This year, classes are scheduled on the Columbus Day holiday, Monday, October 14. Department heads and supervisors should communicate to their classified and professional employees whether they will be required to work on that day.

For employees who are required to work, the following state attendance rules will apply:

Classified employees who work on October 14 will be compensated according to their holiday waiver status. Those who have not elected to waive additional money for holiday work will receive holiday pay per their bargaining unit agreements. Employees who waived additional money for holiday work will receive compensatory time off instead of additional holiday pay. Classified employees who wish to inquire about their current holiday waiver status may call the Payroll Office at ext. 4124.

UUP-represented and M/C employees who are eligible to observe holidays and are required to work on October 14 will be granted a compensatory day off. The compensatory day off should be scheduled at a time agreeable to the employee and his or her supervisor within one year of the holiday.

Employees who are not required to work on October 14 do not need to charge leave accruals for that day.

The Small Business Development Center presents “Survive and Thrive: Essentials for Starting Your own Business,” a workshop covering all the essential information needed to start a business, on Wednesday, October 9, from 8:30 a.m. until noon in the Burchfield Penney Art Center (second floor). Specific topics will include creating a business plan; competition analysis; and tax, legal, and insurance issues. The workshop is free for Buffalo State faculty, staff, students, and alumni and U.S. military veterans and $20 for all others. Registration will take place immediately before the workshop, from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. To register in advance, please call the SBDC at ext. 4030. For further information, please visit www.buffalostate.edu/sbdc.

The 14th annual Faculty and Staff Research and Creativity Fall Forum will be held on Thursday, October 31, in the beautifully renovated Campbell Student Union Social Hall. The goal of this forum is to develop, encourage, and support Buffalo State faculty and staff research and creativity, and to make collaborative research endeavors and grantsmanship more accessible. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other Buffalo State faculty and staff members and to identify common scholarly and creative interests you may have.

All faculty and staff members are invited to organize an exhibit to present current research, creative activities, or other scholarship. Individual, departmental, or group exhibits are welcome. To participate, please complete the online form. Titles and abstracts or descriptions are to be submitted electronically by Friday, September 27.

Note: There will be a limited number of tables and chairs available because of the location change. This is a smaller venue; display space and electrical capacity are less than what we are used to. Display space is limited to one 5-foot table or two easels per individual.

Please be advised that the campus Mail Room has one campus courier to help with deliveries on campus. The courier can be used to deliver letters and intracampus mail from one location to another on campus. The courier does not deliver packages, and hours are limited because of classes.

Tentative availability:

Monday 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Tuesday 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Wednesday 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Thursday 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Friday 10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.

To request a delivery, please call ext. 5515.

Thank you.

The Buffalo State Sustainability Council is pleased to announce its autumn 2013 film series, one of many undertakings in its mission to promote an environmentally aware campus. All screenings run from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210 and are free and open to the public.

• Monday, September 30
  The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies
  A rich film that travels over 2,000 miles with some of the more than 100 million monarch butterflies as they migrate between their winter and summer habitats.
   
• Thursday, October 24
  The Loneliest Animals
  An in-depth look at the most endangered species on the planet whose future survival is in the hands of dedicated scientists.
   
• Thursday, November 21
  The Animal House
  Discover how a variety of animal species ingeniously make their own dwellings, from the simplest to the most complex of domains.

Please e-mail bssc@buffalostate.edu for further information.

Whether you are already teaching a course in Blackboard or are anticipating switching from ANGEL to Blackboard in spring 2014, there is a Blackboard training session for you. Please visit http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration.

Nancy Sommers, coauthor of Buffalo State's common writing handbook, A Writer's Reference, will conduct a workshop on incorporating the use of the handbook into courses across the curriculum on Friday, September 27, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210. 

Sommers currently teaches writing and mentors new writing teachers at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard’s expository writing program for 20 years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard’s WAC program. She is a two-time Braddock Award winner, and her articles "Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers" and "Responding to Student Writing" are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. 

This is a rare opportunity for faculty, and we hope to see you there! Lunch will be provided.

If you would like to attend, please e-mail Chris Kessler. Handbooks are available for those who have not yet received a copy.

Learn about National Student Exchange and study-abroad opportunities at the Study-Away Fair today, September 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall.

Pianist Juyeon Kang will perform a solo recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 19, in the Ciminelli Recital Hall. Her program will include works by Beethoven, Bach, Piazzolla, Debussy, and Chopin. Kang is currently on a concert tour across the United States and Western Hemisphere that will culminate in a performance at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Students, faculty, and staff members with ID may receive one free ticket for the Buffalo State performance at the Rockwell Hall Box Office.

Introverts typically prefer listening to speaking and working on their own to working in groups. So how do we best meet the needs of introverts in an active learning classroom? Develop and refine strategies to engage both introverts and extroverts in active learning. Reflect on the implications of your own location on the introvert-extrovert spectrum developed by Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Presented by Sue McMillen on Thursday, October 17, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Professional Development Center, E. H. Butler Library 181B. A light lunch will be provided.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=3257.