Buffalo State College is a founding member of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning’s (CASTL) Campus Program, which is designed to improve the culture of teaching on college campuses. Although it may be difficult to describe CASTL in a few words, the program is redefining the concept of higher education research.

To illustrate CASTL’s premise, let’s take a hypothetical example using, well, a castle.

Two engineering professors bring groups of students to Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay, in the heart of the Thousand Islands region. Professor X works with students to study the mathematics behind the castle’s beautiful archways and minarets. She not only takes the trip to share her engineering knowledge, but also to work with students for what will become a published research project on the effects of winter weather on the castle’s structural foundation.

Professor Y, by comparison, takes students to Boldt Castle not solely for the applied mathematical experience but also to study how the students learn engineering concepts through the out-of-classroom experience. He, too, is working on a research project—focusing on what teaching styles and course curricula best enhance engineering students’ skill sets.

Can both professors effectively use their research toward promotion and tenure? Yes, thanks to CASTL. And though Professor X will undeniably have quantitative data (e.g., hard numbers, applications for other structures) through her traditional style of research, Professor Y’s work still very much has the ability to help instructors better understand the most effective ways to teach.

“CASTL is designed to change the face of research in higher education,” said Cheryl Albers, associate professor of sociology and CASTL Campus Program coordinator. “Its initiatives cut across all schools. We’re trying to help campus communities be good consumers of teaching and learning research. We also want faculty members to become producers of this knowledge.”

Albers argues that Professor Y’s type of research is too often devalued in academia. She further contends that when this type of research meets the standards of quality applied to other forms of scholarship, it should not be discounted for faculty members seeking tenure. To encourage professors to focus their research on creating better learning environments, Buffalo State’s CASTL program awards three fellowships annually, each worth $3,000. Priority is given to projects that are most relevant to the college’s mission.

Over the years, fellows have studied topics such as effective grading for group work; the interaction between forms of media-based instruction, reading levels, and content recall; and strategies for using technology to help students integrate inquiry and action. A list of fellows and summaries of their projects is posted on the CASTL Web site.

Buffalo State College also boasts significant CASTL bragging rights: Involved in the Campus Program since its inception in 1998, the college is also one of 12 cluster leaders for the international organization. Buffalo State is collaborating with six other universities—two from the United Kingdom, two from the United States, one from Canada, and one from Australia—to develop ways to integrate CASTL’s principles into institutions’ philosophy, policy, and infrastructure. The members have met in Washington, D.C., and Sydney, Australia, to work together as part of a three-year plan. They met last month in Dublin, Ireland, and will meet in Canada’s Alberta province next October.

In addition to coordinating the CASTL Campus Program and acting as a leader for an international cluster group, Albers is an active researcher and teaches sociology classes. Despite her full plate, she remains committed to disseminating the great work being done by CASTL fellows and providing support for additional faculty members to conduct research on what works best for Buffalo State students.

“Many people here on campus don’t know they can focus all or part of their research on creating better learning environments,” she said. “CASTL can help make a big difference in the way students learn.”

It operates as an independent corporation, controls a $1.8 million budget for the 2007–2008 academic year, and retains seven full-time employees. But United Students Government (USG) plays perhaps the most important role in shaping life for students at Buffalo State College.

Funded by the SUNY-mandated student activity fee, USG allocates budgets for more than 50 student organizations; lobbies local and state politicians for matters important to the student body; manages the partnership with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) for student bus shuttles; and runs theWhispering Pines camp in Franklinville, the dental clinic in Weigel Health Center, and the game room in the Campbell Student Union.

Among its recent accomplishments, USG pushed for the 24-hour StudyQuad in E. H. Butler Library, organized the downtown student shuttle through the NFTA, advocated for and funded the Fitness Center in Houston Gym, mandated that all campus-paid events be held on campus, and stopped credit card lenders from coming to campus.

The experience of serving on USG complements classroom learning. Members effectively run a business, gain experience with promotion and marketing, and learn to balance budgets. Many serve as USG representatives within the College Senate, the College Council, and the Faculty-Student Association. Skills such as negotiating, critical thinking to assess arguments, settling disputes, and managing conflicts play a part in many situations.

“USG provides significant educational value,” said Charles Kenyon, associate vice president and dean of students. “I think their work can even tie into classroom projects—like writing a reflection on being a senator, or using experiences to discuss how to deal with difficult issues.”

Founded in 1971 and operating independently since 1977, USG now consists of a 10-member executive board, a judicial council branch with seven justices, and a senate with 20 voting members and 15 at-large members. Administrative vice presidents who serve on the executive board also run committees. Members are both elected and appointed. In addition, seven full-time employees process purchase orders, help with print and design for student organizations, provide billing and accounts payable services, and coordinate programs.

“We want to make sure organizations succeed,” said Michael St. Rose, president of USG for the 2007–2008 academic year. “If one fails, we all fail.”

“USG is one of the most important bodies on campus for the students,” said Allison Brady, the organization’s executive vice president. “It represents all students.”

A number of Buffalo State faculty and staff members oversee USG, including Hal Payne, vice president for student affairs; Gail Wells, director of student life, who particularly helps to coordinate leadership training programs and manage paperwork for events; and a faculty adviser, who attends USG’s weekly meetings every Tuesday at 8:45 p.m.

After serving as USG’s faculty adviser for four years, Diane McFarland, assistant professor of business, has stepped down. Gary Marotta, professor of history and social studies education and former provost, was just approved as this year’s adviser by USG’s senate last week. Marotta said he will offer the group advice on how to work with organizations on campus, but says the goals for the year are ultimately theirs.

“The first thing we need to do is get the executive committee to focus on working better collectively, and then develop a clearer agenda for the year,” he said. “I simply want to serve as a presence, and make sure everyone complies with the USG code of ethics and Buffalo State College’s oath of matriculation. It’s important we respect the opinions of our peers and conduct ourselves with civility.”

For the past two years, USG members have worked to revise their constitution. The changes took effect this semester, providing a stronger role for the faculty adviser, creating more accountability for members who miss meetings, and establishing a public relations committee for better communication with the campus.

“This year, we really want to get commuters more involved, we want to better diversify USG, and we want to better show the campus how we’re using funds,” said Brady.

As part of its ambition to be more open to all organizations on campus, USG now gives greater acknowledgement to academic clubs. Annual funding for each club went from an average of $400 to $2,500 this academic year, and there is now a cap on social club funding.

Besides focusing more on commuters, USG wants to boost school spirit and student morale this year. With a new adviser on board and a new constitution, the members are up for the challenge.

“The USG students are good stewards of democracy,” said Wells. “The organization is one of the most effective and powerful advocates for the institution.”

Modern technology has unleashed a torrent of information, and with it, an unprecedented need to safeguard personal records. A campus committee is working to refine and revise guidelines, in accordance with a SUNY-wide initiative, on how the Buffalo State community can better protect sensitive data.

Judith Basinski, associate vice president for computing and technology services (CTS), and Thomas Killian, networking and communications manager for CTS, are leading the charge to create a compact set of information-security guidelines by the end of the semester. Basinski said that besides the SUNY-wide initiative, increased use of portable media and reports of laptop theft have also spurred Buffalo State’s actions.

“Ted Phelps’s [SUNY’s security information officer] plan last fall was to get every SUNY campus to start developing a formal security information program by July,” she said. “Fortunately, our group got together early. Our deans are committed to this and understand the issues. Everyone in the group is very cooperative and willing to help.”

CTS already provides many layers of network and data security, including Oracle central data servers and up-to-date antivirus and antispyware programs. Nevertheless, it is ultimately up to employees to make sure sensitive data is not lost, stolen, or accessed. Basinski believes that sharing passwords, using mobile devices such as flash drives and laptops, and leaving reports unsecured pose some of the greatest information security risks.

“Information such as Social Security numbers and academic grades is protected by law,” she said. “It is important for all of us to understand how we use the information we receive, who we share it with, and how we store it.

“I’ll never forget the time a professor tried to e-mail a class roster of grades and accidentally carbon-copied the entire class,” she continued.

Once the guidelines are finalized and disseminated, Basinski says, the committee will work to update them every semester. In the meantime, she offers the following advice to the Buffalo State community:

• Make sure your desktop password is alpha-numeric, and change it frequently.
• Lock up your computer and your files when you are away.
• Keep sensitive information on the Buffalo State network instead of on your hard drive.
• Do not share your passwords with anyone.
• Always keep mobile devices in your possession.

Failure to protect personal and academic information may result in legal action against offending employees. Employees accused of failure to protect confidential information that results in harm to an individual may not be covered by Public Officer’s Law, and therefore not defended by New York State.

Examples of personal information that must be kept confidential include Social Security numbers, health information, and disability status. Examples of academic information that must be kept confidential include grades, class schedules, and student identification numbers. Faculty and staff members may not post test scores or grades using any portion of a student’s name, Social Security number, or student identification number. They must also refrain from providing students’ parents with information related to their child’s academic performance or other personal information unless given permission to do so by the student.

A notice about the new information security guidelines should appear both electronically and in print for faculty and staff by the end of the semester. But no matter what type of data comes their way, Basinski offers employees an overarching “golden rule”: “Think before you do anything with the information at hand.”

Buffalo State’s Music Department has received national and local recognition for its music education partnership with Campus West School.

Music Department faculty members received an award for their commitment to education from the Buffalo Alliance for Education on October 22. In September, the Music Department was invited to present the program as a “best practice in music education” at a national conference of music educators. Lisa Hunter, assistant professor and coordinator of music education; Bradley Fuster, associate professor and department chair; Lindsay Whelan, a music education student; and Nora Trincanati, principal of Campus West, presented at the conference.

The program is a collaboration between the college and Campus West, a Buffalo Public School located on the campus, to develop general and instrumental music curricula for elementary school children while providing an opportunity for Buffalo State College preservice music teachers to develop their teaching skills. Hands-on learning is emphasized in three integrated components that include curriculum-based concerts, classroom teaching, and instrumental lessons after school at Buffalo State.

“The results are proof of the value of application in music teacher education,” said Hunter, who cultivated and coordinated the program. “Our students are able to immediately apply knowledge of curriculum and teaching pedagogy learned in their music classes, while the students at Campus West receive enriched music education and opportunity through this hands-on, integrated approach.”

As part of the program, after-school music lessons are also held at the college. Trincanati provides the bus for Campus West students.

“If it were not for the after-school program, many students from this urban school would not have the opportunity for extra musical instruction,” said Hunter. “This is truly a great collaboration driven by a shared belief in the value of arts in education and the power of hands-on learning.”

The Buffalo Alliance for Education awards luncheon was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and attended by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent James Williams.

The Art Conservation Department will host an open house from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Friday, October 26, in Rockwell Hall. Meet department students, view works of art undergoing conservation treatment, and learn more about the Art Conservation graduate program. This event provides a rare opportunity to observe the materials, techniques, and equipment used to examine, restore, and preserve works of art and artifacts of various cultures. Objects in different stages of conservation treatment will be on display. Faculty and students will explain and demonstrate aspects of conservation principles and practices, and will answer questions about the department’s graduate program and the work of conservators.

Ancient and contemporary art and craft will be juxtaposed in two separate events when guest artist Franca Marini, professor of painting with the Buffalo State College Siena study-abroad program, demonstrates the medieval craft of gold-leaf painting and presents an exhibition of her latest contemporary work, a room-size multimedia installation that will transform Gallery 234 in Upton Hall. The events are free and open to the campus and community.

Marini will apply egg tempera and gold leaf to a wooden panel in a demonstration of her technique from 4:30 to 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, in Upton Hall 304. Her reference will be a fourteenth-century painting depicting the temptation of Saint Anthony.

Marini’s multimedia exhibition, which runs from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. October 31–November 1, will transform Gallery 234 into an interactive communication between the artist and visitors. Fabric sculptures suspended from the ceiling on intertwining copper wire create a shadowy path that guides guests to the focal point of the installation: a large painting by Marini comprising six overlapping jute panels. A video demonstration detailing the making of the artwork will accompany the exhibition.

“What interests me most is not just space itself, but rather the possibility to interact and communicate with the viewer through the artwork,” explained Marini, who exhibits and lectures around the world. “I think of space as the place where the viewer moves and exists.”

Marini will discuss her work from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, November 1, in Science Building 213. She will also attend the exhibition’s opening reception from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. Thursday in Gallery 234. For more information, call ext. 6032.

Artwork by Chinese students and lectures by their professors will be at Buffalo State College for the campus and community to enjoy as part of the ongoing student art exchange program between Buffalo State and Capital Normal University (CNU) in Beijing, China.

The student art exhibition, which runs from October 25 to November 6 in Upton Gallery, will feature 120 CNU student works, including graphic design, oil painting, and traditional Chinese painting. Accompanying lectures by CNU art professors Xueting Hao (graphic design), Chen Wei (oil painting), and Yan Bai (traditional Chinese painting) will be held from 12:15 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, in Upton Hall 203. A reception will follow at 6:00 p.m. in Upton Gallery. The campus and community are invited. All events are free.

Next month, Buffalo State College art students will display their work at CNU. Lin Xia Jiang, professor and chair of the Fine Arts Department, and Richard Ross, associate professor of design, who traveled to Beijing last summer to curate the students' works at CNU, are coordinating the program with support from Ted Turkle, director of the Research Foundation at Buffalo State College, and Benjamin Christy, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. All will travel to Beijing for the opening reception.

For more information, contact Ross at ext. 4012.

Buffalo State is delighted to welcome writer, poet, and 1998 MacArthur Fellow Ishmael Reedto campus on Friday, November 2, at 11:00 a.m. in Upton Hall 230.

Reed, who recently retired from a longtime teaching position at the University of California, Berkeley, delights, outrages, and confounds audiences and critics alike. He has published numerous novels as well as collections of poetry and essays. Born in Chattanooga, he grew up in Buffalo and began his writing career here as a correspondent for the Empire Star Weekly. His first novel, The Freelance Pallbearers, was published in 1967.

“We are delighted that Mr. Reed is able to come,” said Ralph Wahlstrom, associate professor and chair of the English Department. “His writing helps us hold a mirror to ourselves and offers us insight into the truth of the American culture and people.”

The MacArthur Fellowship, frequently referred to as the “genius award,” is a generous, unrestricted fellowship awarded to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” according to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Web site.

Reed’s visit to campus is sponsored by an Equity and Campus Diversity Minigrant. Reed will also speak at the African American Cultural Center, 350 Masten Avenue, on Thursday, November 1, at 7:00 p.m. Tickets for this event are $15 for general admission, $10 for students and senior citizens.

The days of enormous commercial ships, magnificent passenger vessels, and quaint water taxis gracing Buffalo’s waterways may be a distant memory for most Western New Yorkers, but a visit to Buffalo State College’s Maritime Center evokes the proud maritime heritage that fueled the region’s growth in the late nineteenth century.

The Maritime Center, an 18,000-square-foot facility off Fuhrmann Boulevard at the Port of Buffalo, showcases many of the boats that once plied Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and the Erie Canal. In addition, the center features a boat-building shop, designed to engage students and the community in the restoration and re-creation of historic watercraft.

“Buffalo’s waterfront is an incredible treasure,” said John Montague, director of the Maritime Center. “The Great Lakes are as rich in maritime history as New England. This is something that we are trying to pull back into people’s consciousness.”

Those efforts started more than 20 years ago when Montague, while teaching in the Design Department, discovered a common interest in wooden boatbuilding with a pair of colleagues, Richard Butz, associate professor and chair of the Technology Department, and William Bartoo, associate professor emeritus of technology and design. Upon learning of the bond, the trio began to explore ways to incorporate boatbuilding into the curriculum.

“In the Design Department, we wanted to look at the design of everything,” Montague said. “Boat design was every part as interesting as painting and graphic design in terms of incorporating form and function.”

It started with a simple introductory woodworking class in the late 1980s, when a group of 12 female students opted to build a kayak rather than a traditional woodworking project. The success of the kayak led to the development of a boatbuilding course and an eventual minor in boatbuilding as Buffalo State became the first four-year college in the country to offer such a program.

Today, the Technology Department is home to the college’s boatbuilding class, offering the course as an elective for technology education students. “We use it for students who need a more hands-on experience with woodworking processes,” said Butz, who is working toward restoring the boatbuilding minor.

Partnered with the research and courses offered through the Great Lakes Center, Montague said, the Maritime Center is adding to the college’s reputation as a leader in Great Lakes studies.

“We are offering courses and opportunities that get people concerned about Lake Erie,” Montague said. “We are really an extension of that initiative. In a sense, the Great Lakes kind of belong to Buffalo State.”

To strengthen the connection between the Great Lakes, the environment, and the college, the Maritime Center continually involves the community through youth boatbuilding activities. Next month, the center, along with student mentors from the Technology Department, will work with children from the Valley Community Center and a local foster care agency in a Saturday boatbuilding program, which starts on April 5 and culminates on May 3, when participants launch their rowboats on Hoyt Lake.

“We have found that boatbuilding is a great way to increase self-esteem,” Butz said. “By working with the college mentors, the participants are able to enjoy a big-brother type of relationship. In addition, by seeing a project through from start to finish, it is a very rewarding process for these kids.”

On launch day, the participants also take part in aquatic ecology activities, collecting water samples and performing simple water-quality tests. “If you get people on the water, they will care about it,” Butz said.

A concern for the environment is evident in the Maritime Center’s most recent re-creation—a solar-powered water taxi. Based on a century-old design, the water taxi incorporates the elegance of the early 1900s with the technology of today. Four 12-volt batteries will power the 12-passenger boat, which will recharge by connecting to a solar-panel station on the shore.

“The idea is that a fleet of these boats would give everyone the opportunity to reconnect with Buffalo’s waterfront,” Butz said.

In addition to the water taxi, dozens of historic boats are on exhibit at the center including the pilot house of theCanadiana—a once-magnificent boat that shuttled thousands of people between Buffalo and Crystal Beach every summer in the early to mid-1900s.

The Maritime Center is open to the public Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The center is located at 9016 Fuhrmann Boulevard. For more information, please call (716) 878-6532.

As the 2006–2008 academic theme, “Great Minds That Shaped Our Intellectual World,” comes to a close, a new theme is set to begin. Recently approved by the Academic Council, “Inconvenient Truths” now needs the involvement of faculty and staff.

“The academic theme describes our curricula and the content of our courses. The truths that are fundamental in every course, program, and major are, at some time and place, inconvenient,” said Douglas Koritz, assistant dean of intellectual foundations. “Even scientific theories like evolution, relativity, and quantum mechanics were originally inconvenient to science as a whole. But their discoveries affected great works across many disciplines.”

Buffalo State faculty and staff are asked to submitsuggestions for inconvenient truths and related guest lectures. Funding is available for an upcoming Intellectual Foundations speaker series, as well as other events relating to BSC 101 and Intellectual Foundations classes.

In planning for the new theme, University College and Academic and Student Affairs pooled ideas from first-year-program instructors, asked academic chairs to choose between the top two, and presented the proposed theme to the Academic Council. Examples of inconvenient truths include race- and gender-related inequalities, climate change, and underreported effects of war.

Koritz said he hopes faculty and staff can share ideas of inconvenient truths that already emanate from their classes rather than change what they currently teach. He also trusts their judgment for proposals of speakers who would be of value to the campus community.

“Tell us what fundamental truths students will experience in your teaching,” he said. “We also want to publicize ongoing academic activities that would complement the theme, so please let us know.”

In place of a CD that accompanied the last two academic themes, a Web site will list the inconvenient truths, related academic events, and links to resources available on campus for additional learning. A brochure that publicizes the topics and related campus events should be available this fall. In addition, this summer’s orientation sessions may incorporate the theme, and anANGEL Web site also will post information and relevant teaching materials.

The 2008–2010 academic theme is the third of its kind. The first theme in 2004–2006 was “20th-Century Americans Who Changed Our Minds and Our Lives.”

“We got the ball rolling with the last two themes,” said Koritz. “I think this next one will improve on what we’ve done.”