The Buffalo State University community is saddened by the death of James R. Bensley, '86, former lecturer in the Geography and Planning Department, who died August 14, 2024. Mr. Bensley joined the campus in 1997 and taught until May 2024. He received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching in 2018. He is survived by his sister, Paula, and extended family members.

Friends may call Wednesday, August 28, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Cooper Funeral Home, 215 W. Center Street, in Medina, New York. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, August 29, at 10:00 a.m. in Holy Trinity Parish, St. Mary's Church, 211 Eagle Street, Medina. More information is available online.

A campuswide Major and Minor Fair is scheduled for Thursday, October 10, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. Current students will have the opportunity to explore our vast curricular offerings as well as speak to faculty members and students currently declared in programs. Please mark your calendars and consider how you might promote this event in your fall 2024 courses that would encourage students to attend.

Please join the CSEA Local 640 Veterans Committee for a moment of silence and a rededication of the 9/11 Memorial Garden located behind Moot Hall along Rockwell Road on Wednesday, September 11, at 8:30 a.m. in memory of the lives lost on September 11, 2001, and thereafter.

We would like to express our most sincere appreciation for the cooperation and patience of everyone we interacted with during last week's printer inventory. We could not have completed this phase of the project without your assistance.   

During the inventory process, the teams were asked to remove nonfunctioning or unused equipment. While that was out of the scope of the teams' activities last week, we would like to offer that service to you now. To surrender equipment for any reason, please submit an Equipment Surrender ticket through the ITS client portal (log-in required).

Next steps for the print management team will include an analysis of the data collected. We will collaborate with Toshiba to design the best possible printing options for each area, with a focus on the overall Managed Print Services Cost-Savings Initiative outlined by SUNY. As part of that process, we will be asking departmental directors to provide us with any specialized printing needs for their areas. If you or someone in your office has specialized print needs, such as color, confidential, or special-format printing, please make sure your directors are aware of those needs.   

Please note that the design we implement will not be etched in stone. If it is determined that you have specialized printing needs that were not considered in the initial design, we will be able to re-evaluate and update your configuration as needed. 

Please email Michelle Hockett, IT project manager, for additional information or with questions.

Effective Monday, August 26, all T-Card and Net-Card reconciliation forms will be required to be submitted electronically in Bengal Buy.

Accounts Payable and Travel Services has created a new method for submission of both T-Card and Net-Card reconciliation forms and backup documentation. This new electronic method will replace the current practice of submission of paper Travel Card reconciliation forms and backup, and will provide for the use of electronic approvals and document submission.

This new method of submission will eliminate paper submission via campus mail, and will facilitate better document retention for the campus.

Please refer to the Bengal Buy Guide for Submission of T-Card/Net-Card Reconciliation for step-by-step instructions on how to use this new efficiency.

Please contact Mary Taylor, director of accounts payable and procurement services, (716) 878-4117, with any related questions.

Please join the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) for a scholarly discussion of The Right to Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom on select Fridays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. in Butler Library 318. This book is a collection of essays, so while we'd love to have you at all the sessions, we're happy to have you for as many as you can make. Coffee, tea, and a light breakfast will be served.

Conversations will be led by John Draeger, TLC director, and Julie Setele, senior assistant librarian.

For more information, please visit the Workshop Registration System or register using the links below.

September 13
Introduction and Chapter 3: "The Rise of Educational Gag Orders"

September 27
Chapter 4: "The Epistemology of Ignorance and Its Impact on Democracy and Higher Education"

October 11
Chapter 5: "Knowledge and Good Community Organizing Can Counter the 'Divisive Concepts' Campaign"

October 25
Chapter 7: "Don't Say Gay' and Can't Be Trans: Behind the Anti-LGBTQ+ Schooling Agenda"

November 8
Chapter 8: "The Resolutions: Mobilizing Faculty Senates to Defend Academic Freedom"

November 22
Chapter 10: "Academic Freedom: It's a Question of Job Security"

In-person and online workshops are being offered by Instructional Design and Distance Learning (IDDL) throughout the fall semester. Please join us to learn about ways we can support students, enhance the use of educational technology, and strengthen course design. 

Workshop topics include: 

Ally-Creating Accessible Content in Brightspace

• Thursday, September 12 | 1:00-2:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 25 | 11:00 a.m.-noon

 Brightspace Basics

• Thursday, August 22 | 2:00-3:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 4  | 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Enhance Your Brightspace Course Design to Meet Student Needs

• Thursday, August 29  | 12:30-1:30 p.m.

Microsoft Teams Meetings for Course or Department Meetings 

• Tuesday, September 3  | 10:30 a.m.-noon

Online Course Development Series (online asynchronous)

• Monday, September 16-Wednesday, October 30

For more information, workshop dates, and links to register, please visit the Workshop Registration System.

Do you need help registering to vote, making changes to your voter registration, or applying for or filling out your absentee ballot? Stop by the weekly "Get Election Ready" information table in the Campbell Student Union lobby on Tuesday, October 8, between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to meet civically engaged student advocates from SWK 302 and community partners from the Buffalo Center for Health Equity 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.

Do you need help registering to vote, making changes to your voter registration, or applying for or filling out your absentee ballot? Then stop by the weekly "Get Election Ready" Information Table in the Campbell Student Union lobby between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Thursday, October 3, when civically engaged student advocates from SWK 302 and community partner Partnership for the Public Good will be on hand to answer 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.

Do you need help registering to vote, making changes to your voter registration, or applying for or filling out your absentee ballot? Then stop by the weekly "Get Election Ready" information table in the Campbell Student Union from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Thursday, September 26, when civically engaged student advocates from SWK 302 and community partners from the League of Women Voters will be on hand to answer 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.