When submitting a voucher for foreign travel, please indicate on your receipts what they are. For example, hotel, parking, transportation, meals, etc. Also, be sure to convert the currency to U.S. dollars and attach the currency sheet to verify the date and amount of the transaction. You can use the online OANDA Currency Converter.

The Buffalo State Alumni Association has teamed up with Liberty Mutual to offer a defensive driving class to Buffalo State faculty, staff, alumni, and students on Saturday, November 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 219.

We often look to the web to find information, but there is a growing layer of rich raw data that is becoming available to the public. Unfortunately not everyone can get meaning from the pure raw data. Join EmTech Talks leader Ken Fujiuchi in E. H. Butler Library 181B from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, to learn about websites like Data.gov that offer up open data for anyone to use, remix, and create informational applications. We will discuss how the web is becoming a data source for researchers, and look at some projects that are using this data in creative ways.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center offers the two-part class Architectural Relief Glass Tiles with artist Cassondra Argeros (for teens & adults) on Thursday, November 4, and Thursday, November 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

A learning community at Buffalo State is a block of courses integrated around a complex theme, question, or issue. A cohort of first-year students takes these courses together to explore the theme in greater depth and augment their learning experience. Faculty who teach in learning communities consider it some of the most challenging and rewarding teaching they have ever done. There will be two interest meetings: a lunch meeting Tuesday, November 16, at Bengal Pause in Twin Rise 102 and a coffee hour on Wednesday, December 1, at 3:00 p.m. in Twin Rise 102. Come explore the possibility of teaching in a learning community.

This workshop will focus mainly on creating surveys from scratch and also utilizing forms to create surveys. We will also show you how to collect the data into a spreadsheet for further analysis or presentation. Presented by the Information Commons.

Reservations for space in the Campbell Student Union in the spring 2011 semester will be accepted beginning on Monday, November 15. This includes all rooms, equipment, advertising tables, and display cases. Please be reminded that the two conference rooms in the Game Room will be offline for construction in this area from November 15 through mid-February. Reservation forms can be found online and returned to the Information Center.

The Game Room in the Campbell Student Union will close on Monday, November 15, until mid-February for renovations. The two conference rooms in this space will be offline during the construction. We hope to see everyone at the grand reopening in the spring semester!

Bruce Baum is retiring after 38 years at Buffalo State. Please join us on Friday, November 12, from 7:00 p.m. to midnight in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. A $25 fee includes dinner, beverages, dessert, dancing, lots of fun, and a donation to the Exceptional Education Scholarship Fund in Bruce's honor. Call Kathy Palumbo at (716) 465-1080 or Lynne Sommerstein at (716) 310-2516 for reservations and information.

This is a reminder that nominations will be accepted through January 7, 2011, for the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service. This SUNY system-level award recognizes superior performance and extraordinary achievement by employees in the classified service. The Buffalo State community is encouraged to submit nominations for deserving colleagues.