The Weigel Health Center, in partnership with Wegmans Pharmacy, will hold a flu vaccination clinic for faculty, staff, and students on Tuesday, September 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Weigel Health Center. If you are interested in receiving a flu vaccine, please schedule an appointment online. Walk-ins are also welcome.

The faculty and staff Bible study will have its first meeting of the fall semester Friday, September 6, at noon. We meet every other Friday from noon to 12:50 p.m. by Zoom. During the last part of the meeting, we have a time of sharing and prayer. Please email David Ettestad, professor of physics, for the Zoom link.

The Weigel Health Center, in partnership with Wegmans Pharmacy, will hold a flu vaccination clinic for faculty, staff, and students tomorrow, September 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Weigel Health Center. If you are interested in receiving a flu vaccine, please schedule an appointment online. Walk-ins are also welcome.

In any fiscal year in which February 29 falls, the Office of the State Comptroller automatically adjusts salaried employees' biweekly salary calculations based on 366 days in the fiscal year. Salaried employees paid on a calendar-year basis will see a change in their biweekly gross earnings beginning with the September 25, 2024, paycheck to adjust for the non-leap year calculation.

The definition of calendar year and the leap year and non-leap year salary calculation are posted on the Payroll FAQs page and are noted below.

Questions may be directed to the Payroll Office via email or by phone at (716) 878-4124.

Pay Modes - Calendar (CAL) 
Use for faculty with academic-year obligations paid over 12 months. The normal appointment year or payroll obligation dates for faculty is 9/1/xx-8/31/xx. The faculty academic-year obligation is determined each year by the president (26 pay periods).

Why is there a discrepancy between my gross annual earnings and my annual base salary?
Since a fiscal year cannot be divided equally into biweekly periods, computation of the biweekly wage is made by dividing the annual salary by the number of calendar days in the fiscal year (365, or in the case of a leap year, 366) and multiplying this result by 14, the number of calendar days in a biweekly period. To reduce this process to one step, the fractions 14/365 and 14/366 are converted to multiplication factors: .038356 (non-leap year) and .038251 (leap year).

Normally, there are 26 pay periods during a calendar year. Because of idiosyncrasies in the calendar and the state's payroll cycle, state employees occasionally receive 27 paychecks in a calendar year instead of 26. When this occurs, the employee's gross annual earnings will be higher than the annual salary.

Big Big Table will be on campus Tuesday, October 1, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union lobby. Big Big Table Community CafĂ© is a lunchtime restaurant open to everybody! It is focused on serving delicious, nutritious meals while at the same time championing healthful, local food options, addressing food insecurity, reducing food waste, and supporting community.

At a traditional restaurant, guests are asked to exchange money for their meals. At Big Big Table, guests are invited to exchange money, time, or groceries in exchange for their meals. Their pay-as-you-can model strives to promote healthy individuals and communities.

Would you like to help at the cafĂ©? At Big Big Table, volunteers make all the difference! There are lots of ways to help daily, such as sweeping floors, washing dishes, chopping vegetables, or picking up a food donation for the cafĂ©. Volunteers can sign up for one-time opportunities or choose to get involved on a regular weekly or monthly basis.

Please contact the Civic and Community Engagement Office, (716) 878-3919, with questions.

Campus House reopens for lunch Thursday, September 5, at 11:30 a.m. Please make your reservation today!

The Buffalo State Campus House Club Inc. annual meeting will be held Friday, September 6, at 3:00 p.m. in Bacon Hall 115. The meeting is open to club members and the campus community.

A Meditation and Self-Care workshop will be held Thursday, September 12, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. This workshop offers practical tools and techniques to cultivate mindfulness, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being to self-care. Participants can experiment with chanting, singing bowls, and/or yoga. Bring your own yoga mats and singing bowls if you have them. Free and open to faculty, staff, and students.

Hosted by Holly Bewlay from the Music Department for chanting with special guest Patricia Hills for singing bowls and Jessica Fitzpatrick from Social Work for yoga.

All students, faculty, and staff members are invited to join Buffalo State's Bengals Vote Coalition. Freshmen and sophomores are strongly encouraged to join.

The Bengals Vote Coalition (BVC) is a collaboration of Buffalo State advocates, student organizations, academic departments, and the Katherine S. Conway-Turner Civic and Community Engagement Office, committed to engaging, educating, and mobilizing the Buffalo State community to be active voting citizens.

The BVC will implement high-impact practices to lead the institution's voter-engagement efforts, coordinating educational programs including voter-engagement interactive and informative tabling, civic dialogue, discussion panels, and advocacy training. The coalition offers a student leadership ambassador model, allowing participants to connect their department or organization to the coalition, advancing diverse perspectives and sharing resources.

The BVC is a great introduction to civic activism, allowing students to develop leadership, teamwork, and advocacy skills. Students will build confidence as public speakers and have an opportunity to work with others of diverse backgrounds as well as different ideals while empowering their peers to be advocates and exercise their civic right to vote.

If you have an interest in joining the BVC, please attend the first meeting on Friday, September 6, at 3:00 p.m. in South Wing 100 or email Lisa Kragbé, assistant director of civic and community engagement, for more information.

Interested in free nutrition counseling? Our senior dietetics students are offering free nutrition counseling to all Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff members in the Nutrition Education Counseling Center in Caudell Hall 212.

Receive nutrition guidance and have your nutrition questions answered by our senior dietetics students with supervision from a registered dietitian.

Nutrition counseling is offered for the following topics:

• Healthful eating and meal planning
• Weight management
• Body composition analysis using our Fit3D machine
• Sports nutrition
• Digestive concerns
• Special diets: gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc.
• Nutritious snacks and meals on a budget
• Nutrition for chronic health conditions such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure
• Pregnancy
• Infant and young child feeding

Appointments are available on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. beginning Thursday, September 5, through Thursday, December 5.

To book an appointment, please email the Nutrition Education Counseling Center with your preferred day, time, and topic of interest.

Do you need to register to vote, need to make changes to your voter registration, or need help applying for or filling out your absentee ballot? Stop by the weekly "Get Election Ready" information table in Butler Library's west lobby lobby on Tuesday, September 10, between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to meet civically engaged student advocates from SWK 302 and receive help with your questions. For more information and resources, please visit the Bengals Vote web page. Questions? Email the Civic and Community Engagement Office or call (716) 878-3919.