On Thursday, October 7, 2004, the Career Development Center will be sponsoring the annual Graduate School Fair, from 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Social Hall. This event will give our students the chance to meet with representatives from more than 65 local, national, and international graduate and professional school programs, and to learn about the educational opportunities they have to offer. All students are welcome to attend the Graduate School Fair.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2005 Community Service Faculty Fellowship Program with the BSC Volunteer and Service-Learning Center (VSLC). Take advantage of this exciting new faculty opportunity! Faculty fellows receive a $1500 stipend, service-learning course conversion training, resources to assist with service-learning course development, and VSLC support through the implementation of the course. We invite all faculty to apply. Information and application materials can be found on the VSLC website, www.buffalostate.edu/offices/cdc/vslc or by calling Laura Hill Rao at 878.5811.

In order to avoid problems and delays with entering your fall grades on SABRE, please make sure that you can log in to the system. (If you have forgotten your SABRE password, please call SABRE Support at 878-3434. If you cannot log in to SABRE for any other reason, please call the Computing Help Desk at 878-4357 for assistance.)

Once you have successfully accessed the SABRE system, check to make sure that you can access your courses. For information, visit
www.buffalostate.edu/
sabre/facstaff and click on the link for "Using Faculty Self Service." The section on "View Student Lists" will guide you through the process of accessing your own class lists.

If you are able to access the system and your courses, you should be able to enter your grades in December.

If you should encounter problems with grading, please call the Registrar’s Office at 878-4811.

This year's SEFA/United Way Campaign has officially come to an end. The total contribution for 2005 is $160,591.56! Buffalo State has a tradition of generosity and leadership in supporting the Western New York community, and this year was no exception. We surpassed our goal of $147,000. Congratulations to the hundreds of Buffalo State faculty, staff, and emeriti who have generously donated in this time of considerable need.

Computing and Technology Services asks that if you will not be working over Winter Pause, please shut down your desktop computer and any peripherals. You may find your machine powered back on when you return in January, as CTS will be performing some automatic updates over the break. (This is to eliminate any delays you would experience on initial power-on when you return.)

The campus community is invited to attend a presentation by Darren Portis, candidate for the position of director of new student and residence life programs. Portis will speak at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, December 22, in E. H. Butler Library 210. He is currently the director of housing and residence life at Medaille College.

The Emergency Response Planning Group, part of the campuswide Emergency Preparedness Planning Committee, will present the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program. The CERT program consists of eight units and a final course review and disaster-simulation exercise. Units will be presented twice per month in three-hour intervals, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., in E. H. Butler Library 210. We will be offering this program on a cyclical basis so if a session is missed, it can be attended on the next cycle. The fifth session, CERT Organization, will be held on Wednesday, January 4. Refreshments will be served. For further information, including other session schedules and R.S.V.P. contacts, please visit www.buffalostate.edu/campusservices/x587.xml.

Orientation for incoming transfer and first-year students will be held Thursday, January 12, 2006. If you have questions about the program, please call the Orientation Office at ext. 5336 for information.

We would like to thank all of those who assisted us for their patience and consideration while we renovated the fire alarm system in Cassety Hall. The system for Cassety Hall should be completed and operational by the beginning of the new year.

With the end of the semester here, get into the holiday spirit with A Rockapella Holiday! The Performing Arts Center at Rockwell Hall continues its holiday celebrations with A Rockapella Holiday on Tuesday, December 20. USA Today says, "Some say the best musical instrument of all is the human voice; if you've seen Rockapella, you know that's the truth."