From the Vice President for Finance and Management
Health insurance rates for 2010 have been established and are listed below:

CSEA, UUP, M/C, PEF
Health Plan: Individual / Family
Empire Plan: $22.97* / $99.60**
Community Blue: $43.09 / $216.53
Independent Health: $37.79 / $165.40

*$23.47 for CSEA
**$101.38 for CSEA 

Council 82, NYSCOPBA
Health Plan: Individual / Family
Empire Plan: $23.57 / $101.83
Community Blue: $42.46 / $215.10
Independent Health: $37.16 / $163.97

Employees who wish to change their health insurance plans for the coming year have until Thursday, December 31, 2009. Employees are encouraged to complete the option transfer forms as soon as possible. This will avoid retroactive premium adjustments and should allow employees to receive new health plan identification cards closer to the coverage effective date, January 7, 2010.

Please note: Effective January 1, 2010, Univera Healthcare will no longer be offered under NYSHIP. Employees enrolled in Univera Healthcare must enroll in the Empire Plan or a NYSHIP-approved HMO in the area where they live or work. Employees who do not take action will automatically be enrolled in the Empire Plan for the 2010 program year.

Representatives from the Empire Plan, Community Blue, and Independent Health will be on campus from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. today, December 3, in E. H. Butler Library 210 to answer questions about their health insurance plans and anticipated changes in coverage for 2010. “Choices,” a summary of health insurance plans, is available online or in Cleveland Hall 410. For questions, option transfer forms, or to receive the “Choices” brochure, please call Human Resource Management at 878-4821.

From the Interim Provost
Critique and Evaluation Period (CEP) for fall 2009 will take place on Monday, December 14; Tuesday, December 15; Wednesday, December 16; and Thursday, December 17. A study day will be held on Friday, December 11.

The purpose of CEP is to provide a single class meeting during which faculty and students have an extended period of uninterrupted time to conduct appropriate end-of-course activities. CEP is designed for classes that meet more than once a week during the semester. Classes (evening or day) that meet only once a week have sufficient time for final evaluation; therefore, they follow their regular schedules (exams to be scheduled duringCEP week and not before).

The following regulations govern CEP:

• A study day will occur the weekday immediately prior to the start of CEP. Evening classes that meet only once a week will not have a study day.
• All instructors are expected to meet their classes at the scheduled time during CEP and to choose an appropriate activity that reflects the academic goals of the course and the intent of CEP (e.g., an exam, a review, critique of papers, course summation, or individual presentations or demonstrations).
• Instructors should not schedule a final exam prior to CEP. Instructors may not change the date and time of their final class periods during CEP. In case of emergencies, instructors should confer with their appropriate dean and notify University College.
• CEPs will be scheduled for one-hour-and-50-minute periods. Instructors are not to increase or decrease the scheduled CEP time.
• In case of an emergency that would close the school, CEPs scheduled for the time of the closing will be rescheduled on the emergency CEP day only.
• Faculty members must post office hours during which they will be available to meet with students during CEP week.

From the Interim Provost
The Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Unit will hold a research symposium showcasing student, faculty, and staff work on women’s and gender issues on Friday, March 12, 2010, in E. H. Butler Library 210.

If you are interested in delivering a paper, participating in a roundtable session (a more informal discussion of related research subjects), or creating a poster presentation, please submit the following materials in hard copy form to Jennifer Ryan, assistant professor of English, Ketchum Hall 304 (878-5415), by Friday, February 12, 2010:

• A brief (200–500 word) description of the project.
• A list of the other people with whom you have worked on this project (i.e., professors, colleagues, research advisers) and/or fellow researchers with whom you would be interested in presenting your work.
• A résumé or short curriculum vitae.
• A cover letter that specifically details your work’s engagement with topics in women’s or gender studies AND your commitment to the field of women’s studies.

We encourage submissions from all departments, programs, and disciplines; diversity will be a key criterion in compiling our program. Materials will be reviewed by the Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Unit Core Committee, which includes members from 20 programs and departments across campus. Participants will be notified by February 22.

The symposium will feature presentations from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and will include refreshments for participants. For more information about the Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Unit, or with additional questions about this or any other event, please see the Women’s Studies Web site or contact Jennifer Hunt, associate professor of psychology and women’s studies coordinator.

From the Interim Provost
Buffalo State congratulates Dean Ronald Rochon of the School of Education on his appointment as provost and vice president of academic affairs at the University of Southern Indiana, beginning July 2010.

Rochon has been the founding dean of our School of Education and has provided leadership there for the past five years, bringing special focus to our urban mission and a renewed commitment to our goal of educating all children for the twenty-first century. We wish him and his wonderful family—Lynn, Ayinde, and Nia—the best in their new venture.

Rochon will continue to provide leadership for our NCATE-focused visit in April 2010, working closely with the NCATE coordinator and the unit assessment coordinator, and for the School of Education through the spring 2010 semester. The Provost’s Office will work closely with the faculty from the School of Education to develop a process to provide leadership for the school.

From the Interim President
I have approved the following curricular items, which have been recommended by the appropriate dean, the College Senate, and the interim provost:

Program Revision:
B.S. Criminal Justice, CRJ-BS-SP (0771)

New Courses: 
ACM 610 Continuous Foundations of Applied Mathematics from a Problem-Solving Perspective
ACM 611 Discrete Foundations of Applied Mathematics from a Problem-Solving Perspective
ACM 612 Computational Foundations of Applied Mathematics from a Problem-Solving Perspective
ACM 620 Optimization of Discrete Models
ACM 621 Empirical Model Building
ACM 622 Modeling Change with Dynamical Systems
ACM 630 Numerical Linear Algebra
ACM 631 Eigenvalue Problems
ACM 632 Numerical Calculus
ACM 640 Linear Regression and Correlation
ACM 641 Design and Analysis of Experiments
ACM 642 Nonparametric Statistics
ACM 650 Random Walks and Brownian Motion
ACM 651 Markov Chains
ACM 652 Continuous-Time Stochastic Processes
ACM 660 Logistic Regression
ACM 661 Survival Analysis
ACM 662 Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
CHE 626 Symmetry, Group Theory, and Virtual Spectroscopy
CHE 627 X-Ray Crystallography

From the Chair of the Senate Curriculum Committee

Advanced to the Interim President
The following have been approved by the Senate Curriculum Committee and forwarded to the interim president for review and approval:

New Course:
ECO 691 Seminar in Economic Policy

Course Revisions and Intellectual Foundations Designations:
WORLD CIVILIZATIONS
ANT 411 African Family

WORLD CIVILIZATIONS and DIVERSITY
ANT 307 Urban Anthropology

From the Chair of the College Senate
The final meeting of the College Senate for the fall 2009 semester will take place tomorrow, December 11, in Classroom Building C122 at 2:00 p.m. (not the usual 3:00 p.m.), because of the president’s holiday party. Please note the time change. The agenda is posted on the College Senate Web site.

From the Vice President for Finance and Management
UUP-represented employees are reminded that the deadline to submit applications for 2009–2010 Individual Development Awards is Friday, January 8, 2010. This State of New York/United University Professions Joint Labor-Management program provides awards of up to $1,000 to fund professional development activities completed between July 2, 2009, and July 1, 2010. A total of $35,309 will be distributed in awards this year.Applications and guidelines are available on the Human Resource Management Web site.

From the Interim Provost
Please note the following two updates to the Academic Calendar:

Page 1: Spring Semester 2010 – Non-degree-seeking registration is Friday, January 8 (instead of January 22).

Page 4: Registration, Undergraduate and Graduate – Summer 2010 begins April 7 (instead of April 14).

From the Interim President
I have approved the following curricular items, which have been recommended by the appropriate dean, the College Senate, and the interim provost:

Program Revision:
M.S. Professional Applied Computational Mathematics, MS-NS

Course Revision:
ANT 324 The Human Skeleton

Course Revisions and Intellectual Foundations Designations:
NON-WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS
ANT 305 Peoples of Africa

ORAL COMMUNICATION
ANT 415 Seminar in Archaeology