The College and Community Partnerships Office has awarded the following minigrants, totaling $19,808.55, to 12 faculty members to conduct scholarly research and/or publication in conjunction with service to the community. The goal of the initiative is to strengthen current and establish new partnerships that highlight and enhance the college’s targeted areas of expertise. To date the Partnerships Office has awarded 35 minigrants to tenured and tenure-track faculty.

Lucy Andrus, Professor, Art Education
Beecher Boys and Girls Club
The Art Partners Program at Beecher Boys and Girls Club
$2,000

Lisa Marie Anselmi, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
McClurg Museum/Chautauqua County Historical Society
The Orry B. Heath Collection
$1,035.35

Louis A. Colca, Associate Professor, Social Work
Chestnut Rose Adventures
Partnering to Engage Disadvantaged Populations
$1,500

Robin Harris, Associate Professor, Earth Sciences and Science Education
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Riverwatch Program: An Urban Science Education Partnership Year 4
$2,000

Pixita del Prado Hill, Associate Professor, and Kim Truesdell, Associate Professor, Elementary Education and Reading
Wegmans Food and Pharmacy
It Truly Takes a Village: Developing a College-Community Partnership to Increase Awareness through Children’s Picture Books
$2,500

Theresa Janczak, Assistant Professor, Exceptional Education
Campus West
Building a Community of Readers, One Family at a Time
$2,000

Drew Kahn, Chair and Professor, Theater
The Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo, the National Coalition for Just Communities WNY, the Springville Central School District, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and the Buffalo News
The Anne Frank Project
$2,000

Wende Mix, Associate Professor, Geography and Planning
West Side Community Collaborative
West Side Community-Based Internet Mapping and Analysis System
$2,573.20

Alice Pennisi, Assistant Professor, and Candace Masters, Assistant Professor, Art Education
Asarese-Matters Community Center
Tile Mural Project
$2,000

William Wieczorek, Director, Center for Health and Social Research
West Side Community Services
Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives 2
$2,200

From the Chair of the Senate Curriculum Committee
The following have been approved by the Senate Curriculum Committee and forwarded to the interim president for review and approval:

Program Revision:
M.S.Ed. Literacy Specialist (Birth–Grade 12)(6261), LTB

New Course:
EDU 650 Literacy Theory and Research

From the Chair of the Senate Curriculum Committee
Michael Lazich, associate professor of history and social studies education, was announced as the newly elected chair of the Senate Curriculum Committee at the College Senate meeting on May 14. He will transition into the position over the summer, with his term beginning September 1, 2010.

Department curriculum chairs, please note: If you received a request for revisions to courses or programs from the Senate Curriculum Committee, we urge you to complete them and get them to the Senate Office to meet the deadlines for publication in the summer issues of the Bulletin. If revisions are not completed, the course-approval process is halted. Revisions are needed in order for the courses to be approved by the associate deans. Without the signature of an associate dean, the Senate Office cannot accept courses or programs.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The results of elections at the caucus meeting were announced at the College Senate meeting on May 14. The new chair of the College Senate for 2010–2011 isHoward Reid, professor of psychology, who will begin his term on September 1. Members of the 2010–2011 College Senate will participate in an election of the vice chair. Other committee chairs elected in the caucus are as follows:

• Elisa Bergslien, Academic Plan Committee
• Ted Schmidt, Budget and Staff Allocation Committee (BSAC)
• Bill Raffel, Bylaws and Elections Committee
• Michael Lazich, Curriculum Committee
• Anthony Hotchkiss, Faculty and Staff Welfare Committee
• Andrew Nicholls, Instruction and Research Committee
• Heather Maldonado, Standards for Students Committee
• Diane McFarland, Student Welfare Committee
•  

From the Vice President for Finance and Management
Requisitions for supplies, materials, services, and equipment from fiscal year 2009–2010 funds must be received in the Procurement Office by the close of business on the following dates:

$20,000 or more (noncontract)
Monday, May 3

$20,000 or more (contract)
Friday, May 28

Less than $20,000
Friday, June 4

Furniture orders (all)
Friday, May 28

Purchase requisitions for computer equipment and equipment replacement requirements, as well as purchases through OfficeMax for office supplies, also must adhere to these deadlines.

Important note: It is the responsibility of departments to ensure that all requisitions for fiscal year 2009–2010 are received in the Procurement Office by the above deadlines. Late requisitions will not be processed. Requests received through campus mail after the deadlines will be returned.

Call Terri Locher in the Procurement Office at 878-4113 with questions.

From the Interim Provost
After careful deliberation and discussion, people have been identified to fill leadership positions for teacher education at Buffalo State. Paul Theobald, currently interim graduate dean, will be appointed interim dean of the School of Education. He will start July 2 and will be charged with providing leadership for the School of Education. Kathy Wood, director of CEURE, will be appointed interim associate dean of the School of Education. She will assume her new role on June 1 to help the transition. Neither Theobald nor Wood will have leadership responsibilities connected to the Teacher Education Unit.

John Siskar, associate professor of art education, will be appointed interim associate vice president for teacher education. He will start July 6 and will be charged with providing leadership for unitwide activities, including TEU, TEC, NCATE, teacher certification, and CEURE. Siskar will report to the provost’s office through the associate provost. He will also be asked to study our organizational structures to make recommendations regarding permanent structures for teacher education as Buffalo State moves into this next phase. Mary Todd, currently assessment coordinator, will be appointed NCATE coordinator.

A search for a new dean will not begin until permanent organizational structures are determined.

Buffalo State College has been awarded $308,980 in federal funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance research that is essential to the evaluation of remediation options for the lower Buffalo River, in particular selective removal of contaminated sediment. Faculty from Buffalo State College and Middlebury College, Vermont, will serve as principal investigators for the project.

The Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program award will be used to purchase equipment to increase understanding of lake-river interactions that are related to temporary changes in lake level caused by winds piling water up at the Buffalo end of Lake Erie—a phenomenon known as a seiche. Recent findings from research conducted by Buffalo State researchers support the role of lake seiche in generating reverse currents in the Buffalo River. These reverse currents are strong enough to transport river-bottom sediment.

"Understanding the seiche-driven current regime is essential for making informed and lasting remediation decisions," said Jill Singer, professor of Earth Sciences and Science Education. "For example, environmental benefits derived from the costly removal of contaminated sediment from the middle and upper reaches of the Buffalo River could be reduced if reverse currents transport contaminated sediments upriver and re-contaminate the site."

Specific equipment to be purchased includes multiple acoustic Doppler current profilers, surface meteorologic sensor packages, bottom water temperature sensors, and associated hardware to initially install five observational systems along the lower Buffalo River, and a laser diffraction-based, grain-size analysis system.

The Buffalo River is a designated Area of Concern (AoC), heavily affected by industrial wastes and bottom sediments that sequester a large variety of inorganic and organic compounds. Researchers and scientists at Buffalo State have been actively involved in the study and remediation of the Buffalo River for over 15 years.

Clough Harbor & Associates LLP, a top engineering, planning, and design firm, has been selected to study the location, features, and budget for the new outdoor athletics stadium for Buffalo State. The facility will serve as home to Buffalo State College and Buffalo Public Schools athletics.

The stadium will host Buffalo State’s football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as Buffalo Public Schools athletic events.

Buffalo State College and the State University Construction Fund selected CHA with input from a representative of the Buffalo Board of Education. CHA will work with Foit-Albert Associates, a leading architecture, engineering, and surveying firm with offices in Buffalo.

“We are enthusiastic about taking this project forward and the team we have in place to study our options,” said Stan Medinac, associate vice president for facilities planning.

The feasibility study is scheduled to begin this fall and be completed by this time next year, when decisions will be made about proceeding, including the process for selecting a design and construction firm. Completion of the proposed stadium is envisioned for 2011.

Coyer Field, Buffalo State’s existing outdoor athletics facility, has been home to Buffalo State’s outdoor teams since the 1960s, but it lacks amenities such as locker rooms, concessions stands, and restrooms. The current grandstand and press box are also antiquated. Moreover, Coyer Field presents scheduling conflicts because it lacks lights and its natural grass surface is overused.

In the meantime, steps have been taken to install an artificial surface at the existing Coyer Field site in the spring. Although the project will be a short-term fix for Coyer Field’s overuse issue, the installation of an artificial surface will provide a long-term benefit for the Buffalo State student body and the surrounding community.

The durability of artificial turf will permit use of Coyer Field for a wide array of intramural and community athletic activities. Upon completion of the new stadium, Coyer Field will still host Buffalo State practices and select contests. An announcement on the firm selected to install the artificial surface will come this fall.

Clough Harbour & Associates LLP is a highly diversified, full-service engineering firm providing planning and design services to clients throughout the United States. The firm is ranked among the top 100 U.S. design firms by industry analyst Engineering News-Record (ENR). CHA has assisted numerous colleges, universities, and high schools with planning and designing cutting-edge athletic facilities.

Foit-Albert Associates is a 105-person firm located in Buffalo, Albany, New York City, and Watertown. The firm has worked throughout the state on numerous educational campuses providing professional design services for new facilities, additions, and alterations, as well as surveying, civil and environmental engineering services. Projects on the Buffalo State College campus include the Campus Capital Plan and Space Utilization Plan, renovations to the Houston Gym Fitness Center, and construction administration services for the Buffalo State Field House.

The Graduate School will host an open house on Saturday, September 15, from 10:00 a.m. until noon in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. The event offers guests the opportunity to meet faculty, learn about financial aid options, explore the campus, find out how to apply to programs, and talk with students.

According to Kim Jackson, director of graduate enrollment services, 100 prospective students attended last year’s open house, and the school hopes for 150 to 200 this year. Last year also marked the first time that Buffalo State held its graduate school open house in September.

"We used to have our open house event later in the fall, right around the same time other local schools did," said Jackson. "By having the event earlier, we really help get our word out first."

This year's open house is designed like a fair, with individual tables to provide an informal format and face-to-face interaction with professors. In addition to showcasing the school's 62 programs, the open house also will include information about many supporting departments on campus, such as financial aid and student services.

"We're trying to create a personalized approach," said Jackson. "We want prospective students to experience friendly faculty and staff, just like what they can expect when visiting our hub in Cleveland Hall [room 204]."

Jackson asks undergraduate faculty to please remind students that there are graduate programs right here at Buffalo State College. "So much of the emphasis on campus—rightly so, in many respects—is on undergraduate life," she said. "But while it's easy to remember the 'four schools,' there are about 2,000 students here attending the fifth school."

Under the helm of the new associate provost and dean Kevin Railey, the Graduate School will increase its collaboration with people across campus to identify and meet goals for the school. Railey also is interested in expanding the school’s offerings and supporting the intellectual interests of graduate faculty and students.

The Graduate School anticipates about 450 new students this year. For more information or to register for the open house, please visit the Graduate School's Web site.

The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC) at Buffalo State College is an integral part of the community—both on campus and around Western New York. And participation has boomed after just seven semesters of existence.

What began as just seven classes and 140 students in spring 2004 is now 38 classes and 850 students. For students, faculty, and community organizations, the VSLC is all about making matches.

"Service learning is a way to connect classroom learning with real community needs that we read about, learn about, and talk about every day—needs that are right in our own neighborhood," said Laura Hill Rao, coordinator of the VSLC.

In 2003, a planning committee grew out of the collegewide strategic planning process and out of discussions in the Faculty Advisory Board for Internships. Initially, the five committee members—Lisa August, associate director, Career Development Center (CDC); Fred Howe, professor, Educational Foundations; Douglas Koritz, assistant dean, Intellectual Foundations; Gary Welborn, associate professor, Sociology; and Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, director, CDC—met to discuss internships and develop ways in which Buffalo State could help the West Side Community Collaborative. The collaborative, an association of more than 30 nonprofit, community, and faith-based organizations, plus representatives from public and private schools who are committed to West Side revitalization, seemed like a perfect opportunity for Buffalo State to help the surrounding community. Then the planning snowballed into something much more.

"We are committed to enhancing engagement and outreach at Buffalo State," said Welborn, who also serves as faculty coordinator for the VSLC. "The creation of the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center stemmed not only from wanting to help the West Side Community Collaborative but also from the Strategic Plan. We wanted to address needs outside of the community, but likewise address the [academic] needs inside the [college] community, too.

"Thinking about our good partnership with the West Side Community Collaborative early on, it really set the precedent for focusing on the creation of long-term partnerships with other community organizations," Welborn added.

The committee developed a model with the seven initial service-learning classes and applied for the federal Learn and Serve America grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service—an organization also known for running programs such as AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. Learn and Serve America provides support to schools, higher education institutions, and community-based organizations that engage students, their teachers, and others in service learning. Programs like these are having so much success nationally that Time magazine published a cover story called “The Case for National Service” in its September 10 issue—and its managing editor recommended that the government make national service a Cabinet-level department.

With support from the Research Foundation, Buffalo State received a perfect score on its grant proposal and was the only recipient from New York State in 2003 to receive the three-year grant. Upon receiving the funds, the college was able to create the VSLC within the CDC.

Zuckerman-Aviles says the VSLC is a perfect fit under the umbrella of her center. "The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center provides a centralized place for experiential education and employment within the Buffalo State community," she said. "It also fits into the evolution of the overall student continuum—providing clarity for students to figure out who they are and what they want to do for work after graduation."

In addition to organizing service-learning courses at Buffalo State, the VSLC provides volunteer opportunities for students, and also awards faculty fellowships with funding support from the provost. Faculty fellows receive a $1,000 stipend, service-learning course and conversion training, resources to assist with service-learning course development, and VSLC faculty support through the implementation of the course.

"Before the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center was created, there was no structured program for service-learning courses," said Rao. "Some faculty members were engaging in community service beforehand, and others had always wanted to incorporate it in their classes. Needless to say, we were surprised and thrilled in the interest for fellowships. We've granted about a dozen each year."

Welborn views service learning as "another pedagogical tool," saying that it offers a fresh look at experiential education. "It celebrates what people have been doing for years," he said.

The VSLC facilitates matchmaking between students, faculty, and community organizations. Besides the West Side Community Collaborative, some of the partnering organizations include the Asarese-Matters Community Center, Belle Center, Journey's End Refugee Services, and Loaves & Fishes Dining Hall. Common services include helping youth with after-school tutoring, recreation, and art projects, as well as providing advertising, marketing, and public relations assistance for nonprofit organizations.

Service-learning class assignments can be hours-based or project-based. The VSLC meets with professors to discuss learning objectives and determine how to adjust their syllabi. The center also offers ideas and suggestions for community partnerships.

"The important part of our planning is that all involved understand that service and learning should be of equal benefit," said Rao. "To make the process run smoothly, we offer an orientation to the class, where we’ll explain the benefits and expectations of service learning. We also help with logistical matters such as providing directions, arranging transportation if needed, and even giving tours of the community."

The VSLC also provides faculty members with a handbook, which includes training on how to access ANGEL to search for community organizations (available to VSLC members only), pre- and post-surveys for all participants, helpful forms such as hours logs, and directions on how to provide effective reflection activities. "The reflection activities are a very important part of service learning," said Rao. "It brings back reactions into the classroom, and ties the learning portion of the service back into the syllabus."

"Our model works," says Zuckerman-Aviles. "It doesn't create a ton of extra work for the faculty, and the structure allows them to focus more on their students while we focus more on the community organizations. Service learning really fits the mission of Buffalo State, and creates a great 'marriage' of people on campus. The center’s creation really bridged student affairs and academic affairs."

Faculty members do not necessarily need to be fellows in order to convert their classes to—or create new—service-learning classes. "We want to get connected to other professors who are already engaging in aspects of service learning, as well as those who want to be," said Rao.

Welborn agrees. "There is room for a full range of programs," he said. "Professors should know that service learning lends authenticity to our [classroom] work. The Volunteer and Service-Learning Center taps into a rich and deep culture in our community."

As for the boom in service learning's popularity, Rao thinks that students and faculty appreciate the opportunity to "learn by doing" and understand the importance of civic engagement. "During the 2006–2007 academic year, students performed 23,000 hours of service," she said. "At the beginning, students often have apprehension—whether it's fear of the community, struggles with time commitment, or that they simply don’t want to go through with it. But at the end of the class, most students come away saying how much it helped them—whether it's personal growth, better understanding of course material, a good fit for career goals and their major, or all of the above."

According to Zuckerman-Aviles, service-learning classes also provide direct benefits for the workplace setting. "Not only does it help students make an investment where they live," she said, "but also it helps them to better embrace diversity. These values are so important to have in today's working world."

The VSLC is currently supported by the college's "Investments in the Future" funds, and looks forward to continued college support. No matter how the VSLC evolves in the future, one thing is for certain—it will continue to bring energy to all involved.

"Community organizations love the new ideas that students bring," said Rao. "And faculty members can get reenergized about teaching. We can make an impact in the community and provide real opportunities to make a difference, while at the same time engaging in really effective learning."

Zuckerman-Aviles says that service learning will only continue to increase in popularity. "Our professors are realizing more and more that this has both academic value and tremendous impact on students," she said. "Buffalo State is committed to applied learning, and I'm hard-pressed to think of a better example that embodies inquiry and action—the school's mission—than service learning."