By Tony Astran

Behind the scenes at Buffalo State, a few watchful eyes are constantly monitoring pollutants and safety issues on campus. Members of the Environmental Health and Safety Office, under the aegis of Campus Services, diligently ensure that the college complies with hundreds of regulations and, at the same time, make the campus more environmentally friendly.

The office began in 1985 with one fire safety officer and has since evolved into a team of five that oversees fire, radiation, lab, and occupational worker safety; public health protection; environmental programs; training; and waste-stream management. Duties are currently grouped under four categories: general health and safety, lab safety, environmental programs, and fire safety.

“Part of our growth earlier this decade came as a result of increased regulations and inspections on college campuses by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,” said David Miller, director of environmental health and safety. “There are many regulations to follow, and we have to be ready for inspectors. We also conduct numerous reports for permits throughout campus, particularly at the power and boiler plants.”

The Environmental Health and Safety Office maintains 1,500 fire extinguishers and all smoke detectors and AED (automated external defibrillator) units in each building. Staff members offer consultations for new construction—for example, proper chemical storage in the new science and mathematics complex. They also move four shipments of hazardous waste from campus each year, carefully packaging and tracking everything from electrical equipment to radioactive materials.

The office’s efforts also affect the surrounding community. Staff members and students from the Geography and Planning Department pay close attention to the campus’s 400 catch basins and 300 manholes, ensuring proper water drainage and tracking runoff into nearby Scajaquada Creek. EVERGREEN, another group under Campus Services that focuses primarily on recycling efforts, works closely with the office to label and monitor storm water drains to prevent other liquids or contaminants from entering.

Miller said that while his office works with all academic departments on campus, it tends to work most with Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Art Conservation, monitoring items such as chemicals, radioactive materials, and x-ray machines. The staff routinely inspects fume hoods, chemical storage areas, and safety equipment in labs across campus.

Environmental Health and Safety also plays a major role in fire-safety training. They train all resident assistants and resident directors about fire-safety issues and how to properly use fire extinguishers.

With support from Sodexo and the Hospitality and Tourism Department, the office purchased a propane machine that creates contained fires for training purposes. Since fall 2002, more than 500 students in the HTR 380: Advanced Training in Hospitality class have been trained in fire safety. Members of CERT, the Community Emergency Response Team, also have undergone the training.

The office conducts four fire drills a year for each building on campus, including at least one evening drill for residence halls. Miller reminds all faculty and staff to be mindful of long or frayed extension cords, as they are main culprits of college fires.

In addition to meeting compliances and regulations, the office engages in community outreach and public health protection. Staff members work regularly with University Police and Weigel Health Center for bloodborne pathogen training. They also uphold OSHA regulations through programs such as asbestos management, mold control, and ergonomic awareness.

The list of tasks for the Environmental Health and Safety Office is long, but it’s all in a day’s work for the staff. “We take pride in what we accomplish,” Miller said. “So much of what we do is behind the scenes to keep the college running.”

By Tony Astran

Instructors who teach BSC 101—no matter what approach they take—agree that the course offers students an introduction to the liberal arts, encourages them to think critically, and helps them construct well-reasoned arguments. Daniel Blum, lecturer of history and social studies education, argues in his section that some of the things students enjoy most can hinder their free will—which is the key to achieving BSC 101’s goals and becoming critical thinkers for life.

Given Blum’s background in history, incoming BSC 101 students might be inclined to think the course’s theme of freedom and slavery has something to do with the pre–Civil War era. But they quickly learn the “slavery” he focuses on is their own self-imposed limitations.

“The comforts students are used to—such as text messaging, television, and even food—can create an environment where they cannot flourish,” Blum said. “The things we enjoy can be the worst tyrants when they’re not critically considered.”

One of the initial exercises Blum conducts is an order for students to take off their shoes and socks. Some students seem puzzled at first, he said, but eventually the entire class complies. “I do this as an example to let students know they can be taken advantage of if they allow themselves to be bullied and don’t ask questions,” Blum said.

On face value, Blum’s section of BSC 101 might not seem much different from others. Students read from the Foundations of Inquiry text, have exams and papers, make presentations, and are required to participate to class. But Blum gives a series of smaller assignments and lets a shared discussion, rather than lecture, dominate class time. He also uses a variety of tools to instruct students, including philosophical passages, music, a class trip to the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and selections from modern books such as Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death.

“I think students are engaged in the class because they’re challenged,” Blum said. “My goal is to get students to use the liberal arts to gain broad perspectives and deep views, and then apply critical thinking across all disciplines.”

Blum, who has taught BSC 101 for three years, said he sees a sense of pride, accomplishment, and growth in his students each semester. One of his current students, Cody McKellar, describes his experience:

“Professor Blum’s class has forced me to realize there are more important things in life than American Idol and Facebook,” he said. “Coming in to BSC 101, I expected another boring class telling me to think deeply but never teaching me how. After a semester with Professor Blum, I realized his class not only told me to think critically about everything, but he actually taught me how to do so. I’m finding it is no longer a chore to think critically—instead, it happens instinctively.”

Blum said he pushes students to keep finding new vocabulary words to describe their thoughts. He hopes they come away from the class knowing that critical thinking is a learned skill—but that they are very capable of mastering it.

“It’s rewarding to teach BSC 101 and see the development of first-year students,” Blum said. “I think the techniques taught in the various sections help with long-term student success.”

Blum’s class is receiving very positive reviews from students. Jenna Phillips calls Blum’s energy, passion, and friendliness “refreshing.”

“I learned to have the humility and courage to ask questions both inside and outside of the classroom,” she said. “Professor Blum taught us to never be satisfied with the first thing that comes to mind, and to stretch ourselves when it comes to participating in any aspect of college. I will carry these lessons with me in the years to come.”

By Tony Astran

Since its inception, the Continuing Professional Studies Office has encountered its share of new programs, partnerships, and opportunities to help others. Through it all, one mission has remained constant: providing access for part-time adult students who seek to further their education at Buffalo State.

Continuing Professional Studies’ roots can be traced back to 1983, when the Bulger Lifelong Learning Center was dedicated in response to the growing needs of nontraditional students. In the late 1990s, the name changed to the Continuing Education Office, and services shifted to Cleveland Hall 210. In 2005, the office was renamed again to the present Continuing Professional Studies, reflecting its broader constituency.

“We are the front door for adults who are considering returning to college or who are seeking professional development,” said Margaret Shaw-Burnett, associate vice president for continuing professional studies. “Adults return for various reasons, whether due to a job layoff, needing job certification requirements, changing careers, wanting a personal sense of accomplishment, or completing a degree. We provide access for them.”

Shaw-Burnett said the office studies trends and issues surrounding workforce training and recommends ways to reshape existing interdisciplinary programs on campus. It also tries to identify and recommend improvements to any policies or practices at the college that are barriers for returning adult students.

A variety of adults pass through the Continuing Professional Studies Office. Some are professionals seeking specialized certification for areas such as tax preparation, driver education, and speech-language pathology. Others are nonmatriculating students who wish to expand their knowledge or pursue individualized studies as a degree-completion option. One of the newest populations to fall under the province of the office are returning veterans; Shaw-Burnett recently oversaw the creation of the Veterans Office.

“We work with adult part-time populations and offer credit programs and noncredit opportunities,” she said. “We’ve also worked directly with companies such as National Fuel, National Grid, Kaleida Health, United Way, and a number of school districts to provide opportunities.”

The Continuing Professional Studies Office oversees Summer Session and the development of distance-learning programs. It also creates special sections of existing courses and facilitates the creation of off-campus classes to serve specific populations, and underwrites stipends for faculty to teach these courses. For example, the office is helping local Head Start teachers’ aides obtain teaching degrees, and it also created career and technical education classes off-site in Wyoming County to help adults become certified to teach in area prisons.

Shaw-Burnett said the office also provides links between professors and outside organizations. One example is the creation of the Erie Niagara Coordinating Committee, a coalition under the Erie Niagara–Area Health Education Center (EN–AHEC) to help underrepresented populations become interested and thrive in the health-care field. Shaw-Burnett led the committee and helped secure a five-year, $2.6 million grant to help EN–AHEC become a self-sustaining nonprofit organization. Continuing Professional Studies continues to work with EN–AHEC and Buffalo State professors for specific education needs, such as designing health-care awareness and forensics workshops for the community.

The office also helps faculty in other ways, such as offering an online registration system that can be used for conferences. Shaw-Burnett also helped the School of Natural and Social Sciences with the purchase of a 12-passenger van for student field trips.

Continuing Professional Studies provides continuing-education credits to participants for a fee, and also oversees tuition vouchers for CSEA employees and for Public Employees Federation (PEF) employees through the Public Service Training Program (PSPT). It is working on a number of future initiatives, including a partnership with National Grid to help laid-off workers, and a partnership with the School of Education to help teachers’ aides in the Rochester City Schools.

In serving nontraditional student populations, the Continuing Professional Studies Office strives to act as a clearinghouse. “We help students through the application process for specialized studies,” Shaw-Burnett said. “Our goal is to save them time from having to navigate through a maze of forms.”

Continuing Professional Studies administers many programs to many students but maintains an overall focus by operating under the Academic and Student Affairs Office. “Our initiatives come from the provost,” Shaw-Burnett said. “The delegated tasks are designed to provide easy access for the adult population and reflect the college’s mission.”

To contact Continuing Professional Studies, call 878-5907.

By Mary A. Durlak

The number of majors in the dietetics programs, offered by the Dietetics and Nutrition Department, has more than doubled in the last five years, despite rigorous admissions standards and a daunting course load.

Suk Y. Oh, professor and chair of the department, hesitates to attribute the growth to any single factor. However, he can cite a number of initiatives that may have contributed, including extensive outreach. “We sent a letter to high school guidance counselors,” he said, “and we invited them to attend an open house in our department with high school juniors and seniors. We also visited career fairs at high schools and two-year colleges.” The department also works closely with admissions staff.

“We visit other departments at Buffalo State, too,” said Oh. “Our students must complete several chemistry and biology courses, so we visit chemistry and biology classes to talk to students about our program.” The department’s outreach efforts, combined with extensive media focus on nutrition-related topics, likely combined to contribute to the rise in dietetics enrollment, according to Oh.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) accredits both of the college’s dietetics programs through the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education. “Nutrition is about more than food,” said Oh. “Students must understand the biology and chemistry involved in obtaining nourishment from food.” He also emphasized the importance of nutrition in recovering and maintaining health. “You have to eat well to recover from any disease,” said Oh, “and a diet prescription must be based on evidence and research.”

To be eligible to take the exam necessary to earn the title “registered dietitian,” the ADA requires students to complete extensive clinical practicums under professional supervision. At Buffalo State, students who graduate from the coordinated dietetics program can take the exam immediately after graduating; students who graduate from the didactic dietetics program must go on to complete a 12-month internship. The coordinated dietetics program is the only such program offered in the SUNY system.

The clinical rotation prepares students to prescribe diets appropriate for patients with illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, cardiac problems, and gastroenterological disorders. Other patients with specific nutritional needs are children, burn victims, and patients facing surgery. Students also learn how to use nutrition to prevent the recurrence of chronic disease.

Oh noted that students who complete the coordinated program often graduate with more than 140 credit hours, especially if they are transfer students. “It’s an expensive program to run because students must be supervised by our faculty,” he said.

Julie Willard, ’98, graduated from the coordinated dietetics program. “At the end of the practicum,” she said, “I felt very well prepared to do this work.” Today, she is the dietitian for the neonatal intensive care unit at Sisters of Charity Hospital. “I develop recipes based on how the babies are developing and what their needs are,” she said. “I love it. Buffalo State worked out perfectly for me.”

By Phyllis Camesano

Proof that it takes a village, legions of volunteers and service-learning students from Buffalo State College are helping the beleaguered Asarese-Matters Youth Center achieve its vision of being a safe afterschool haven for at-risk youths to learn and play.

The center, located on Rees Street adjacent to the Buffalo State College campus, serves about 300 youths, ages 8 to 18, each week. Nearly half the young people who frequent the center in the summer are considered at-risk as they are passed from one relative’s or friend’s home to another. Many are newly arrived refugees who speak little English, indicative of the more than 70 languages spoken on the West Side.

The Asarese Youth Center was established in 1989. It is named in honor of Ottaviano “Tovie” Asarese and Alona Matters. Asarese founded and sponsored countless West Side sports teams through his Royal Printing Shop, which he still operates on Grant Street. Matters was a community activist who championed the need for a West Side youth center and served on the building committee.

Starting in fall 2005, Buffalo State Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC) students and faculty have been working with the community and the center’s staff to improve the building, programming, and safety. More than 15 service-learning classes have been involved in the revitalization of the center.

“What surprises me most is that people haven’t given up,” said director Mike Milovich. At the helm for 21 years, Milovich has championed and guided the center as it has moved between city and county ownership, often falling off nearly everyone’s radar.

In 2006, Buffalo State College increased its involvement and, working with Milovich, provided the momentum for continued change. Under the direction of Marian Deutschman, interim director of the College and Community Partnerships Office (CCP), and Gary Welborn, associate professor and Sociology Department chair, a special taskforce was created to help address the center’s needs. The taskforce eventually became “The Friends of Asarese,” a group composed of campus and community stakeholders, chaired by Thomas Koller, senior associate director of intercollegiate athletics.

With Buffalo State support, more improvements were made. City and county officials began addressing leaks, poor lighting, and other repairs. New York State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt donated computers and started to secure funds for a new gym floor. Buffalo State social work and psychology students provided tutoring. Based on input from youths at the center, design students developed renderings and recommendations for new colors, furniture, and fixtures. The college’s Athletics Department donated paint, materials, and labor for new flooring in the art room.

These and other improvements have helped the appearance and safety of the facility; however, the biggest change has come from establishing formalized programming, largely through the work of the VSLC, which is housed in the Career Development Center at Buffalo State.

In particular, formalized sports programming has helped relieve tensions that often arise between ethnic groups. Most recently, Milovich explained, the neighborhood kids from Somalia started squaring off with the newly arrived kids from Burma. “Sports are the great equalizer,” he said. “A ball rolls across the gym floor and they all go for it.” To that end, there are now football and soccer nights, as well as travel meets at other recreation centers.

For girls, there are arts and crafts, including Girls Night on Thursdays, and bingo. But that wasn’t always the case. Two years ago, Buffalo State sociology students observed that the boys played sports while the girls sat on the bleachers. The students surveyed the youths and made recommendations for programming.

Throughout all these improvements, CCP associate Michele Graves has worked with the Alumni Association and the VSLC to conduct periodic drives for clothing and toiletries. Most recently, more than 200 people came to the center for free clothes, books, toys, and household items, many of them walking out in warm winter coats onto snowy streets.

“It’s a little sea change happening on the West Side,” says Susannah White, VSLC associate. “To a person walking by, the center doesn’t look like much. It’s what’s happening inside that’s better, and that’s what really matters.”

By Mary A. Durlak

Seven of every 100 children born won’t live to see their fifth birthday. The connection between that statistic and anthropology will be covered in a topics course, “Anthropology of Disease,” to be offered in spring 2010 by Julie Wieczkowski, assistant professor of anthropology.

Topics courses are a valuable method for developing and evaluating courses before subjecting them to the rigorous review necessary to become a regular part of the college’s course offerings.

“Teaching a topics course can keep faculty members revitalized,” said Dennis Gaffin, associate professor and interim chair of anthropology. “A professor usually chooses to create a course based on his or her passion and area of expertise, so it can be a rewarding course for students.”

Wieczkowski will explore illness from an anthropological perspective. Besides infant mortality, students will learn how a society’s culture contributes to the understanding, spread, and prevention of disease; how disease manifests itself in the archaeological record; and how anthropologists contribute to the fight against disease.

“One of my major advisers in graduate school studied epidemiology,” said Wieczkowski, “and I developed an interest in the spread of disease.” Wieczkowski is a physical anthropologist who conducts research on primates. Physical anthropology, also known as biological anthropology, is a science that studies human biological origins, evolution, and variation.

Undergraduate topics courses are numbered 189 or 389, preceded by the course prefix. A course can be taught only twice before either being dropped or submitted for curricular approval. However, all topics courses must be approved by the chair, dean, and provost no later than two weeks before the start of the class.

“If the course attracts students,” said Gaffin, “and supports the department’s goals, the chair and dean will forward it to the Curriculum Committee for review by the College Senate.”

Sometimes a topics course is designed to explore new programmatic offerings. That’s the case with a new course in the Theater Department, “Acting for New Media,” which will be offered in the spring by an adjunct faculty member, Shaun McLaughlin, ’84.

“Shaun is leading a collaborative group of professionals from on and off campus who are creating an integrated media degree program for us,” said Drew Kahn, professor and chair of theater. “He has a wealth of industry expertise as a result of a long career in L.A., where he has been a successful animator, director, writer, and producer.” Among McLaughlin’s credits are several of the Batman movies including Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

By “new media,” McLaughlin means animation, digitally enhanced film, and Web video productions. “Doing voices for animation,” he said, “is more than just doing funny voices. You have to be able to create a character and act.” Gollum, the antihero of the Lord of the Rings movies, was built by filming an actor in a special costume that enabled computers to capture his movement. “That kind of acting, ironically, requires a return to some classical modes of acting, such as mime,” said McLaughlin.

“Topics courses are a valuable tool for any faculty member who wants to share a particular area of interest,” said Karen O’Quin, associate dean of the School of Natural and Social Sciences. “Sometimes teaching such a course opens up new avenues for both students and faculty.”

By Tony Astran

Buffalo State’s Science Teaching Center, located in the basement of the Science Building, houses a one-of-a-kind collection that is beginning to attract attention from international scholars. The Donald L. Birdd Historic Science Education Curriculum Library chronicles the development of science teaching curricula in the United States from the early 1800s to the present day. The collection contains some 6,000 textbooks, many of them quite rare.

The library is named for Donald L. Birdd, professor emeritus of earth sciences and science education, who retired last year after a 23-year career with Buffalo State. Birdd is credited with extraordinary efforts to preserve materials that would otherwise have been discarded, but he insists the library is not “his.”

“The collection is really a credit to a lot of people, particularly highly involved leaders from Buffalo State who helped shape national curricula,” Birdd said. “When I arrived on campus, it was clear to me, upon seeing the materials on hand, that this was a collection that could not reach the trash barrel.”

The Birdd Library includes textbooks, journals, posters, and multimedia. Catherine Lange, assistant professor of earth sciences and science education, began the painstaking process of documenting and organizing materials shortly after joining Buffalo State in 2007. Together with Birdd and Michele Parente, instructional support specialist for earth sciences and science education, she has neatly categorized the books by subject and type, and maintains an ongoing list online.

Lange said scholars from the international community have begun to take notice of the rare materials available, and some have borrowed books for research projects. She points to the post-Sputnik era of the 1960s as an impetus for the accumulation of materials.

“After Sputnik launched, the U.S. responded by placing more emphasis on K–12 science and math classes, and revisited curricula and materials,” she said. “Buffalo State professors such as Joyce Swartney, Robert Davitt, James Orgren, and Robert Horvat all played a role in developing national curricula.”

Birdd said he was one of the first teachers to use new materials in 1960s when he taught high school students. Lange credits him for recognizing the importance of preserving materials and for collecting textbooks from local schools. “The collection displays the history of our discipline, how we developed pedagogy, and also how Buffalo State played a role in shaping national policy,” she said. “No one has a collection this expansive anywhere in the world, and I think its value is just beginning to be realized.”

Lange said students find materials in the Birdd Library helpful—especially graduate students who must take a curricular trends course in order to earn a master’s degree in science education.

For now, Birdd Library materials are housed in various locations throughout the Science Teaching Center, including rooms 100, 103, 127, and 133. Once the science and mathematics complex is constructed, all the materials will be housed there. Birdd also has more books at his residence to add to the collection.

Lange said a dedicated space for the Birdd Library will help to better secure the collection. Her goal is to get books into the Library of Congress.

“We’re pretty lucky to have this collection here on campus,” she said. “This part of our identity as an institution is something we can be proud of. The collection reflects with pride on our intellectual heritage.”

Birdd said he’s glad he held on to so many materials and thinks they provide students and scholars with a rich sense of history.

“It’s important to have an understanding of where we came from, before we plot where to move ahead,” he said. “Otherwise, we’re bound to repeat ourselves.”

By Phyllis Camesano

Fall enrollment of veterans and military personnel at Buffalo State is up 30 percent over last spring and is expected to grow further. The increase is indicative of a trend on campuses nationwide spurred by the new, expanded Post-9/11 GI Bill, stepped-up recruiting efforts, and the job-constrained economy.

At Buffalo State, several new programs and initiatives have been started to help veterans and military personnel transition to campus life and to expedite paperwork required for certification and benefits. In Cleveland Hall, the Veterans Office was established under the direction of Associate Vice President Margaret Shaw-Burnett as part of her role with Continuing Professional Studies. In the Registrar’s Office, the often time-consuming task of veteran certification has come under the purview of Gail Rettig, associate registrar, and Pamela Bohin, agency program aide. Both offices are staffed by veterans who bring valued expertise and perspective.

“It is great having the veterans and military personnel on campus,” said Shaw-Burnett. “They bring a level of excellence and worldview that is valuable to all. We also recognize their unique circumstances and the need for special communication, connections, and resources.”

The Post-9/11 GI Bill expands benefits offered under the Montgomery GI Bill, which was enacted in 1985. The new option is offered to veterans of recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and veterans who were on active duty after September 11, 2001, and may include tuition, housing, and books, depending on the length of service. Direct dependents and survivors of veterans are also eligible.

According to Shaw-Burnett, many veterans and members of the military are new to college and need help transitioning from the formal structure and hierarchy of the military to life on campus. Others have been away from the classroom and may need remedial courses. Most need help deciphering and processing benefits.

“While most veterans are mature beyond their years and groomed to be stoic in the face of challenges, they still need help,” said Shaw-Burnett. “With limited resources, we are trying to package and communicate what’s available on campus.”

The Veterans Office functions as a one-stop shop, responsible for recruitment and advisement, admissions and financial-aid counseling, orientation, and new GI Bill information, as well as a liaison to other veterans on campus. Coordinator of veterans services Keisha Dobney, a senior airwoman in the Air Force Reserves, has been instrumental in re-establishing the Buffalo State College Armed Services Organization, which now meets every other week. The organization has proved to be an effective way for veterans to meet other veterans and share information.

For all veterans, their first stop is the Veterans Certification Office in Moot Hall. Rettig, Bohin, and the veteran work-study students work closely with the local Veterans Administration (VA) to ensure that paperwork is received and expedited. Early in the semester, when claims became backlogged at the VA and classes had already started, the Veterans Certification Office worked with Financial Aid to assist veterans in determining if they were eligible for other types of financial aid.

“In general, the vets come to you for help,” said Bohin. “A vet is always going to be polite, but I can see in their faces how eager they are to understand the system and make it work for them.”

For Veterans Day celebrations, Dobney has worked with Armed Services Organization leaders, Marine veteran Nathaniel Rey and Air Force Security Forces veterans Peter and Monica Trippi, on special tributes that will take place that week. On Monday, November 9, the Marine Corps Reserve will lead a color guard from the west side of the Campbell Student Union to the Veterans’ Memorial plaque near Rockwell Hall during Bengal Pause. At the memorial, 300 American flags will be placed, each representing 11 dead from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Organization members also plan to have the Rockwell Hall bell tower illuminated in red, white, and blue.

Everyone is invited to attend the annual Armed Services Reunion on Saturday, November 14, at the American Legion Niagara Frontier Post 1041, 533 Amherst Street. The event, which begins at noon, honors Buffalo State alumni, students, emeriti, faculty, and staff who have served or are serving in any branch of the United States or Allied military services.

By Mary A. Durlak

In recognition of the excellent service that E. H. Butler Library provides to its patrons, the Western New York Library Resources Council (WNYLRC) gave the annual Outstanding Library Award to Butler Library in October.

“We are thrilled and delighted to receive this award,” said Maryruth Glogowski, associate vice president for library and instructional technology, “especially during these times of fiscal challenge. It’s good for our staff to know that their hard work is recognized and respected.”

The award emphasizes service and pays tribute to creativity and innovation in program development, leadership in creating new or enhanced services that other libraries can emulate, and improvements in physical facilities that result in better service. The WNYLRC is a consortium of libraries and library systems serving six Western New York counties. Its members include academic, corporate, hospital, public, school, and special libraries.

Butler Library was recognized for a variety of innovative programs and services developed over the past year, including the Green Initiative program, which encourages environmental awareness and stewardship. Its activities include a workshop series that featured topics such as earth-friendly cleaning and recycling tips, and brought local community groups such as Urban Roots and Buffalo ReUse on campus. The Green Initiative team also established a Magazine Exchange Program with three stations in the library for patrons to drop off gently used magazines to share. Librarians have also created an environmental study guide to aid students researching environmental topics.

The Rooftop Poetry Club continues to attract new users to the library by holding poetry readings, open-mike events, and workshops. Its success serves as a model for other libraries.

“We work really well as a team,” said Lisa Forrest, who founded the Rooftop Poetry Club in 2005. “We couldn’t do this, or any of our initiatives, without the support of Maryruth and Maureen [Lindstrom]. It’s a very creative environment.”

A new “Ask Me” help desk, an extension of the successful Information Commons initiative, is set up in the library’s lobby during its busiest hours. It’s a place to get answers for quick questions, including directions. To navigate the library, colorful new posters have been hung throughout the library as a visual aid to help library patrons find books by subject. “This project was a partnership between the library and the Instructional Resources department,” said Forrest.

The library has also established an Applications Support Desk, which provides support for all software loaded on library computers. It also serves as an equipment loan center for the campus community.

“All these programs serve our patrons and further our mission,” said Glogowski. “We hope that our colleagues in other area libraries can benefit from our experiences.”

By Tony Astran

The Information Technology Exchange Center (ITEC) is one of several special-purpose SUNY-wide organizations. More than 60 SUNY institutions work with ITEC, but only one—Buffalo State—is lucky enough to have it physically located on campus.

Formed in 1989, ITEC supports computer-related group activities to improve the quality, quantity, and cost-effectiveness of computing services for individual campuses and university-wide programs throughout SUNY. Michael Notarius, ’85, chief technology officer of ITEC, said the shared access to common software saves time and money for campuses that would otherwise provide programs independently. And ITEC’s location at Buffalo State, he said, offers the college added benefits.

“We’re a centralized clearinghouse for university-wide software and applications,” he said. “And since we’re located here at Buffalo State, we’re able to share data center facilities and mutually enhance the college’s existing technology.”

ITEC shares space with Computing and Technology Services in Twin Rise and has worked jointly with Buffalo State College to bring additional Internet network capabilities to both organizations. It manages ALEPH, the SUNY-wide library catalog database that powers the SUNYConnect program, for 54 campuses. It also hosts ANGEL and Banner for 26 campuses, including Buffalo State’s Banner system.

Don Erwin, senior associate vice president for information services and systems, found ITEC’s presence on campus especially valuable during the migration from STARS to Banner.

“The ITEC staff helped us to quickly learn how to navigate Banner,” he said. “They gave us added resources and expertise, which saved time and money.”

ITEC manages a variety of software used by Buffalo State faculty and staff, such as Opinio surveys, Oracle databases, and department-specific software that is part of the SUNY-wide Academic Software Initiative. It also provides backup servers for applications such as Banner.

Additionally, ITEC supplements other SUNY-wide programs, providing information technology services for SUNYConnect; the SUNY Center for Professional Development; the SUNY-wide Technology Contracts Program; the SUNY Learning Network, a campuswide support system for online classes; and the Student Information and Campus Administrative Systems (SICAS) Center, which provides software, service, and training for SunGard Higher Education products.

Training and education is as much a priority for ITEC as technological support. ITEC is a key player for three SUNY-wide conferences: the annual Conference on Instructional Technologies (CIT) for SUNY faculty and instructional support professionals; Wizard, which is typically held twice a year for a discussion of specific technology issues; and the SUNY Technology Conference (STC), an annual online conference.

ITEC’s 40 staff members are divided into three units: application services, administrative services, and systems and telecommunications support. While they focus on providing service across SUNY, they are also immersed in the Buffalo State community. A number of student interns are hired each semester, and the Ron Brown ITEC Scholarship fund has awarded a total of $5,500 to eight Buffalo State students since 2004.

Notarius, a graduate of Buffalo State’s computer information systems program, said he is happy that he and his staff are part of the Buffalo State community. He invites all faculty and staff to contact him anytime to find out more about ITEC. To reach ITEC’s main office, call 878-4832.