By Phyllis Camesano

Seven Buffalo State College music faculty members are featured in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of composer John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan, which won two Grammy Awards earlier this month.

The recording was recognized in two of the three categories for which it was nominated: classical vocal performance and classical contemporary composition.

Faculty members who worked on the recording were Amy Glidden, lecturer, violin and BPO associate concertmaster; Jacqueline Galluzzo, lecturer, BPO assistant principal second violin; Kate Holzemer, lecturer, BPO violist; Amélie Fradette, lecturer, BPO cellist; Jacek Muzyk, lecturer, BPO principal French horn; Susan Schuman, lecturer, accompanist; and Bradley Fuster, department chair and associate professor of percussion.

“This award affirms the talent in our department and presents another milestone as we move toward accepting string majors,” said Fuster. The Music Department recently received full accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). As part of its continued expansion, the department has formed an association with Western New York’s Clara String Quartet, composed of BPO members Fradette, Galluzo, Glidden, and Holzemer, who will become faculty in residence at Buffalo State starting in the fall.

In recognition of this association with the college, the quartet will perform a special concert in the Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall on April 1 at 8:00 p.m. They will perform Beethoven’s “String Quartet Op. 18 No. 1,” Bela Bartók’s “String Quartet No. 1,” and “La Oración del Torero” (the Toreador’s Prayer) by Joaquin Turina. Tickets are $10 for the general public, $5 for seniors 60 and older, and free for students with ID from any school. To purchase tickets, call 878-3005.

By Tony Astran

One of China’s leading news and entertainment channels, Hunan Satellite TV, plans to air an hour-long documentary on Tuesday, May 12, on the experience of students in the SUNY China 150 Program. The 17 students at Buffalo State as well as a few faculty and staff members will be featured in the film, which is meant to be a message of hope on the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province.

A film crew from China taped campus footage and interviews for two and a half days last week. Buffalo State will be one of at least four campuses featured in the documentary, which will include Stony Brook University, SUNY Farmingdale, and SUNY Oswego. The airing will be broadcast throughout China and reach as many as 1 billion viewers.

Helping to coordinate student interviews and footage of classroom sessions and campus activity were Jean Gounard, director of international student affairs; Scott Johnson, interim dean of University College and associate vice president for undergraduate education; and Zhang Jie, professor of sociology and director of the Center for China Studies. All will be featured in the film. The crew also interviewed Joan McCool, director of the Counseling Center, and Stephen Gareau, assistant professor of computer information systems.

The Hunan Satellite crew includes Liu Qian, a Sichuan native and producer who received national awards in 2007 for her work on reality television programming, and Gong Wenbin, the channel’s chief cameraperson. Speaking through translator Lin Wei, director of China Programs for SUNY, Liu said she was particularly impressed by the initiatives Buffalo State created to make the 17 Chinese students feel welcome, such as faculty mentoring, peer mentoring in the residence halls, host families, and English conversation practice in the classroom with students.

“We really appreciate what Buffalo State College has done for these students and how the community has embraced them,” Liu said. “Viewers in China will be thrilled to see the transformation of these students.”

Johnson told the crew how successful the SUNY China 150 Program was here.

“I said that it was refreshing to see some things we often take for granted through eyes that are seeing it fresh,” he said. “The fun and enthusiasm that the students brought to many of their experiences was contagious.”

The television crew will return in May to escort the students back to China. Prior to the crew’s arrival, the Counseling Center and others will establish a reentry counseling program to help the students adjust to their return home.

“When these students head back to their hometowns—which are still recovering from the earthquake—they could experience a second culture shock,” Gounard said.

It is hoped that the experience of the SUNY China 150 Program and the upcoming documentary will provide the students with happy memories.

“This documentary is a gift for the students,” Liu said. “And it’s our way of saying ‘thank you’ to SUNY. It’s important for these students to know they’re loved and not alone.”

Zhang said the film could bolster relations between China and the United States.

“The documentary will influence people over there,” he said. “They will appreciate what Americans have done for their children.”

Liu said that Buffalo State faculty and staff should feel proud of a job well done.

“Each person’s actions touched the souls of these students,” Liu said. “Every smile counts. This experience will be part of these students’ memories for the rest of their lives. And because of this, hopefully the faculty at Buffalo State will feel that their jobs are even more meaningful.”

By Tony Astran

Most junior- and senior-year high school students today are fairly engaged in the college preparation and search process. For middle school students, however, college may be one of the furthest things from their minds.

But with a new pilot program called “Middle School Matters,” Buffalo State aims to help students in the Buffalo Public Schools learn that it’s never too early to start preparing.

Buffalo State and SUNY Brockport are the only two SUNY schools currently conducting this program, which was modeled after a similar successful initiative in California. Charles Kenyon, dean of students, applied for and received an $8,000 grant made possible by New York State assemblyman and Buffalo State alumnus Sam Hoyt, ’92. Kenyon is working with Patrice Cathey, director of the Liberty Partnerships Program, to administer the program.

Buffalo State hosted a half-day conference in Bulger Communication Center on Saturday, January 31, that included lunch and a keynote address from Hoyt. Kenyon said the conference was filled to capacity—about 200 students and parents attended.

“Representatives from the college discussed topics such as financial aid, scholarships, and admissions,” he said. “Parents learned how keep their students ‘on track’ and get them enrolled in precollege programs through Buffalo State.”

Cathey said Middle School Matters is a particularly good fit for the Liberty Partnerships Program.

“Before the grant became available, we had wanted to create a middle school parent-centered program,” she said. “There is strong parental support for schooling at the middle school level. But some parents don’t know what questions to ask or what they should be doing with respect to college preparation. Many first-generation parents especially need the extra guidance.”

Buffalo State’s Liberty Partnerships Program was the first of its kind in the state in 1988; fifty-four such programs now exist. Buffalo State’s focus is on college preparation with an emphasis on helping middle school students. About 300 of the 400 students served by the Liberty Partnerships Program are in middle school, so its management of Middle School Matters seems well-suited.

The Liberty Partnerships Program also places Buffalo State education majors in local classrooms as tutors, administers afterschool programs, provides supplemental learning materials for teachers, organizes cultural workshops, and manages the High School Future Teachers Club with CEURE.

As part of the next phase of Middle School Matters, Cathey is designing a series of four workshops for local parents this semester. She plans to cover topics that were frequently noted on conference evaluation forms, such as how to get involved with the Educational Opportunity Program and how to handle in-school conflicts such as bullying.

In addition, Cathey hopes to create a four-day summer program where students can learn about academic support, early SAT preparation, and character-building experiences. So far, Cathey said, parent reaction has been extremely positive, and many have asked to be placed on a contact list for future events.

“Early preparation equals success,” she said. “Middle School Matters is all about teaching students and their parents the steps they need to take to get there. Children need the right frame of mind for studying and being positive—right now.”

By Jerod Dahlgren

Bengal Magazine, Intercollegiate Athletics’ own television show, has expanded its visibility. In addition to streaming online, the 30-minute show now airs on Time Warner Cable SportsNet (channel 13) in Western New York on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., alongside similar programs from the University at Buffalo and Syracuse University.

The show, which features Buffalo State coaches, student-athletes, and guests, tapes every two weeks in Instructional Resources’ television studios. Hosted by associate athletics director Tom Koller and co-produced by sports information director Jeff Ventura, the show got its start in September 2006 as the Intercollegiate Athletics Department was looking for new ways to reach its fans and supporters.

“As the competition for airtime on local television stations and space in area newspapers has increased in recent years, we needed to find other ways to promote ourselves,” Ventura said. “We’ve done that through what we call ‘self media’—allowing us to bypass the gatekeepers and control our message through vehicles such as Bengal Magazine and our Web site.”

Despite not having a place on traditional television in the first two years of production, Koller said the show was well received online.

“We have a former track-and-field athlete down in Atlanta who watches us religiously online,” Koller said. “He wrote back after the first couple tapings and said he loved the show. The Web is a marvelous thing. The show has provided us with a cost-effective way to reconnect with former student-athletes all over the country.”

Last fall, the show began collaborating with COM 388, Broadcast Practicum, taught by associate professor of communication Paul DeWald, which enables students to get hands-on experience shooting stock footage, editing short features, and taping the show in the studio. Koller and Ventura serve as adjuncts in the Communication Department as well.

“It has been an excellent experience for the students,” Ventura said.

Students also get a chance to learn from the professional staff of Pat Trinkley, Ken Giangreco, Dave Ross, and Paul Smith in Instructional Resources, a group that Koller credits for the success of the show.

“The gang in Instructional Resources has been absolutely wonderful to work with,” Koller said. “Without their commitment, Bengal Magazine wouldn’t be as successful as it is today. We think the show continues to improve and, it appears, Time Warner thinks so, too.”

By Mary A. Durlak

“Vernacular music is history,” said Al Riess, reference librarian at E. H. Butler Library. “It comes out of a particular culture, and it tells that culture’s story.” For the last 20 years, Riess has given up his Saturday mornings to share those stories with anyone willing to listen.

Riess has been a fixture on WBNY-FM 91.3 since October 1988, when his radio show, Rooting About: The Folk and Roots Music Show, debuted. Today he’s on the air every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. He presents The C-JAM Show: The Classics of Jazz and More, which includes jazz and jazz-influenced singers from the 1920s through the 1960s, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. After that, Riess presents Rhythm, Roots, and Rock ’n’ Roll, an hour of music that backs up Riess’s assertion that rock and roll didn’t start in 1955, as many believe; its early licks date back to blues, R & B, rockabilly, and vintage country from the 1920s on. “I’ve been getting out of doing chores on Saturday mornings for 20 years,” he said.

Instead, he took on the job of acquiring a massive roots music library for WBNY. “I started out with the CD era,” said Riess, “so I contacted recording labels on behalf of the station, asking for music to play and review.” WBNY has more than 7,000 such recordings, organized alphabetically and locked in double-door cabinets, thanks to Riess’s efforts over the last 20 years.

In the Buffalo News in 1993, Mark Shechner wrote, “Riess is a model DJ…because he is an avid music researcher…who knows more about his corner of music than his audience and has dedicated himself to passing on what he knows.”

Indeed, Riess’s knowledge is encyclopedic. Riess has reviewed more than 900 recordings for Dirty Linen, a highly regarded folk and world music magazine. He casually refers to record labels that were around long before the term “indie” was popular—Arhoolie, Shanachie, Sunshine, even Rounder, a label probably unfamiliar to most people until its release Raising Sand, by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, won five Grammys this month. He’s steeped in everything from Tex-Mex music to the traditional Joik songstyle of Scandinavia and can recall song titles at the drop of a hat.

“Here’s one,” said Riess, pulling out Trouble in Mind by Big Bill Broonzy. “This has the song ‘Black, Brown, and White.’” It’s the song that 87-year-old Rev. Joseph Lowery referred to when he offered the benediction at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, praying that all races can join together in a new beginning.

Riess’s own beginnings focused squarely on music. Like many of his peers, he spent his nights with a transistor radio pressed against his ear, listening to the music of the British Invasion. He owns all the No. 1 pop hits from 1964 to 1969.

Riess, who started his career at E. H. Butler Library in 1980, approached WBNY at the urging of his friends. “They said, ‘You have an incredible collection of records,’” Riess recalled. “‘Why don’t you see if you can get a spot on WBNY?’”

So he pitched the idea to the program director of WBNY, which is a USG-funded student organization, and Riess was offered the Saturday-morning slot for Rooting About.

The show featured “all kinds of folk, traditional, ethnic, and world roots music,” according to Riess. And something else: knowledge.

Riess’s show is in the tradition of DJs from music radio’s glory days, when DJs picked the music they wanted to play for their listeners and brought real knowledge to their programs. Riess has never lost his passion for music and the power of radio to share that passion.

“Radio is my favorite mass medium,” he said. “I’m grateful that I’ve been able to be part of it.”

To listen to WBNY-FM online, visit the station’s Web site.

By Mark Norris

Established a decade ago, the International Graduate Programs for Educators (IGPE) program provides students worldwide with the opportunity to engage in the college’s multidisciplinary degree program. In November, 26 host sites were affirmed as additional locations of Buffalo State College by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education.

This designation means that Buffalo State’s instructional programs in such far-reaching locales as Colombia, Ghana, and Taiwan are now included within the scope of the college’s Middle States accreditation.

“We are the largest program of its kind in the United States,” said IGPE director Carolyn Brunner. “And we’ve crafted programs that are unique and different for each school.” The IGPE program currently provides more than 800 educational professionals living abroad with the opportunity to earn advanced degrees.

Before accrediting a college’s or university’s off-site locations, the Middle States Commission requires the completion of an extensive report and on-site evaluations.

In the summer and fall of 2008, IGPE coordinated and financed visitations to the Carol Morgan School, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; the American School of Tegucigalpa, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and the Columbus School, in Medellin, Colombia.

Thanks to Brunner’s persistence and guidance from Rosalyn Lindner, associate vice president for curriculum and assessment, both the report and site inspections passed the requirements of the Middle States’ Committee on Substantive Change with flying colors.

“Interestingly, the committee asked for no changes to the report, which is highly unusual,” Brunner said. “Usually, you get some sort of recommendations for changes. We were very pleased because we passed on the first go-round.” Brunner also reported that the Middle State liaison was duly impressed with the quality of the host facilities and the instruction delivered on site.

The next evaluation visit is scheduled for 2012–2013.

By Tony Astran

A series of free workshops will be available on campus later this month to help faculty better understand the CASTL Campus Program at Buffalo State College and learn how to prepare an effective proposal for one of three available $3,000 fellowships.

This unique opportunity combines teaching and research and simultaneously answers departmental and campus needs.

“Teaching and research are often considered to be separate clusters of tasks,” said Cheryl Albers, associate professor of sociology and CASTL Campus Program coordinator. “With a CASTL Fellowship, a single project can link teaching and research.”

The workshop is a two-part session run by Albers. She is offering two opportunities for faculty to participate: Wednesdays, February 11 and 25, from noon to 1:00 p.m., or Thursdays, February 26 and March 5, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. All trainings will take place in Twin Rise 102.

During the first session, participants will learn what “scholarship of teaching and learning” means and how CASTL projects can relate to campus needs identified by the provost and the 2009–2013 Strategic Plan.

“The word ‘teaching’ can be misleading, as some may think the fellowship is designed to reward good teachers,” Albers said. “The research is really about systematically studying what is happening in the classroom.”

In the second session, participants will learn how to prepare a quality proposal for a CASTL Fellowship. Albers will discuss how to gather data, how to add CASTL-specific elements to an existing study, and how to devote time to the project and keep the workload manageable.

“I’ve noticed that the quality of the CASTL Fellowship proposals has improved each year,” she said. “I think there is generally more support for CASTL across campus as departments have come to understand the value of the research.”

Since the program’s inception in 2002, 20 faculty members from 14 departments have been awarded CASTL Fellowships. The program will continue for the 2009–2010 academic year and beyond. But the current sponsorship of the Carnegie Foundation is coming to a close.

Because of strong leadership from Buffalo State and the other 11 international “cluster leader” institutions in conjunction with the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching of Learning (ISSOTL), the Carnegie Foundation has decided to allow ISSOTL to nurture the scholarship of teaching and learning movement. Albers calls the change a “natural transition” and said the Buffalo State Campus Program may still be called CASTL despite the change in support from the Carnegie Foundation.

Albers believes the investigations of CASTL fellows have helped further research on how different teaching environments can affect learning outcomes. She encourages interested tenured and tenure-track faculty members to register for the upcoming workshops and apply by Wednesday, April 1, for a CASTL Fellowship.

“It does take time to participate in a CASTL project, but very often, the work is valuable to your whole department if not the entire campus,” Albers said. “There are many outlets for presenting and publishing the research, and the work can spin off into other colleagues getting interested in your study. It’s a motivating and renewing experience.”

By Mary A. Durlak

After years of computer evolution and millions of gigabytes, the high-tech revolution has transformed a librarian’s work in ways unimaginable even a decade ago. Yet the role of the librarian, in its most essential function, has not changed at all.

“Our role remains what it has always been—to help our patrons get the information they need,” said Maureen Lindstrom, associate director for information commons at E. H. Butler Library.

By embracing both innovation and tradition, E. H. Butler Library has become a leader not only among SUNY libraries but also across New York State. EBSCO, a major vendor of the information databases provided by libraries, told Lindstrom that Butler Library patrons conducted more searches of EBSCO’s offerings than did patrons of any other college library in New York State, public or private.

What this tells Lindstrom is that the patron-centered focus emphasized by the creation of Information Commons in 2004 is paying off. Information Commons was designed to be a one-stop shop where students could have all their questions answered. It was the first such setup in SUNY and has served as a model for other campuses within and outside of the SUNY system. Today, Information Commons includes StudyQuad, the Reference Desk, the Rooftop Poetry Club, the Application Support Desk (offering students help using software), the Computing Help Desk, digital equipment loans for academic purposes, the Writing Help Center, and a Student Advisement Office, which answers students’ general nonacademic questions. Oh, yes: students can pick up their ID cards and bus passes there, too.

That’s the brick-and-mortar part of it. Lindstrom noted that the virtual library is continuously expanding. The bits and bytes of information stored on digital networks have become more accessible to students, due in large part to librarian Al Riess’s wizardly way with databases. Working with tools provided by the vendors who supply electronic periodicals, journals, and books, Riess has developed streamlined ways for students to find information.

“Students tell us that their professors don’t want any information from Google or Wikipedia,” said Riess. “So they need to use more sophisticated search tools effectively. We have developed ways for them to get targeted results through database searches.” For example, one such search scans only peer-reviewed journals; another search brings students to full-text articles. More full-text resources are constantly being made available: the library will soon offer 50,000 books online. Even old publications have been digitized. The oldest journal available in electronic format, Philosophical Transactions, dates back to 1665.

The library’s staff has aggressively reached out to the student community by integrating library research with freshman orientation, by providing each academic department with a library liaison, and by working closely with faculty members to improve students’ academic research skills.

“We taught 2,250 students in our individual bibliographic instruction course between July and December 2008,” said Lindstrom.

Librarians are faculty members who have the same professional obligations as professors, including scholarship, service, and professional growth. One way the library has deepened its level of service is to pay attention to feedback from focus groups.

“We implemented the ideas we got from a focus group,” said Riess. “Putting desktop references such as dictionaries and encyclopedias on the library’s Web site was one simple idea that has worked very well.” Another simple idea was to move the reference librarians to the front of the circulation desk.

“It’s easier for students to see your face,” said Riess, “and they are more likely to approach you.”

In fact, students are asking more questions of reference librarians these days. “About five years ago,” said Lindstrom, “use of reference librarians was down. Now we have two people busy all the time. That’s rare among libraries.”

“The questions are meatier and more complex, too,” said Riess.

That’s a good thing to a librarian. “When your patron says ‘I wish I would have asked you for help sooner,’” said Lindstrom, “it’s the best feeling in the world.”

By Phyllis Camesano

As Buffalo State College and all SUNY institutions face enormous fiscal challenges during the upcoming legislative session, SUNY has launched an aggressive budget advocacy initiative.

The campaign, called “SUNY Advocates,” urges all campus communities to help build public support for investment, not cuts, in SUNY and provides the communication resources to rally friends and supporters, especially elected officials, on our behalf.

It centers on a special Web site with talking points, templates for letters, tips on writing effective e-mails, and basic action items for faculty, staff, students, and alumni to spread the word and recruit others in support of smart investment in SUNY.

The Buffalo State College community, friends, and supporters can use the Web site to sign a petition urging legislators to invest in SUNY. There are also letters that can be sent to all key constituents urging their support, a calendar of upcoming events, and news updates about the budget and legislative action.

“SUNY has made it easy for us to mobilize, make our case, and be heard,” said President Muriel A. Howard. “Strong state support for the State University of New York translates into a strong workforce and improved quality of life for all New Yorkers, now and for future generations. I urge everyone to use the advocacy tools, starting with signing the petition.”

The core tenet of SUNY budget advocacy is that a strong public higher education program is more important now than ever in assisting individuals with career development and New York State with economic recovery. SUNY’s budget recommendations, called the “pillars,” aim to unleash the power of SUNY while asking the state to simply cover its basic obligations:

• Pillar one makes the case for a state budget that provides funding to cover the mandatory costs associated with the state government’s negotiated contracts, energy costs, current student enrollment, and continued expansion of the recruitment of world-class research faculty and local training for critical, high-need jobs.
• Pillar two calls for a rational tuition policy that will allow students to properly plan for their educational costs and provide funding to enhance academic quality.
• Pillar three recommends more flexibility and less red tape, thereby facilitating public-private partnerships to unleash entrepreneurial opportunities on campuses and generate new revenues to help support academic missions and build local economies.
• Pillar four urges reforms that will enhance SUNY’s operational efficiencies and respond to the growing needs of local residents, businesses, and governments.

From now through March, the Legislature will be analyzing the governor’s proposed budget, including SUNY cuts, and also weighing outside opinions. This period defines a window of opportunity for creating a groundswell of support for investment in SUNY and the pillars as a reasoned strategy for progress without burdening New York State.

By Michael Rizzo

Fourteen student leaders and six faculty and staff members represented Buffalo State College in Washington, D.C., on January 20 for the inauguration of the nation’s 44th president, Barack Hussein Obama. Battling subfreezing temperatures and a crowd of more than 2 million people, the group witnessed history as America’s first black president took the oath of office and ushered in what he called “a new era of responsibility.”

“This whole journey was an unforgettable experience,” said Lamar Timmons-Long, a senior elementary education major who attended the two-day, all-expense-paid road trip sponsored by the Student Life Office. “We have faith for the future, hope for the future. This election empowered me,” he said.

The students, selected for their outstanding leadership abilities, watched as the democratic process created a profound change in America’s political landscape, said Gail Wells, director of student life. Along the way, they documented their experiences in various media formats for presentation to the college and community.

“It’s confirmation that as a nation there is growth,” said Sean Terry, a 20-year-old junior public communication major. “We’re growing. We’re changing. It’s good. I’m so excited. It’s like walking into The Wizard of Oz, opening the door, and everything’s in Technicolor. I hope for that.”

The action items on Obama’s agenda include the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a war on two fronts, and the crisis of global warming. But with the election of a president who wants all citizens, as he said in his inaugural address, to “begin again the work of remaking America,” the majority of voters see hope and change.

“With this election, I really saw a substantive change in people,” said Cliff Cawthon, a sophomore political science major and president of Students for Peace. “The climate of the nation, the climate of our community, became energized in a way in which there was a real, real hope. Seeing Barack Obama as our commander in chief will make us confront our demons and hopefully come out the better for it.”

Taking their cue from Obama’s presidential campaign, students utilized technology to share their experiences in real time. They regularly updated a Facebook page with notes, pictures, and video and audio recordings compiled through reflection, critical analysis, interviews, and journaling. A showcase of their final projects, titled “A New Dawn of American Leadership: Believing in Social Change,” will be presented at 7:00 p.m. Monday, February 2, in E. H. Butler Library 210.