Summon is a great place for anyone to start researching any topic! What is it? The Summon discovery service is an easy starting point for research that allows users to search all the library’s formats (books, journal articles, newspapers, and more) from a single search box on E. H. Butler Library’s home page. With one search box and one results screen, Summon mimics open web searches and delivers the content that only the library provides. Results from a Summon search are based on relevancy, so even inexperienced researchers can quickly and easily access library resources. Learn all the Summon basics in this demonstration session on Tuesday, September 20, in the Professional Development Center (Butler Library 181B). The presentation is from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. and will be repeated from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. You’ll become an expert in no time! Presented by Al Riess and Ken Fujiuchi.

To attend the demonstration from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m., register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2583.

To attend the demonstration from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m., register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2584.

The formats required for a research paper can sometimes be confusing and overwhelming. “APA Style: Does It Have to Be So Difficult?” is the next session in the Workshops to Success series sponsored by the Academic Skills Center and offered free to Buffalo State students. Instructor-tutor Tom Renzi will clarify APA style, showing you what information to include and how to organize it.

Date: Wednesday, September 14
Time: 1:00–2:00 p.m.
Location: Classroom Building C116
Presenter: Dr. Thomas Renzi

To reserve a seat in the workshop, or if you have any questions, please call the Academic Skills Center, ext. 4041.

You are invited to join Campus Life for the Student Apartment Complex inaugural student reception on Tuesday, September 13, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Food, fun, and fabulous prizes will be available at this event, which celebrates the opening of the Student Apartment Complex (STAC). STAC Bash is an outdoor event that will be hosted on the lawn of the Student Apartment Complex, adjacent to the Sports Arena.

The Student Apartment Complex opened in fall 2011. The fully furnished 507-bed complex features apartment-style suites, each with four single bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a common living area, Wi-Fi, and air conditioning.

Tell your students about Law Fair ’11, which will be held on Monday, September 19, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway, in Amherst, New York.

This year, more than 70 schools from across the country will be in attendance, a new all-time record! Encourage your students to come by and get the inside scoop on the application process, admission requirements, and financial aid opportunities from recruiters.

Students will also be able to enter to win a free LSAT prep course donated by Kaplan Test Prep and the Princeton Review, valued at over $2,000! This event is free and open to all Buffalo State College students and alumni. Faculty and staff are also welcome to attend.

For more information, call the Career Development Center at ext. 5811 or stop by Cleveland Hall 306. Visit www.buffalostate.edu/offices/cdc for a list of participating schools.

Come by, get informed, get ahead!

The Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium is pleased to announce its current show, “Jupiter and Saturn: Giants of the Solar System,” which runs from September 9 through October 1. This program explains the impact of telescope observations by early astronomers Galileo and Cassini, early spacecraft observations by Pioneer and Voyager, and stunning images from the more recent Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn. You will also learn of the recently launched Juno mission to Jupiter and about the large and interesting moons of Jupiter and Saturn, some of which might provide habitats for extraterrestrial life.

Programs are offered on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. Weather permitting, the Friday program is followed by free telescope viewing.

The planetarium is located in the Science Building; reservations are strongly recommended as some shows do sell out. To make a reservation or for information about pricing, visit www.fergusonplanetarium.net, e-mail planetarium@buffalostate.edu, or leave a message at ext. 4911.

Governor Cuomo launched a volunteer effort called “Labor for Your Neighbor” on Labor Day weekend to assist in local cleanup efforts in the areas where Hurricane Irene brought extensive damage. More than 2,000 volunteers signed up to work over the weekend to help those in flood-stricken areas clear their homes of the debris left behind by the storm. Sign up to be alerted if additional volunteer sites are set up in the coming days. At that time, you will receive further instructions regarding times, locations, and how to prepare. The National Guard and the State Office of Emergency Management will provide supervision and safe transportation to the sites.

This webinar is presented as part of the SUNY TLT Cooperative on Friday, September 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 181B. How can we design assessments and integrate learner-centered, active-learning techniques that can be utilized in the online environment? What approaches can be utilized? How does Bloom’s Taxonomy fit? Learner-centered teaching focuses attention on “what the student is learning, how the student is learning, the conditions under which the student is learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning, and how current learning positions the student for future learning” (Weimer, 2002). There was no opportunity to preview this webinar.

Register at https://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2604.

As part of the SUNY Learning Network (SLN) Instructional Design Institute, SLN will conduct a full-day workshop for experienced online faculty on the Quality Matters Rubric on Wednesday, September 21, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 318. Quality Matters (QM) is a faculty-centered, peer-review process designed to certify the quality of online and hybrid courses. In this workshop, you will learn about the QM Rubric and process, how to score the rubric, how to write effective recommendations, and how to apply the QM Rubric to an actual online course. Faculty who have taught one or more online courses are eligible to attend.

Register for this workshop on the SUNY Center for Professional Development website. Important: You must select “Faculty - Experienced” in order to register for the Quality Matters workshop.

The Anne Frank Project is proud to welcome Hope Azeda to this year's conference. Azeda will deliver the keynote address “Walking the Walk: Using Art to Face History” live from Rwanda via streaming video. At the conclusion of her address, her theater company Mashirika will perform their play Echoes of Peace, also live via streaming video.

For the full conference schedule and free registration visit www.theannefrankproject.com/2011.htm.

More about Hope Azeda:

Hope Azeda is one the leading figures in contemporary Rwandan theater. She is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of the Mashirika Creative and Performing Arts Group, one of the major theater companies in Rwanda. Under her direction, the group collaboratively created Africa's Hope, which was performed in Kigali at the 10th anniversary commemoration of the genocide and also at the G8 World Summit in Edinburgh in 2005. It toured the UK in 2006 and 2008. Azeda’s work as a writer, performer, and teacher has taken her to many theaters and universities around the world, including the Biennial Festival in Stockholm, the Caravan Festival in Copenhagen, and the International Festival of the Arts in Sofia, as well as tours of the USA, Canada, Austria, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Australia, South Africa, and Northern Ireland. She has also been an artist-in-residence at the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In addition to her theater work, she served as a casting director for the films Sometimes in April, Shake Hands with the Devil, Beyond the Gates, White Light, and Africa United. She is currently the president of ARTEJ/ASSITEJ Rwanda (International Association of Theaters for Children and Young People) and vice president of IRIZA CART (the Rwandan Association for Cineastes) and serves on the executive committee of the ASSITEJ International.

You are invited to attend this year’s Genteels’ Excellence in Teaching Conference, “Creative Thinking on Instruction and Technology,” on Saturday, October 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the UB North campus. The conference will focus on creative and innovative thoughts on and uses of technology for instruction.

The Faculty Development Office will sponsor up to 12 faculty members to attend the conference. Faculty will be sponsored on a first-come, first-served basis; however, if you are sponsored by the college, you must agree to participate in a presentation to other Buffalo State faculty on Thursday, November 3, during Bengal Pause. This presentation will be a discussion format where each attendee shares something he or she learned at the conference and how it is working in his or her own classes (if there has been a chance to use it), or perhaps just shares something about his or her favorite session.

To register, contact Cara Angie.