The deadline to submit applications for the SUNY B-140W Tuition Assistance Program for Summer Session 2012 is Wednesday, August 1.

Staff members may apply for tuition assistance after six months of service; faculty members may apply after one semester of service. The following employees are eligible:

• Full-time Buffalo State faculty and professional or classified employees
• Part-time or temporary Buffalo State faculty and professional or classified employees who are employed at least half time (faculty must teach at least two courses in the semester)
• Full-time Research Foundation employees provided they work on the Buffalo State campus

Program funds may be used for courses at SUNY campuses only. Eligible employees may apply for a 50 percent waiver of SUNY tuition for up to two courses per semester, to a maximum of 15 credit hours per academic year. Tuition assistance is limited to regular in-state undergraduate or graduate tuition rates. The level of support may be adjusted when necessary if funding is not adequate to cover applications received. Call Human Resource Management, ext. 4821, or visit www.buffalostate.edu/office/hr for applications and program guidelines.

There are only five days until the Olympics begin in London, and today is the final day to register for our Buffalo State Campus Olympic Experience.

Here are just a few of the healthful exercises you can do during the 16 days of the Olympics: bring in fruit or veggies to share with others, share a joke and make a co-worker laugh, perform a random act of kindness, take a nature walk. In addition, one Olympic trivia question will be given each day, and the answer will be given the following day.

Visit the EAP website and click on Events to register right now!

To facilitate the planned rehabilitation of Caudell Hall, site excavation work will be performed at the southwest corner of the building on Monday, July 23, and Tuesday, July 24. During this time, the Caudell Hall southwest entrance will be closed. The northwest entrance will remain open and will serve as the accessible entryway. Building occupants and visitors should approach the entrance from the northwest. There will be construction noise, including drilling, associated with this work.

Questions about this project can be directed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu. For information about current and upcoming construction on campus, please visit www.buffalostate.edu/construction. Thank you for your patience while this site work is under way.

Al-Anon meetings will be held on Tuesdays at 12:15 p.m. in Science Building 271C. Al-Anon meetings provide support and resources for those affected by chemical dependence (alcohol and drugs) and their effects. If you are interested in learning more about Al-Anon, whether you are personally affected or would like more information, please consider joining us. For information, contact Kim Jablonski.

Buffalo State faculty and staff members will participate in the Buffalo Niagara Heart Walk on Saturday, September 8, at Coca-Cola Field. The Heart Walk is a 5K noncompetitive event that features family fun activities. This year, the Heart Walk will feature Dennis George the Quizmaster, cooking demonstrations, a kids zone, and an after-event party featuring live music. Please sign up for the Buffalo State Team and begin your fundraising today! 

By signing up for the team, you can be entered to win a portrait session and an 8x10 portrait from Masterpiece Photography, 4476 Main Street, in Snyder Square.

Please consider joining the team to support the American Heart Association.

View high-quality recorded webinars that are available to you as a member of the Buffalo State campus community. More than 100 full-length webinars are available on demand, providing professional development on teaching and learning, online teaching, academic administration, and academic services. The recorded webinars also include a full transcript, handouts, and additional resources. View the titles and descriptions of the webinars on the Professional Development website. The webinar request form is also available on the site.

If you’re ready to reframe your approach to grading and communicating with students about their grades, attend the interactive webinar "Grading Strategies to Promote Student and Faculty Success" on Wednesday, July 25, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 181B. Examine both student and faculty myths and preconceived notions about grading. Learn how to change your students’ attitudes about the process but also enlist them in your efforts to improve their academic outcomes through more strategic grading practices. Explore approaches that encourage students to assess their own work more critically before they submit it, so that it is in better shape by the time you lay eyes on it.

Presenter Virginia Johnson Anderson, a nationally renowned classroom grading and assessment activist and author, will examine seven instructional strategies and grading tools such as rubrics, test blueprints, one-page portfolios, reflections, skills tests, self-reports on class discussions, and effective behavioral checklists that can help you create a positive grading environment. You will also receive 10 quick tips for saving time in the grading process that you can use right away. Select and plan to implement at least four ways to save time in the grading process.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=2879.

The SUNY Learning Network has officially announced a hold on migrations from ANGEL to Blackboard for all ITEC-hosted campuses; therefore, it is necessary for Buffalo State to upgrade ANGEL to its current version. ANGEL will be unavailable from 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, August 15, until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, August 16.

During these two days, ANGEL will be completely unavailable. No one will be able to log in to ANGEL. Faculty and students will not be able to enter, view, retrieve, or download grades. There will be no access to drop boxes or submitted papers, projects, or exams. Students will not be able to submit papers, projects, or exams to drop boxes or to take assessments, exams, or course evaluation surveys through ANGEL during this time.

Faculty members who use ANGEL can prepare now by reviewing syllabi and taking note of dates that require students to use ANGEL between August 15 and August 16.

Student paper and assignment submissions: Tell students to submit papers to you directly via Buffalo State e-mail.

Faculty grading: Before Wednesday, August 15, print out a copy of your ANGEL grade book and export a copy to Excel, so that you have access to grades outside of ANGEL.

Faculty accessing assignments stored in ANGEL: Before Wednesday, August 15, export all drop-box submissions and save them to a flash drive or to your computer's hard drive.

ANGEL v.8 will provide support for both Safari and Chrome web browsers. Users will not see a change in their daily use of ANGEL; the interface remains the same. This version also provides new feature enhancements.

www.buffalostate.edu/offices/ir/Instructional_Design/ANGELHelp/ANGEL8.html.

The Buffalo State Child Care Center will host a child safety seat check on Wednesday, July 25, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Lot F. Certified child passenger safety technicians will be present to help ensure that your child or children are riding safely. Participation is voluntary, and no one will be ticketed for misuse.

The last day to process vendor payments and employee reimbursements with State Purpose Funds for fiscal year 2011–2012 is Wednesday, August 15. Therefore, please be sure to forward signed goldenrod receiving reports to the Accounts Payable and Travel Services Office, Cleveland Hall 414, as soon as the goods or services are satisfactorily received. All travel vouchers for trips taken before June 30, 2012, also must be received by this date.