The McNair Scholars Alumni Chapter is holding a bowling fundraiser for our David Matyjasik Scholarship Fund on April 19th from 2:00 pm – 3:30 p.m. at Voelker’s Bowling Lanes on the corner of Elmwood & Amherst. The cost is $10 per person and includes two games of bowling and shoes. To purchase tickets or for more information you can call the McNair office at 878-3411 or email Jennifer Johnson at johnsoja@buffalostate.edu .

Your opinion counts! E. H. Butler Library is participating in a national Web-based survey called LibQUAL+, designed to measure library service quality and identify best practices. The survey runs from March 30th to April 17, 2009. In addition to helping the library plan for the future, you might win something! Butler Library will award one iPod as an incentive prize. Participation in the prize drawing is strictly voluntary, but if you want a chance to win, be sure to enter your email address at the end of the survey. Please take the survey: http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=236834

Faculty and staff are encouraged to serve as volunteer ushers for the 137th Commencement on Saturday, May 16. As many as 50 ushers are needed at each ceremony to ensure a welcoming and memorable experience for our graduates and their families. Volunteering for commencement will require roughly only four hours of your time when you volunteer at any one of the three ceremonies. Please also encourage your students and campus organizations to volunteer. Register online at www.buffalostate.edu/commencement/x543.xml. You may contact the Events Management Office at 878-6114 with questions about volunteering, or e-mail commencereg@buffalostate.edu. Thank you!

Faculty and staff who intend to march in commencement are encouraged to order their academic regalia rentals by Friday, March 27. Faculty, staff, and volunteer ushers may all register to march online. Questions regarding regalia rentals can be directed to Marybeth Keller in the bookstore. Questions regarding commencement marching and volunteering registration can be directed to Patricia Alessandra at commencereg@buffalostate.edu.

As of March 25, students can view their registration start date in Banner under "Registration Status,” search for both fall and summer courses and view their holds, if any. Registration begins at 6:00 a.m. on each start date and is then continuous. Registration start dates are between April 8 and April 20 inclusive for current students. For continuing undergraduate freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, registration start dates are based on earned credit hours only. Credit hours during spring 2009 are "in progress."

Members of the Burchfield Penney are invited to a members only happy hour on Friday, March 27, from 5:30-7:30 pm. Explore the new museum, the exhibitions on view, and enjoy music by Terry Sullivan.

Integrating the Virtual World: Creating an Intersection with the Virtual and Real to Enhance Learning a one day COCID Conference, sponsored by the SUNY FACT Council: Friday, April 3, at SUNY Institute of Technology, Utica, NY.

Employees enrolled in the Flex Spending Account for the 2008 plan year have until March 31, 2009 to send in reimbursement requests for eligible expenses incurred under the Health Care Spending Account and the Dependent Care Advantage Account. Under the IRS’s “use it or lose it” rule, if you fail to submit requests for reimbursement for all your eligible expenses by the March 31 deadline, you will forfeit the remaining funds in your 2008 account. You may mail the reimbursement request form and your bill or receipts to: Fringe Benefits Management Company, PO Box 1820, Tallahassee, FL 32302-1820, or fax your reimbursement form and receipts to (800) 743-3271. Reimbursement request forms are available online at www.flexspend.state.ny.us, or by calling the FSA Hotline at (800) 358-7202.

Good news! The Workplace Yoga program will continue, uninterrupted, for a second Spring Semester session. As always, classes are open to and appropriate for all Buffalo State faculty and staff of any experience level—and beginners are encouraged to join. Quinn Caya of Yoga Therapeutics of Buffalo will continue teaching movements and postures meant to improve mind/body strength and balance—all of which provide an antidote to the stress caused by our workplace activities and habits.

The State of New York, SUNY Central and the college administration have long recognized that there are many legitimate reasons for faculty and staff to remove property from Buffalo State College for work-related functions.