The Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP) is available for 2014 to eligible CSEA, PEF, UUP, and M/C employees. This program gives eligible employees the opportunity to exchange previously accrued annual leave (vacation) or personal leave in return for a credit to be applied toward the cost of their New York State health insurance on a biweekly basis. Sick leave credit cannot be exchanged under this program.

The enrollment period for the 2014 program is October 31 through November 29, 2013. The PEP description and enrollment form was sent to all eligible employees at their campus addresses. In order to participate, employees must return the PEP enrollment form to Cleveland Hall 410 by Friday, November 29. Participants currently enrolled in PEP must submit a new form to participate in the 2014 program.

For information about the 2014 Productivity Enhancement Program, please visit the following links:

CSEA and PEF employees

UUP employees

MC Classified employees 

MC Professional employees

Please call the Employee Benefits Office at ext. 4821 if you have questions.

Tennessee Williams's The Night of the Iguana previews Wednesday, November 6, at 8:00 p.m. in Warren Enters Theatre in Upton Hall. The play takes place in Mexico in 1940 at a dilapidated seaside resort, where a group of desperate characters find themselves at "the end of their rope." This dark comedy is produced by Casting Hall Productions and the Buffalo State Theater Department and is directed by Donn Youngstrom. Performances are November 7–9 and 14–16 at 8:00 p.m. with 2:00 p.m. matinees on November 9 and 16. Tickets are $6 for students and $10 for faculty and staff and are available at the Rockwell Hall and the Student Union box offices, ext. 3005.

"Chinese Traditional Tie-Dye Techniques and Its Modern Applications" is the title of the next Center for China Studies seminar, held on Thursday, November 14, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Technology Building 160. Zhang Bo, a visiting professor from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, will share her experiences and expertise in a variety of tie-dye techniques she uses to transform fabric into works of art. Come and hear about these techniques and see samples of her work. This event is sponsored by University College. Refreshments will be served.

Jeffrey Otterstein from VALIC Financial Advisors will be on campus for individual consultations with Buffalo State faculty and staff members on Tuesday, November 12, and Thursday, December 12. Sessions are by appointment only between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in Cleveland Hall 416.

Gain a greater level of confidence in your retirement portfolio. To schedule an appointment, please register online.

The new Gwathmey Siegel-Burchfield Penney Art Center—New York State’s first “green” art museum—opened in November 2008. Since then, more than a half million people have visited the center to explore more than 150 exhibitions featuring the work of more than 2,500 artists. Inspired by this remarkable transformation, the New York Times named the center one of the 44 Places to Go in 2009.

Join us November 7–10 to celebrate our fifth anniversary and experience a weekend of concerts, screenings, performances, tours, workshops, and more—highlighted by M&T Bank Second Friday on November 8. For more information, visit the Burchfield Penney website.

The open enrollment period for the 2014 NYS Flex Spending Account (FSA) ends Friday, November 8. The account offers two benefits: the Health Care Spending Account (HCSAccount) and the Dependent Care Advantage Account (DCAAccount).

The HCSAccount allows employees to set aside from $100 to $2,500 annually in pretax salary to pay for health-care expenses not reimbursed by health insurance.

The DCAAccount allows employees to set aside up to $5,000 annually in pretax salary for eligible child care, elder care, or disabled dependent care expenses. The DCAAccount employer contribution will continue in 2014 for employees in eligible negotiating units who enroll in the DCAAccount. For employer contribution eligibility and rates, please visit the FSA website.

Participants currently enrolled in the HCSAccount or DCAAccount must reenroll to continue benefits in 2014.

Paperless enrollment is quick, easy, and secure. For program details or to enroll in the Flex Spending Account, visit www.flexspend.ny.gov or call the FSA hotline at (800) 358-7202.

The November 8 deadline for 2014 enrollment will be strictly enforced.

A lecture and discussion, My Appreciation of Watercolor: A Personal View – Jane Stoddard: Process of a Watercolorist, will be held Friday, November 8, from 12:30–1:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center as part of the International Center for Watercolor Lunchtime Lecture Series. Free with gallery admission.

Enjoy lunch at the Burchfield Café before attending the lecture. Jane Stoddard will present her painting process of developing realism with watercolor.

Questions: e-mail Kathy Gaye Shiroki or call ext. 3549.

The Burchfield Penney Art Center will hold a class and workshop, "The Motion of an Idea: Move between Image and Text," on Saturday, November 9, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., part of the International Center for Watercolor.

The cost is $35 for Buffalo State faculty, staff, and Burchfield Penney members and $45 for not-yet members.

Explore the action of rendering and yielding to an image creating a landscape of language. Poet Karen Lee Lewis will lead a writing workshop inspired by Charles Burchfield’s watercolor paintings followed by painter Minna Kempf, who will guide participants to reinterpret our written response in translating it into watercolor. Participants will surrender to the art of the process, move beyond the literal, and animate the energy of the experience. The watercolor workshop is for artists of all levels. Please bring a journal for the writing portion of the workshop and your watercolor supplies or use materials provided.

Karen Lee Lewis is a poet who teaches extensively throughout Western New York. She leads creative writing workshops for adults at Buffalo’s C. G. Jung Center and is a teacher consultant for the Western New York Writing Project. Her new chapbook was inspired by Charles Burchfield’s painting Solitude and is available in the Burchfield Penney Museum Store.

Minna Kempf has taken on multiple roles in the field of visual arts. She continues to work as a children’s illustrator, art educator, and fine artist. She resides in Buffalo with her husband and three children, who serve as constant inspirations to her work.

Explore how TeachLivE can enhance your curriculum. TeachLivE is a real-time mixed-reality classroom with simulated students. TeachLivE provides participants with the opportunity to develop their pedagogical practice in a safe environment that doesn’t place real students at risk. It is the only lab of its kind in the SUNY system.

Three separate missioned workshops will occur from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on November 15, 2013; February 28, 2014; and April 25, 2014. A commitment to attend all workshops is requested.

With the support of institute facilitators, you will explore the concept of integrating experiences within the TeachLivE virtual classroom into course curricula. As the workshop series progresses, you will also be guided through a preliminary feasibility investigation for establishing a TeachLivE simulation lab.

TeachLivE teaching experiences may range from academic activities with one student avatar to whole-group instruction across a range of academic subjects. There are also adult avatars to work with. Students can gain experience in behavior management as instructors select avatars’ levels of inattention or inappropriate behaviors.

Video demonstration

Registration

For more information, please e-mail garlankm@buffalostate.edu.

The Center for Development of Human Services (CDHS) College Partnership Development Office is accepting graduate and undergraduate student applications for its Public School Mentoring Program for the spring 2014 semester. Applicants must be enrolled full time at Buffalo State and have excellent written and verbal skills plus previous experience tutoring or working with groups of children in an educational setting. Undergraduate students must be at least second-semester sophomores with a minimum GPA of 2.5. Interested students should pick up an information packet as soon as possible from Bacon Hall 114, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, and complete and return the application as soon as possible.