Rob Liddle, corporate vice president of global labor and employment law, McDonald’s Corporation, will speak about ethical leadership, Wednesday, March 16, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210.

Liddle is responsible for managing McDonald’s global employment law and labor relations matters. In addition, he serves on the leadership teams responsible for developing the legal and human resources strategies and frameworks that McDonald’s uses throughout the world.

Liddle began his McDonald’s career in 1982 as a labor relations staff attorney. Before joining McDonald’s, he worked as a trial attorney at the National Labor Relations Board and as a labor associate at the Buffalo-based law firm of Jaeckle, Fleishmann, & Mugel.

A Buffalo native, Liddle earned his bachelor of arts degree from Buffalo State College and his J.D. from the University of Akron. In addition, Liddle holds a master's degree in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State University. 

This event is free and open to the public.

The third annual Women's Studies Research Symposium will be held Friday, March 11, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Bacon Hall 215. Come hear presentations from Buffalo State faculty, staff, and students about scholarship related to women, gender, and sexuality. Topics include gender in advertising, postpartum mood disorders in men, representations of women in art and literature, and the effects of gendered images on girls and boys. 

The complete schedule is available online. This event is sponsored by the Women's Studies program as part of Women's History Month.

It was announced today that Buffalo State has an allotment of 267 tickets for Friday's Sweet 16 match-up between Buffalo State and St. Mary's at 5:30 pm at the University of Rochester's 1,600-seat Louis Alexander Palestra in Rochester, NY.

Tickets are priced at $7 for adults, $4 for students with ID and senior citizens. The Palestra's doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 11, and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 12.

Tom Koller, senior associate athletics director, will be taking will call orders starting today until Thursday at 9:00 p.m. 

Please email your orders to kollertc@buffalostate.edu and he will add your name to the will call list. You will need ID and money to pick up your tickets at the Palestra ticket office on game day.

After 9:00 pm on Thursday, March 10, you will have to purchase general admission tickets at the door starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The Buffalo State Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Unit will host an opening reception for the Women's History Month 2011 exhibition, today, Wednesday, March 9, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. in the E. H. Butler Library lobby. The exhibition, featuring the artistic and creative works of Buffalo State women (faculty, staff, students, alumnae), runs through March 30. For further information, contact Barbara Vaughan at ext. 6317

This program provides between $400 (individual student project) and $600 (group project) to assist students in carrying out their research, scholarly, and creative activities during the academic year.

The funding is intended to help defray the cost of travel, supplies, and other materials necessary to conduct the project. It is not intended as salary for the student(s).

Student(s) receiving small grants awards are required to participate in the 13th annual Student Research and Creativity Celebration scheduled for April 29 and 30, 2011.

The deadline for submission of applications is February 16, 2011. Applications for the Small Grants Program can be found at http://www.buffalostate.edu/undergraduateresearch/x474.xml.

Campus Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) is accepting applications for three one-year $3,000 faculty development fellowships to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning on campus. We will be holding a proposal writing workshop on Thursday, March 17, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Science Building 250. 

Tenured and tenure-track Buffalo State faculty members are encouraged to attend. For more information about the CASTL fellowship program, contact John Draeger, CASTL coordinator at ext. 4320 or visithttp://www.buffalostate.edu/orgs/castl. Applications will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. on Monday, April 4.

Before the review process, researchers must be sure that their project is, in fact, human subjects research as defined by the federal government. In order to qualify as human subjects research, the following must be true: (1) The participants must be living. Thus, oral history projects fall under the guidelines, but research involving diaries kept in the 1800s does not. (2) The project is a systematic investigation. That is, it is designed to be a study. For example, instances in classrooms where teachers ask students’ opinions on the material to gauge progress are not research. However, if that same teacher designs a study to evaluate two different methods of teaching the material to see which is more effective, this would be research if the third criterion is met. (3) The project is designed to contribute to the generalized knowledge. To qualify as research, the person conducting the project must intend it to be for dissemination at some level. On our campus, we also review student projects that may not be disseminated but that meet the first two criteria so that our students will learn the process of human subjects research and because we have contracted with the federal government to do so.

An introductory workshop on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) review process and the ethics training requirement will be held on Monday, March 14, from noon  to 1:00 p.m. in Bishop Hall 18. If you plan on attending, please contact Gina Game at gameg@rf.buffalostate.edu. Lunch will be provided.

Ted Byrley, associate professor and chair of the Economics and Finance Department, is quick to credit Ted Schmidt, associate professor and former department chair, with their department’s high participation rate in theFaculty and Staff Appeal.

“I wanted to be able to give more student awards,” said Schmidt, “so I asked people to give just a few dollars a pay period to our department fund. Then, every year, I’d try to up the challenge by asking for a little more.” Now Schmidt splits his gift between the Economics and Finance Department Fund and the Dr. Richard J. Kieffer Scholarship in Economics Fund, which was established in memory of Richard Kieffer, professor emeritus of economics and finance, who died last year.

Byrley said, “The department fund allows us to support students’ research projects, give honorariums to speakers, or buy supplies. Personally, I support the fund because it makes the department flexible: when an expense comes up that the school can’t pay for, we can sometimes cover it. And, in these times of a tight budget, it provides needed emergency money for student activities.” 

Taking the long view, Byrley added, “I think that giving to the department helps it succeed. When you’re a part of something, you want it to go on after you’re gone.”

Support our students and choose a fund for your gift. For additional information about giving to the Faculty and Staff Appeal, please contact Louis Noce.

The dates for this spring's "Conversations in and out of the Disciplines" lecture series have been set. Each talk will be held on a Friday from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320.

The first, by Julian Cole, assistant professor of philosophy, will be on March 18. The talk is titled "Power without Power Relations: Conceptual Space for the Social Construction of Mathematical Entities."

Aimable Twagilimana, professor of English, and Michele Ninacs, assistant professor of English and director of the College Writing Program, will deliver the second and third talks—on April 22 and April 29, respectively.

Colleagues, friends, graduate students, and advanced graduate students are welcome.

Time management is often an ongoing battle for college students. Finding the balance between coursework, relationships and family, downtime, and a job is a daunting task. As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Lauren Copeland from the Academic Skills Center will present important tools to help students in this quest for balance and stress reduction. Please encourage your students to check out this event, today, Tuesday, March 8, 12:15-1:30 p.m. in Classroom Building B119.