September 4–10 is National Suicide Prevention Week. Suicide claims the lives of more than 1,100 college students each year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds. We hope that will change. The Counseling Center invites students, faculty, and staff to attend the keynote speaker for Suicide Prevention Week, Eric Weaver, board chair of the Western New York American Association of Suicide Prevention, on Thursday, September 8, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center West 2. Weaver has received numerous awards and official recognitions and has been featured in Time, Details, and Reader’s Digest magazines and on WebMD. He is a retired sergeant with the Rochester, New York, Police Department, where he served for 20 years. He speaks openly about his own mental illness and severe suicidal thoughts.

The following events are also being held in conjunction with Suicide Prevention Week:

September 7
Counseling Center table in the Campbell Student Union with information on events and suicide resources

September 8
Open QPR training
Weigel Health Center 203
4:00–5:30 p.m.

September 17
Out of the Darkness community walk fundraiser for suicide awareness and education

Visit www.buffalostate.edu/counselingcenter or call ext. 4436 for more information.

Students can learn how to spend a semester studying in Siena, Italy, during this information session on Tuesday, September 20, at 7:30 p.m. in Bacon Hall 115. Students will witness the Siena experience via a PowerPoint presentation, hear from former program participants, find out about financial aid and scholarships and how courses taken in Siena fulfill requirements at Buffalo State, and sample authentic Italian refreshments. Family members and friends are also welcome to learn more about how their students can partake in an experience that has been transforming students' lives since 1961. An abbreviated information session on Siena will also be offered on September 20 at 12:15 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East 2B.

The entire campus community is welcome as we gather to remember all those touched by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Let us pray for peace in our world and in the hearts of all who inhabit it. All are invited to join us for this tribute being offered by Buffalo State students on Thursday, September 8, at 6:00 p.m. in the Newman Center chapel, 1219 Elmwood Avenue. Please join us on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

Kick off the Year of the Arts at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on Friday, September 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with a special event featuring music by Lukas Johnson!

The museum is celebrating the opening of three new exhibitions: For Once, Then, Something; Rapt in Beauty; and Buffalo in the 1940s: Monroe Bingaman and His Friends.

It's also an opportunity to meet representatives from more than 15 Western New York cultural organizations and to get information about the amazing exhibitions, programs, and performances that will be taking place across Buffalo throughout the 2011–2012 academic year.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information on this event, e-mail Alana Ryder, curator for public and academic programs at the Burchfield Penney.

In this webinar for beginners, the SUNY Center for Professional Development will provide an overview of the Elluminate web conferencing features. The webinar will be presented in the Professional Development Center (E. H. Butler Library 181B) on Wednesday, September 14, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and repeated on Wednesday, October 12, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The webinar will cover the following topics: permissions, emoticons, polling options, status indicators, participant window frame icons, and understanding the halo effect. There will be opportunities for questions and to go over any specific features you would like to learn about. No experience with Elluminate is necessary.

To attend on Wednesday, September 14, register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2606.

To attend on Wednesday, October 12, register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2607.

Faculty members are invited to participate in the Buffalo State Common Reading by using the Common Reading and supplementary materials in their courses. Materials associated with the Common Reading are now available to all faculty members using the ANGEL Faculty Resources Repository link on ANGEL. For additional information about the Buffalo State Common Reading, contact Lisa Hunter, ext. 5906.

This webinar, sponsored by the Violence Intervention and Victim Advocacy program, is designed to enhance effectiveness in ongoing efforts to prevent sexual violence, relationship violence, and stalking. It will be held on Tuesday September 27, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 120.

Facilitated by Derek Lane, associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky (UK), the webinar will provide six communication strategies that have been demonstrated to improve trainer efficacy, increase trainee engagement, and enhance engagement of any training: (1) trainer credibility, (2) trainer caring, (3) trainer concerns, (4) trainer immediacy, (5) trainer clarity, and (6) trainer content relevance.

Lane is an active researcher at UK, where he teaches graduate seminars in instructional communication, theory construction, advanced survey research methods, and interpersonal communication. His expertise and professional training encompass specialty areas that include team building, mediation, negotiation and conflict management, leadership, communication skills training and development, technological innovations in organizations, and business, and professional speaking.

For more information, contact Liz McGough, ext. 4029.

Are you interested in learning about tablet computers? Get hands-on experience with the iPad 2 and Motorola Xoom tablets and see how they work on Wednesday, September 14, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Professional Development Center (Butler Library 181B). Feel free to bring your own tablets to share tips and tricks. Come and try your hand with these tablet computers that are available through Equipment Loan. Bring your questions and experiences to share. Facilitated by Ken Fujiuchi. Refreshments will be provided.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2575.

“Our Shared Humanity: Looking Inward”
Faculty, staff, students, and community members are invited to the third annual conference of the Anne Frank Project, September 14–16, on the campus of Buffalo State College. What began as a production in the Theater Department in 2006 has evolved into a multifaceted diversity ritual embraced by the university, the community, and our new international partners. We use the words and wisdom of Anne Frank as the springboard for the intense examination of intolerance, bias, hatred, and genocide through the interdisciplinary eye of the liberal arts.

This year's conference promises to provide intense learning opportunities for your students, colleagues, and community friends. Highlights include

• live video streaming, keynote address, and performances from Rwanda;
• international streaming from the conference to the world;
• the world premiere of I'm Not Leaving, a play based on the 1994 Rwandan genocide experience of Carl Wilkens, the only American who stayed in Rwanda during the genocide. This play was created by the Buffalo State Theater Department;
• over 40 workshops, sessions, and performances presented by gifted faculty, staff, students, community members, and international experts.

Also,

• Carl Wilkens will present multiple sessions;
• survivors of multiple genocides will share their experiences;
• artist Gary L. Wolfe will unveil his original exhibit, Vulnerability and the Child Within.

Please make it a point to carry on the tradition of AFP by assigning your students and encouraging your friends and family to attend the conference. Registration is easy, free, and simple.

For more information, call ext. 6416.

Change the world!

www.theannefrankproject.com

The 2011–2016 Agreement between the State and CSEA includes a Deficit Reduction Plan for fiscal years 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. Under the agreement, CSEA-represented employees must take a total of five days’ unpaid Deficit Reduction Leave (DRL) over the remainder of contract year 2011–2012 and a total of four days’ unpaid leave during contract year 2012–2013, and receive reduced pay in each contract year.
   
The Division of Budget has implemented a plan to reduce all CSEA-represented employees’ pay by 3.333 percent for the remaining pay periods of fiscal year 2011–2012, beginning September 15, 2011, and continuing through March 31, 2012. Full-time employees will be credited with five days of DRL. The credit for part-time employees will be prorated.

DRL days will be added to a revised attendance record on September 15, 2011. The revised form can be found at www.buffalostate.edu/offices/hr/payroll.asp.

Employees must exhaust their five days of 2011–2012 DRL no later than March 31, 2012. Employees will receive a new allotment of four days of DRL for fiscal year 2012–2013, which must be used before the end of that fiscal year. 
 
An employee’s vacation balance normally may not exceed 40 days on April 1 of each year. For April 1, 2012, an employee’s vacation balance may increase to 45 days to accommodate the addition of DRL.

DRL is to be requested in advance and is subject to supervisory approval in the same manner as vacation and personal leave accruals. Time off can be approved for full days or quarter-hour increments. DRL credits may not be used to cover unscheduled absences such as calling in sick, but may be used for planned appointments, with prior supervisory approval, including medical appointments or scheduled absences normally charged to sick leave.

If you have any questions about Deficit Reduction Leave, you may call Emmanuel Hillery at ext. 4822, or the Payroll Office at ext. 4124.