The Department of Education has released new regulations that apply to all postsecondary institutions. The online seminar Three New Distance Education Regulations: How to Comply will focus on three that have the most serious implications for online programs: (1) credit hour, (2) student authentication, and (3) last day of attendance.

Learn to

• explain to administrators, faculty, and staff members the three federal rules—student authentication, the credit hour, and last day of attendance (LDA)—and their impact on your programs;
• create policies and evaluate and implement technologies for student authentication;
• develop criteria to determine LDA for online courses and develop student engagement to meet this regulation;
• prepare policies for meeting the federal credit hour rule.

Join your colleagues on Thursday, September 12, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the Professional Development Center, E. H. Butler Library 181B. Leave with a workable plan for informing administrators, faculty, and staff members about the federal rules and their impact. There was no opportunity to preview this webinar.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=3298.

Lots E and E-1 (located north and south of Clinton Center) will be out of service this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, August 30–September 1, to be swept, cleaned, and striped. The lots will be closed to all vehicles from 11:00 p.m. Thursday, August 29, until 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 1. Campus maintenance vehicles will be parked in Lot G during this time. Questions about this project can be directed to vpfm@buffalostate.edu.

You must be enrolled full time (at least 12 new credit hours) to receive a New York State TAP grant. If you are repeating a course for which you previously received a passing grade (D, D+, C-), it will not count toward full-time status for TAP eligibility purposes.

Further information regarding Course Repeats is available at www.buffalostate.edu/financialaid/x992.xml.

If you are not sure if you will be considered full time for TAP purposes, please check with the Student Accounts Office at stuaccts@buffalostate.edu. Do not delay. Monday, September 2, is the deadline to complete fall 2013 registration.

The Students of Concern Care Team is a group of Buffalo State faculty and staff members who seek to identify and provide support for students in distress who may threaten harm to themselves or others. Members of the team are available to provide information during meetings or gatherings of faculty or staff members and share strategies and techniques in working with students of concern on campus. The team can be available to attend chairs' meetings, departmental meetings, office gatherings, or other group meetings as requested.

Your help in providing notice of any students of concern is essential to keeping our campus community safe. Whenever a student’s behavior gives reason for uneasiness, the team is available to assist by investigating the situation, developing a plan for action, and following up with the student’s progress.

Information about the Students of Concern Care Team, including an online reporting form, can be found online. Questions about the operation of the team should be addressed to Charles B. Kenyon, associate vice president and dean of students, ext. 4618.

If you wish to invite members of the team to meet with your department or office to discuss “red flag” warning signs, ways to report a concern, legal or FERPA issues, or how to respond when confronted by a student in distress, please contact Amy Rosen-Brand, associate director of disability services, ext. 4500.

Join your colleagues for a discussion about the characteristics of learner-centered teaching on Friday, September 6, from 8:30 to 9:50 a.m. in the Professional Development Center, E. H. Butler Library 181B. Share suggestions and strategies for implementing learner-centered teaching and effectively addressing its challenges. Bagels and coffee will be available at 8:15 a.m.

Register at http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/classdetails.asp?class=3297.

Buffalo State Dining is pleased to welcome you back for another great year! As you walk around campus, you will see that we have been busy enhancing the dining program to better serve you.

With all these great dining enhancements, now is the perfect time to sign up for your Bengal Bucks plan. Faculty and staff will save 10 percent at any Chartwells dining venue when they use their Bengal Bucks.

Bengal Bucks are a declining-balance dollar account that can be used at any Chartwells dining location, at the bookstore, in the library, in vending machines, on Performing Arts Center tickets, at the Burchfield Penney gift shop, and at select locations off campus.

Sign up for your Bengal Bucks plan today:

• online at www.dineoncampus.com/bsc
• in person at the Bengal Card Office in E. H. Butler Library 108
• by phone at ext. 5152

For more information on Buffalo State Dining, please visit www.dineoncampus.com/bsc.

Faculty members who are using Blackboard Learn instead of ANGEL to teach a fall course and are in need of additional assistance are invited to attend an open lab session today, August 23, in Bulger Communication Center 104. These open lab sessions are reserved for faculty members who have already committed to using Blackboard Learn for the fall semester, that is, participants in Phase II of the Blackboard Learn migration.

Instructional Resources staff members will be available between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. and between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m. to answer questions about using Blackboard, including assistance with migrating content and using new features, as well as to address any concerns that faculty may have about using Blackboard Learn for a fall course.

To register for this open lab or to see what other Blackboard Learn training classes are offered, please visit http://bscintra.buffalostate.edu/registration/default.asp.

The faculty and staff Bible study group that started last year will begin again on Friday, September 6, from noon to 12:50 p.m. in E. H. Butler Library 210B. We will spend most of the time studying and discussing a passage in the Bible and 10 to 15 minutes for prayer. Everyone is welcome. Contact Dave Ettestad, associate professor of physics, ext. 6836, with any questions.

Through National Student Exchange, students have the opportunity to study for a semester or an academic year at one of the 200 participating colleges or universities at affordable tuition rates. Please contact Christine Frezza, ext. 4328, to schedule a class visit. Provide your students with this possibility for enriching their college experience and let them know about the upcoming information session on Tuesday, September 10, and Thursday, September 12, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in Classroom Building B119. Thank you.

In an effort to better serve the campus community, Parking Services is now filling faculty and staff requests for parking permit stickers online at www.buffalostate.edu/parkingservices. Employees may log on to the system with their campus user names and passwords. Permits may be sent via U.S. mail to the employee’s address of record or picked up in the Parking Services Office, Chase Hall 126. Employees must show a valid form of photo ID when picking up a parking permit.

Staff members who do not have a campus user name and password will be required to apply for their parking permits in person in the Parking Services Office. Permits are no longer available from the Student Accounts Office.

All permits must be paid for by debit or credit card at the time of the request.

University Police will begin ticketing for no-permit violations Tuesday, September 3. If you have elected to have your permit mailed to you and have not yet received it by this date, please stop at University Police or Parking Services to obtain a temporary permit for the day.

We look forward to providing this opportunity to go green and help create a smoother transition for the upcoming semester. 

If you have any questions, please contact the Parking Services Office, ext. 3041.

Fall Office Hours:
Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Thursday 8:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.