The College and Community Partnerships Office, Volunteer and Service-Learning Center, and the Alumni Affairs Office are coordinating a drive for gently used (clean and in good condition only) clothing and miscellaneous items for the Asarese Youth Center families. Items will be distributed at the center on December 4.

Please join us as we celebrate Joe’s retirement and contributions to the college over his 34 years of dedicated service. Please mark your calendars and stop by for an open house in E. H. Butler Library 210 on Wednesday, December 8, anytime between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. to wish him well. R.S.V.P. is not necessary.

A memorial service for Arthur W. Gielow, Jr., will be held at the Buffalo State College Newman Center, 1219 Elmwood Avenue. The memorial mass and reception will start at 5:00 p.m. on Monday evening, November 29. The program is being planned by the Earth Sciences and Science Education Department.

The incentive is being offered for the development of online courses during the spring 2011 semester.

Paper Withdrawal from Course forms will be used for the last time during Intersemester 2011. As of January 31, 2011, students will Withdraw from Course online through Banner SSB. More details later.

This one is going to need it. The curator of our Maud Gordon Holmes Arboretum will direct a surgical procedure on a European beech tree located southeast of the Campbell Student Union. The operation will involve pruning away part of the tree to establish a dominant 'leader' and staking the tree to ensure balanced growth. The tree will need plenty of fluids and must rest until spring before hugging may resume. Thanks for your understanding.

Carolyn Lamm, ’70, immediate past president of the American Bar Association (ABA), presented the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar “The Role of Lawyers in Today's Changing World” in the Burchfield Penney Art Center last month. The ABA is the largest voluntary professional association in the world, representing nearly half a million members, and Lamm was only the fourth woman to lead the group in its 132-year history.

Thank you to the departments and offices that participated in the Sodexo Helping Hands Food Drive. More than 2,200 non-perishable food and other items were collected. The Health and Wellness Department donated 841 items, winning a $250 catering credit from Sodexo. The Food Bank of Western New York will be picking up all of the donations today, Thursday, November 18.

How about giving your teaching and student learning a boost? Come join us for a unique conversation about strategies you use, would like to try, and other related issues. This session will examine an online networking portal developed by Buffalo State faculty to nurture and sustain our campus community’s dedication to instructional excellence and student learning. Carmen’s Home employs interactive and social networking technologies including discussion boards, blogs, and online courses with the authoring capabilities of Drupal (a versatile content management system that allows individuals, a community of users, or an enterprise to easily publish, manage, and organize a wide variety of content on a website). Presented by Tim Gallineau, Faizan Haq, Chuck Mancuso, Carmen Iannaccone, and Andrew Kirchmyer.

Representatives from Community Blue, Independent Health, and the Empire Plan will be on campus from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 2, in E. H. Butler Library 210 to answer questions about health insurance plans and anticipated changes in coverage for 2010.