Tracy P. Johnson, counselor, and Jude Jayatilleke,academic adviser, Educational Opportunity Program, participated in the Tri-State Opportunity Leadership Institute, part of the 10th Biennial Conference of the Tri-State Consortium of Opportunity Programs in Higher Education, held March 22–25 in Galloway, New Jersey. The Leadership Institute is designed to educate and mentor upcoming leaders within Educational Opportunity, SEEK, and access programs. This year’s featured Leadership Institute speakers were Dr. Muriel A. Howard, president of Buffalo State College, and Dr. Shirley Robinson, senior vice president of programs and services, American Council on Education (ACE) in Washington, D.C.

Michael Johnson, associate professor, Modern and Classical Languages, presented “‘The More You Eat the Worse It Gets’: Playing with Waiting for Godot” in the “Innovative Approaches to Teaching Canonical Works” section at the 40th anniversary convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association, in Boston, Massachusetts, February 26–March 1.

Yanick Jenkins, director, Emma McFayden, assistant director of recruitment and retention, Ottilie Woodruff,assistant director, Jude Jayatilleke, academic adviser, and Tracy P. Johnson, counselor, Educational Opportunity Program, presented “The Intentional Evolution of the Opportunity Program: Past, Present, and Forecasting for the Future” at the 10th Biennial Conference of the Tri-State Consortium of Opportunity Programs in Higher Education in Galloway, New Jersey, March 22–25. The presentation discussed the changes that higher education has experienced over the years and the current issues concerning opportunity and access programs for low-income, first-generation college students, as well as issues underrepresented students face in the current economic climate. This interactive presentation was developed to provide a historical overview of opportunity programs; to assess the present educational, political, and economic challenges; and to encourage critical thinking about the future in an effort to forecast and assess continuous improvement.

Yanick Jenkins, director, Educational Opportunity Program, presented “Learning from the Buffalo State College EOP Self-Study of Selected Areas” at the 10th Biennial Conference of the Tri-State Consortium of Opportunity Programs in Higher Education in Galloway, New Jersey, March 22–25. Her presentation described the 2008 Buffalo State EOP Self-Study, which was the result of a six-month assessment analyzed by 28 faculty, professional and support staff, and administrators. Jenkins described the self-study process and how participants can utilize her example tailored to their own institutions. The presentation was followed by an informative question-and-answer discussion.

Kimberly Hart, assistant professor, Anthropology, presented “The Death of a Cooperative” on the decline of the DOBAG carpet-weaving cooperative in Turkey, at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for Economic Anthropology, held at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, April 2–4.

Peter J. Grieco, lecturer, College Writing Program, has been nominated for this year’s Pushcart Prize for his poem “White Out.”

Andrew T. Garrity, programmer/analyst, Computing and Technology Services, won first place in the faculty/staff category for the sixth consecutive year in the 12th annual Bengal 5K Run and Fun Walk on Saturday, March 14. More than 800 runners and walkers and 150 volunteers supported the event. Proceeds from this event benefit the Buffalo State Alumni Association’s Legacy Scholarship Fund, a scholarship awarded annually to a student who is the child or grandchild of a Buffalo State graduate.

Frances Gage, assistant professor, Fine Arts, delivered the paper “Una Meretrice Come Nostra Donna: Giulio Mancini, Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin and Blaspheming the Virgin in Early Modern Europe,” at the 55th annual conference of the Renaissance Society of America, held in Los Angeles, California, March 19–21.

Roger Firestien, lecturer, International Center for Studies in Creativity, delivered a workshop, “Unleashing the Power of Creativity,” to Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. in Chautauqua, New York, in October.

Trish Dillenbeck, assistant director, Orientation and New Student Programs, published her article “Beyond Parent Orientation: Cultivating Relationships with the Entire Family” in the March issue of the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Bulletin 77 (2).