From the Vice President for Finance and Management 
The New York State Teachers’ Retirement System will hold two daylong Retirement Planning Seminars in Buffalo to help active NYSTRS members age 45 and older prepare for retirement. Discussions will be devoted to system benefits, financial planning, legal affairs, adjusting to retirement, Social Security, and other pertinent topics. Please note that these seminars are not designed for individual retirement counseling.

Seminars will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with registration starting at 8:00 a.m. There is no fee to attend; however, advance registration is required. Spouses and partners are also welcome.

The seminars are scheduled for Friday, April 9, and Thursday, May 6, at the Millennium Airport Hotel, 2040 Walden Avenue, Cheektowaga. To reserve a seat, call (800) 356-3128, ext. 6180, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., or register online at www.nystrs.org. Space is limited. Register now.

From the Interim President
I am pleased to invite the college community to a luncheon honoring faculty and staff who are in their 25th year of service at Buffalo State College on Tuesday, March 23, at noon in the Tonawanda Castle, 69 Delaware Street in Tonawanda. Reservations will be accepted through Thursday, March 11.

This annual event serves to honor our colleagues for their years of service and dedication to Buffalo State. The 36 employees crossing the 25-year mark in 2010 are:

David Atzrott, Campus Services
Christopher Aviles, Social Work
Mark Bausili, Registrar
Dean Brucz, Campus Services
Richard Butz, Technology
Betty Cappella, Educational Foundations
Ann Colley, English
Sharon Cramer, Exceptional Education
Susan Davis, Economics and Finance
Gregory Ebert, Chemistry
Gina Game, Research Foundation
Andrea Guiati, Modern and Classical Languages
James Hanahan, Residence Life
Emmanuel Hillery, Human Resource Management
Sandra Hollander, Intercollegiate Athletics
Karen Johnson, Academic Advisement
Lydia Kawaler, Human Resource Management
Carol Kirby, Modern and Classical Languages
Sam LoGiudice, Psychology
Kenneth Mernitz, History and Social Studies Education
David Miller, Environmental Health and Safety
John Moffat, Campus Services
Robert Murphy, Computing and Technology Services
Mary Ann Osborne, Educational Opportunity Program
Maria Pacheco, Chemistry
Constance Payne, Fine Arts
Mark Posluszny, Exceptional Education
Tina Scibetta, E. H. Butler Library
Edward Standora, Biology
Donald Szpaicher Jr., Campus Services
Scott Tatro, Mail Room
Lori Till, Hospitality and Tourism
Barbara Weitzner-Lin, Speech-Language Pathology
Gail Wells, Student Life
Nancy Westley, Speech-Language Pathology
Barry Yavener, Interior Design

To make your reservation, please complete theregistration form, or call Laurie Graziano or Melissa Slisz at 878-4101.

From the Interim Provost
At the request of the College Senate, the grading window—the time period instructors have to submit final semester grades—will be extended. Beginning with the spring 2010 semester, the grading window, which formerly closed at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, will close at 9:00 p.m. on the Wednesday after CEP week.

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:

New Course:
PSC 399 Research Skills

New Course and Intellectual Foundations Designation:
WORLD CIVILIZATIONS
ANT 306 Peoples of Asia

Course Revisions and Intellectual Foundations Designations:
ORAL COMMUNICATION
MED 407 Student Teaching of Mathematics in Junior High/Middle School

NON-WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS
PSC 340 Politics of Developing Countries

Course Revision, Intellectual Foundations Designation, and Writing Across the Curriculum Designation:
ORAL COMMUNICATION 
PSC 470W Senior Seminar

From the Interim President
The next meeting of the Buffalo State College Council will be held at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 16, in Cleveland Hall 518.

Agenda
Call to Order
Action Items
-- Approval of Minutes: December 1, 2009
President’s Report
Committee Reports
Announcements
Adjournment

By Mary A. Durlak

Should you invest in stocks? Stay in cash? Save or spend?

Bruce Fisher, director of the Center for Economic and Policy Studies, will moderate a panel discussion, “The Economics and Finance Forecast for 2010–2011” on Thursday, March 18, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center North. The panel of faculty members from Buffalo State’s Economics and Finance Department will discuss local, national, and international economic prospects; whether stock prices will continue to rise through 2010; and where the country’s economy is in this recovery cycle. The event is free and open to the public.

The panelists are Theodore F. Byrley, department chair and associate professor; William T. Ganley, professor; Ted Schmidt, associate professor; and Kevin Qian, assistant professor.

“We will talk about the prospects for economic growth over the next year and a half,” said Byrley. The discussion will include the economies in Europe and in developing countries as well as in the United States, with a look specifically at Western New York’s economy, including inflation, wages, and jobs.

Byrley believes that the United States may experience major structural change as the American middle-class lifestyle adapts to a changing world. However, he considers himself an optimist, and he points to the fact that he accurately predicted the market rebound that has occurred since the Dow Jones industrial average hit 7,553 in November 2008, followed by its low point of 6,547 in March 2009. (As of this writing, it stands at 10,444.)

This is the third panel offered by campus economics experts since Wall Street indices dropped rapidly beginning in September 2008. The first presentation, theWall Street Meltdown, was held on September 30, 2008; the second, Why We’re Not Out of the Woods Yet, was held on October 16, 2008.

The Buffalo State Alumni Association will host the 13th annual Bengal 5K Run and Fun Walk, presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, on Saturday, March 20, at 9:30 a.m.

Those wishing to participate are encouraged to register online in advance at www.alumni.buffalostate.edu. Runners and walkers can also register the day of the event starting at 8:00 a.m. in the Sports Arena. Group discounts are available for students, faculty, staff, or alumni who register as teams of 10 or more.

Race proceeds benefit the Alumni Association’s Legacy Scholarship fund. Legacy Scholarships are awarded annually to deserving students who are the children or grandchildren of Buffalo State graduates.

The race includes chip timing by Score This, a registration gift for the first 500 participants, and exciting door prizes during the post-race Bengal Brunch.

To run, walk, or volunteer, please contact Tom Koller, senior associate director of athletics, (716) 878-6514 or visit the Alumni Affairs Web site.

Campus Services Employee Recognition Citations will be presented to five exemplary Campus Services staff members at the eighth annual Hank Mann Awards on Monday, March 15, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center second-floor reception area. The event is open to all.

Horace “Hank” Mann, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of exceptional education, has funded the Campus Services Employee Recognition Awards since 2003 to recognize and reward outstanding staff members. The citations recognize those who have demonstrated an exceptional work ethic. The following employees will receive this year’s awards:

• Thomas Schleer, Heating and Cooling
• Deborah Johnson, custodial services
• Richard Biddlecom, painting services
• Donna Yager, custodial services
• Kenneth Kloss, automotive services

Campus Services personnel maintain Buffalo State’s 45 buildings and 125-acre campus. Their responsibilitiesinclude heating and cooling, carpentry, custodial, electrical, plumbing, masonry, painting, grounds maintenance, and snow removal. They provide the campus’s mail, moving, and locksmith services; inventory control; and central receiving for all equipment and supplies received through purchase orders.

Campus Services also manages Central Stores, which houses and delivers stationery that bears the college’s name, such as envelopes and letterhead. Additionally, Campus Services manages the college’s power plant and maintains the Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum.

Students, faculty, and the community are invited to submit proposals for performances and presentations for the Anne Frank Project 2010. The deadline for submissions is April 9

Proposals should celebrate the life and wisdom of Anne Frank and her words “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Special consideration will be given to proposals that display originality, creativity, and a departure from typical academic conference presentations. The conference will reserve part of the schedule for student proposals, which will not compete with faculty and community submissions.

Based on the success of last year’s event, this year’s conference has been expanded to three days, September 15 to 17, and will connect with First-Year Orientation, Weeks of Welcome, and Academic Convocation. In 2009, more than 1,000 presenters, students, faculty, and guests participated in the standing-room-only conference.

To submit proposals, please visitwww.theannefrankproject.com. For more information, call the Buffalo State College Theater Department at 878-6416.

Buffalo State College has been named to the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service learning, and civic engagement.

Buffalo State’s College and Community Partnerships Office handled the application process for the award, identifying 148,463 hours of volunteer work in the Western New York community by students, faculty, and staff in 2009. In 2008, the College and Community Partnership Office captured 116,000 hours for the application.

The Corporation for National and Community Service, which administers the annual Honor Roll award, recognized more than 700 colleges and universities for their impact on issues such as poverty, homelessness, and environmental justice.

“Congratulations to the awardees and students for their dedication to service and commitment to improving their local communities,” said Patrick Corvington, the corporation’s CEO. “Our nation’s students are a critical part of the equation and vital to our efforts to tackle the most persistent challenges we face. They have achieved impactful results and demonstrated the value of putting knowledge into practice to help renew America through service.”

The Honor Roll includes six colleges and universities that are recognized as Presidential Awardees, with an additional 115 named to the Distinction List and 621 schools named as Honor Roll members. Honorees are chosen based on a series of selection factors including the scope and innovation of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service, and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses. Click here for a full list of Honor Roll recipients.

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visitwww.nationalservice.gov.