations. Routinely, late admits begin classes without knowing their aid eligibility.
• Determining Cost to the Student: Students can use the Financial Aid Office’s bill estimator to determine out-of-pocket costs or refunds in advance of receiving a bill.

If you have questions regarding this article, please contact us at finaid@buffalostate.edu or ext. 4902. All questions and answers will be posted in the “You Asked for It” section of the FAO website. Click on the “Faculty and Staff” link (bottom left).

The Equity and Campus Diversity Office is happy to announce April’s Spring into Diversity events.
April’s theme focuses on Celebrating LGBT Pride: Moving Forward...Proud, Strong United.
Please share this information and join us for the following events:

Thursday, April 10
Diversity Poetry Slam
Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.)
Campbell Student Union upper level

Meet the Black Media: film screening, discussion, and reception
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
6:00 p.m.
Bulger Communication Center West 2
Network with working media professionals; receive tips on starting your career.
Sponsored by the Communication Department, the Business Department, the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, and Tops Markets

Wednesday, April 16
Diversity Bengal Talk: Moving Forward...Proud, Strong, United
6:00–7:30 p.m.
E. H. Butler Library 210
Featured panelists: Ruth Goldman, assistant professor, Communication Department; Damian Martinez, Pride Center of Western New York, moderator

Thursday, April 24
Equity and Diversity Film Series: Gun Hill Road
6:00–9:00 p.m.
Bulger Communication Center South 2

Students are invited to an evening of self-care and relaxation on Thursday, April 10, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Game Room and lounge area. Activities include massages, reflexology, making stress balls, enjoying the dogs, and engaging in drawings and artwork as a stress-management tool. Healthful snacks will be provided.

This event is part of Mental Health Awareness Week. For other scheduled events, visit the Counseling Center's website.

John Farar from Fidelity Investments will be on campus for individual consultations with Buffalo State staff and faculty members on Friday, April 11. Sessions are by appointment only, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 416.

Gain a greater level of confidence in your retirement portfolio. To schedule an appointment, please register online or call (800) 642-7131.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college and university students, but it is also one of the most preventable. Ask a question, save a life! This QPR workshop on Wednesday, April 9, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210 is designed for everyone to learn some of what can be done to help prevent the suicide of a friend or colleague. The workshop is open to students, faculty, and staff.

This event is part of Mental Health Awareness Week. For other scheduled events, please visit the Counseling Center's website.

This workshop on Thursday, April 10, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in Weigel Health Center 203 focuses on normalizing and managing feelings associated with the loss of a loved one. Students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend. 

No reservation is necessary. This event is part of Mental Health Awareness Week 2014. For more information, please call the Counseling Center at ext. 4436.

Summer courses are now listed in Blackboard. You may request that sections of the same course be combined into a single Blackboard course site by completing the online Course Merge Request Form. You do not need to complete this form if courses are already cross-listed in Banner.

Please attend this free symposium, open to all Buffalo State faculty and staff members, “At the Intersection of Writing, Technology, and Critical Thinking: WAC, WID, and General Education,” on Friday, April 11.

Come for all or part of the day, but please register even if you plan to attend only a single session. Registration is free and includes breakfast and lunch. RSVP by e-mail to Karita Dos Santos, senior market development manager, Bedford/St. Martin’s.

The College Writing Program is pleased to host this writing and general education symposium sponsored by Bedford/St. Martin’s, publishers of the Buffalo State common writing handbook, A Writer’s Reference. The symposium has been designed specifically to support Buffalo State faculty as we implement our new Intellectual Foundations program.

Bedford/St. Martin’s will also host guest speakers from across the country to present on such topics as

• assignment design,
• assessing writing,
• using peer review,
• using a writing handbook as a classroom tool,
• critical thinking and writing,
• writing-to-learn activities,
• metacognition or metacognitive strategies,
• commenting on student writing,
• student self-reflection.

Keynote Speaker
Mike Palmquist, associate vice provost for learning and teaching at Colorado State University, directs the university's Institute for Learning and Teaching, where he leads university-wide efforts to enhance learning and teaching in face-to-face, blended, and distance courses. A professor of English and university distinguished teaching scholar, he is recognized nationally for his work in computer-supported writing instruction and, in particular, in designing web-based instructional materials to support writing.

He is the author of numerous articles and essays on writing and teaching with technology and writing across the curriculum. His most recent web-based projects are Writing@CSU, an open-access educational website for writers and writing instructors, and the WAC Clearinghouse, the leading site for communication across the curriculum.

In 2003, he received the Charles Moran Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field from the journal Computers and Composition in recognition of his "exemplary scholarship and professional service to the field of computers and writing." In 2006, the National Council of Teachers of English's CCCC Committee on Computers in Composition and Communication named him Outstanding Technology Innovator. From 2009 to 2011, he served on the executive committee of the NCTE and chaired its College Section. He is the author of Joining the Conversation: Writing in College and Beyond (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010); The Bedford Researcher, third edition (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009); and Designing Writing: A Practical Guide (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005).

Symposium Schedule
A detailed program, including descriptions of sessions, is available on the Macmillan website.

All morning events, including lunch, will be held in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Halls.

9:30–10:15 a.m. Morning registration and breakfast
10:15–10:30 a.m. Welcome
10:30–11:45 a.m. Keynote speaker and Q&A
11:45 a.m.–12:50 p.m. Lunch

Afternoon registration and sessions will be held in Buckham Hall.

12:50–3:00 p.m. Afternoon registration: lobby
1:00–1:50 p.m. Session I
2:00–2:50 p.m. Session II
3:00–3:50 p.m. Session III
4:00–4:45 p.m. Wrap up and discussion

For more information, contact Michele Ninacs, director of the College Writing Program, ext. 5451.

Congratulations to the Year of the Teacher Nominate a Teacher contest winners: nominee Lynn Boorady, chair and associate professor of fashion and textile technology, and student nominator Rachel Hamerski, senior in fashion and textile technology.

Sponsored by the School of Education, Student Life Office, and Career Development Center, the Nominate a Teacher contest invited all full-time Buffalo State undergraduate and graduate students to nominate a K–12 teacher or college professor. Students submitted 200-word essays that described how a teacher made a positive impact on his or her life. Online nomination forms were collected in February before a committee reviewed the entries, and finalists were selected for voting by the entire campus in March to determine the winner.

In her essay, Hamerski shared how Boorady's encouragement, meaningful advice, and passion for her work helped her to succeed as a student and young professional. She will receive an iPad mini for her winning essay, while Boorady will be honored at a private reception for all nominees and student nominators on Thursday, May 1.

The 2014 Interior Design Student Exhibition is on display through Wednesday, April 16, in the Czurles-Nelson Gallery in Upton Hall. This exhibition represents student projects from the last academic year. The campus community is invited to a reception Thursday, April 10, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Upton Hall lobby.