The open enrollment deadline for the 2012 Flex Spending Account (FSA) program is Monday, November 14. The program offers two benefits: the Health Care Spending Account (HCSAccount) and the Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAAccount).

The HCSAccount allows employees to set aside from $100 to $4,000 annually in pretax salary to pay for health-care expenses not reimbursed by health insurance.

The DCAAccount allows employees to set aside up to $5,000 annually for child care, elder care, or disabled dependent care expenses on a pretax basis. The employer contribution is available for the 2012 plan year to M/C employees and employees represented by CSEA, PEF, and GSEU. The availability of the employer contribution depends on the outcome of negotiations between the state and the unions that participate in the program. For employer contribution updates, please visit the FSA website.

Participants currently enrolled in the HCSAccount or DCAAccount must reenroll to continue benefits for 2012.

Apply online or call the Flex Spending Account hotline at (800) 358-7202.

The November 14 deadline for 2012 enrollment will be strictly enforced.

RendezVous is an art and music festival centered on common themes appealing to the varied and diverse interests of the Western New York community. The celebration of concerts, films, workshops, and lectures takes place over an extended weekend that coincides with the third anniversary of the opening of the new Burchfield Penney. For more information, visit www.BurchfieldPenney.org.

Thursday, November 17, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Carnaval, hosted by the Burchfield Penney’s college student organization, the BPAC Street Team.
Join us for a night celebrating the talent on campus with an art auction featuring the work of fine arts students and performances by Buffalo State student organizations.

Thursday, November 17, at 7:00 p.m.
Screening: If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Part of "Consider the Alternatives: A Documentary Film Series," presented by the Burchfield Penney and the Buffalo State Communication Department.

Friday, November 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Opening celebration: Charles E. Burchfield: Weather Event; Harald Bode: Tone Color–Known & Unknown Sounds; and Charles E. Burchfield: Four Seasons in Salem, with music by Dee Adams.

Friday, November 18, from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Demonstration: Tomas Henriques will demonstrate his new instruments in celebration of the opening of Harald Bode: Tone Color–Known & Unknown Sounds.

Friday, November 18, at 8:00 p.m.
Concert: The Carrier Band

Saturday, November 19, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Toddler workshop: My Stroller Is a Spaceship: Wonder Time at the Museum, with Michaelene Dawson and Cyndi Burnett.
Cost: $10 for Burchfield Penney members, $14 for “not yet” members. Advance registration is required: call ext. 3216 or e-mail kellymc@buffalostate.edu.

Saturday, November 19, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Raid the Recycle Bin, with artist Ani Hoover (for kids 6–12).
Cost: $32 for Burchfield Penney members; $48 for “not yet” members. Advance registration is required: call ext. 3216 or e-mail kellymc@buffalostate.edu.

Saturday, November 19, at 2:00 p.m.
Reading: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Walter V. Davidson House: An Examination of a Buffalo Home and Its Cousins from Coast to Coast, by Patrick J. Mahoney.

Saturday, November 19, at 3:00 p.m.
Curators' tour of Charles E. Burchfield: Weather Event, with Tullis Johnson.

Saturday, November 19, at 4:00 p.m.
Poetry reading: 40th Anniversary of Earth’s Daughters

Sunday, November 20, at 2:00 p.m.
Concert: A Musical Feast, with performance by LehrerDance.
Tickets are $5 for Burchfield Penney members, $10 for “not yet” members.
Tickets available online or by phone at ext. 6011 during gallery hours. Visit www.AMusicalFeast.com for more information.

Sunday, November 20, at 2:00 p.m.
Introduction to the Buffalo Society of Artists exhibition and archives.

Sunday, November 20, at 2:30 p.m.
Curator's tour of Harald Bode: Tone Color–Known & Unknown Sounds, with Don Metz.

The Admissions Office would like to thank all the faculty and staff members who participated in our Fall Open House on October 29. Our event provided an excellent view of Buffalo State for prospective students and their families. We welcomed more than 1,100 visitors at Open House, giving them the opportunity to meet with faculty and student support services, tour the campus, and explore opportunities for admission.

Thank you again; we appreciate your continued support!

Save the date! Spring Open House is scheduled for Saturday, April 14, 2012.

The 2011–2012 “Conversations” lecture series continues on Friday, November 18, at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320 as John Abromeit, assistant professor of history and social studies education, presents from his recently published book, Max Horkheimer and the Foundations of the Frankfurt School. Colleagues, friends, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students are welcome.

Please also mark your calendars for the final talk of the fall semester—on Friday, December 9 (also at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320)—when Lisa Berglund, associate professor of English, will present “Secular Bibles: Annotations in Early American Dictionaries.”

The Buffalo State Employee Assistance Program and NYS-Balance will present a free webinar, "Preventing Burnout," on Thursday, November 17, from noon to 1:00 p.m.

Do you know how to identify the signs and symptoms of burnout? Learn helpful methods for taking care of yourself and techniques to manage stress and avoid burnout, and jump-start your enthusiasm for life.

Register in advance for the webinar on the NYS-Balance website. To participate, you will need an Internet-connected PC and a telephone. If the webinar is not scheduled during your break or lunch time, you can view it later online.

Username: nys
Password: balance

We want your old, usable office supplies. Clean out your supply cabinets. Recycle your unused office supplies. 

Drop off reusable office supplies to Procurement Services, Cleveland Hall 406, on Tuesday, November 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Procurement team will sort and organize them.

Those who donate items will shop first on Wednesday, November 30, in Cleveland Hall 418 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Open shopping for all will take place on Thursday, December 1, in Cleveland Hall 418 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Please call Procurement Services at ext. 4113 if you have any questions regarding this event.

The Center for China Studies will hold its second CCS seminar for fall 2011. Yu Wenyi, associate professor of economics at Peking University in Beijing, China, will present "A Preliminary Study on the Establishment of New York's Creative Industries Exchange" on Tuesday, November 15, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in Classroom Building A209.

The NYS & CSEA Partnership for Education and Training has announced the Administrative Skills Certificate Program (ASCP).

The ASCP is an exciting online learning opportunity for CSEA-represented New York State clerical, secretarial, and paraprofessional employees in the Administrative Services Unit (ASU/02) to learn critical new job-related skills or refresh existing ones.

Employees can apply for the program between November 1 and November 30 or until all seats are filled. Participation in the program will be on a first-come, first-served basis. To earn an ASCP certificate, employees must successfully complete 26.5 hours of instruction between December 1, 2011, and May 31, 2012.

Since space in this statewide program is limited, interested employees should apply as soon as possible. For more information, please contact the partnership at (518) 486-7814 or by e-mail at learning@nyscseapartnership.org.

In preparation for the rollout of the Buffalo State College smoke-free campus beginning on January 1, 2012, the Erie County Department of Health, in collaboration with Roswell Park Cancer Institute's smoking-cessation program, will offer opportunities for all faculty, staff, and students to access smoking-cessation counseling services on campus on Monday, November 14, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union lobby.

Participants will be able to speak with a smoking-cessation counselor and will have access to aids to quit smoking. We will be offering smoking-cessation products such as nicotine gum, lozenges, transdermal nicotine patches, and educational materials to assist you with developing your individualized quit plan. These products and services will be offered at no cost. Help us spread the word. Please see the EAP website for further details.

The Buffalo State Marketing Club presents Kevin Brayer, executive director of St. Bonaventure University's Buffalo Center, and Bruce Campbell, SBU's director of graduate admissions, who will talk about SBU's master of business administration program on Thursday November 10, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East 2. The program can be completed in 16 months. Classes are held at the St. Bonaventure Buffalo Center in Hamburg, New York. All Buffalo State students are eligible for a 20 percent reduction in tuition at SBU.