National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day is Saturday, April 30. The following locations will be hosting collections from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (no questions asked):

Bertrand Chaffee Hospital

D'Youville College

ECMC, Hamburg Fairgrounds

Kenmore Mercy Hospital

Mercy Ambulatory Care Center

Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital

Sisters of Charity

St. Joseph's Campus

Town of West Seneca Ice Rink (behind police station).

Contact Lauren Bostaph for collection locations in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Niagara, and Wyoming counties.

Thank you to all faculty members who participated in the Early Intervention midterm grading program this semester. More than 3,400 midterm grades were submitted for 2,700 students!  Your midterm feedback to students—through Banner, ANGEL, in-class conferences, or in other ways—allows students to have a realistic picture of their standing in your course. This feedback allows students and their advisers to take corrective action prior to the pass/fail and course withdrawal deadline, if needed.

The fall 2011 Banner midterm grading window will be open from October 17 to November 1, 2011. Please plan accordingly as you develop your fall syllabi to ensure meaningful course feedback has been provided to students by the ninth week of the semester (as per college policy).

Remember, just 25 weeks until the fall 2011 midterm grading window opens in Banner.

Buffalo State will host a workshop entitled “Using Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to improve physics and physical science teaching” on Saturday, April 30, in Science Building 205.  

The workshop is offered free of charge, however we request that you contact us to confirm your attendance.

The workshop is appropriate for science educators of all levels. The morning session, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, is for everyone. The afternoon session, from noon to 4:00 p.m., is for those interested in research grade use of the instrument. Participants must R.S.V.P. to Dan MacIsaac (ext. 3802) or Kathleen Falconer (ext. 4530). A letter of attendance for professional development credit will be given to each attendee. 

RTOP is a 25-item rubric that provides a percentile score describing the degree and kind of student-centered constructivist inquiry present in an instructional situation. RTOP scores correlate very highly with student conceptual score gains. In this workshop, we will score video vignettes of teaching to learn to use RTOP for guiding personal reflection and improvement on our own teaching; for mentoring peers, novice teachers and student teachers; and to establish a vocabulary for discussing reformed teacher practices.

Light refreshments will be served.

Please join the Earth Sciences and Science Education Department for the 2011 Jack Mack Lecture on Thursday, April 28, at 3:05 p.m. Tracy Gregg will deliver this year’s keynote address, "Volcanism in Extreme Environments." The talk will be held in the Bulger Communication Center North and refreshments will be served after the presentation in the Bulger lobby.

Gregg will explore volcanism in extreme environments–on Earth and in the solar system–and discuss how the different environments impact volcanic behavior. Gregg is an associate professor of geology at the University at Buffalo. Her research includes planetary volcanology (particularly on Mars and the moon), mid-ocean ridge volcanism and lava flows anywhere in the solar system, including the East Pacific Rise, Juan de Fuca Ridge, Hawaii, Iceland, Mars, Io, and Venus. She has published widely, including her most recent work Environmental Effects on Volcanic Eruptions: From Deep Oceans to Deep Space, and Volcanic Worlds: Volcanism in the Solar System.

The Jack Mack Lecture Series is sponsored by the Earth Science and Science Education Department, and is free and open to the public.
 

Bryan Collier, the award-winning author and illustrator of more than 25 children's books, will be on our campus on Friday, April 29. Works by Collier typically center on the African American experience and have repeatedly garnered him such awards as the Caldecott Medal (three times); the Coretta Scott King Award (five times); and  the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book.

Collier will deliver two presentations about his work, both in the Assembly Hall of Campbell Student Union. The first will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m., and the second from 12:00 to 12:50 p.m. Both presentations will be followed by book signings. Various books by Collier are available in the Barnes & Noble at Buffalo State Bookstore.

Collier's visit is sponsored by the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Faculty Student Association, and the Elementary Education and Reading Department.

We have a few more weeks to go in this session. As a group, we have lost more than 400 pounds! Come check out our next meeting for FREE on Thursday, April 28, at 12:15 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 208. You can still sign up. Just pay $12 for the number of weeks remaining in the program. We are hoping to extend the program for another session. If you need any information, please contact Melissa Slisz.

Any incident of workplace violence could have lifelong consequences for employees and their families. The Buffalo State College Human Resource Management Office is presenting a Workplace Violence/Domestic Violence Prevention Training program for all employees. Sessions will be conducted by Sam Lunetta, lieutenant (retired), University Police.

Topics to be covered include: recognizing warning signs for potential violence, assessing risk in various work settings, what to do and what not to do if presented with a violent situation, and campus resources available to prevent violence. All employees are encouraged to attend this important training.

A session will be held in Cleveland Hall 418 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27.

Pre-registration is required. Please contact Sam Lunetta or call the Human Resource Management Office at ext. 4822.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that the Workplace Violence Prevention Training is now available online for those who are unable to attend the group sessions. Employees may access the program on ANGEL.  In the Campus Group Section, select “Workplace Violence Prevention Group.”  The Workplace Violence Prevention video training can be found under “Content.”

The Residence Hall Judicial Board is still accepting applications for student justice positions. Applications are available in the Residence Life Office and will continue to be reviewed until all vacant positions are filled.  For more information, please contact the Residence Life Office at (716) 878-3000. 

A key issue in discussing diversity and reducing bias is increasing understanding and empathy. However, a common reaction to these discussions is to engage in distancing and/or "othering" to view people from other groups (e.g., culture, race, gender, sexual orientation) as qualitatively different “thems.” This perspective can increase perceptions of group differences, decrease perspective-taking and understanding, and foster an “us v. them” mentality. Please join us for a discussion about how, when, and why distancing and othering may occur during discussions of diversity, and share strategies for overcoming this challenge. A light lunch will be served on Friday, April 29, 12:00–1:00 p.m. in the Professional Development Center (BUTL 181B). This event is part of the Final Fridays: Discussions about Gender and Sexuality in Teaching, Research, and Service Brownbag Series co-sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program and the Faculty Development Office.

In observance of Earth Day, the Geology Club and the Earth Sciences and Science Education Department are presenting a free screening of the film Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. This visually stimulating film includes aerial views of Earth from over 50 countries and raises questions about the health of our planet. More information about the film can be found at http://www.homethemovie.org/.

The screening will take place in the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium in the Science Building on Friday, April 22, at 3:30 p.m. The screening will be followed by refreshments and a discussion about the health of our home and what we can do to help protect it.