Please join the Chemistry Department for the next online seminar of the fall 2023 seminar series, "Exploring Crystallization Processes in Amorphous Pharmaceuticals," presented by Sarah E Wolf, assistant professor of chemistry at SUNY Cortland, today, November 9, at 12:30 p.m.

Microsoft Teams meeting
Meeting ID: 280 270 309 869
Passcode: wVzxzd
Download Teams | Join on the web

Abstract
Amorphous solids, or glasses, play an important role in many industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, drugs may be preferentially used in the amorphous state due to higher solubility, and therefore higher bio-availability. Alternatively, drugs may exist as amorphous as a consequence of preparation processes common in the industry, including grinding or spray-drying. In either case, understanding and maintaining the properties of amorphous drugs demands that they remain in the glassy state; however, as it is a more thermodynamically favorable state, there is a tendency toward crystallization. Extensive work has investigated the processes involved in this crystallization and potential tools to slow or effectively stop the process. This work aims to further this work by considering the effect of preparation conditions and, in particular, consider how confinement effects can be exploited to slow or prevent the nucleation of crystals in amorphous materials.

The Buffalo State Athletics Department, Psychology Club, and Maurene Callahan Bouras Center for Global Engagement are collecting items for current Buffalo State student needs for Milligan’s Food Pantry located on campus. Donations can be made at the following locations:

Athletics Office - Houston Gym
Center for Global Engagement - South Wing 410
Butler Library - Ask Us Desk
Milligan’s Food Pantry - Campbell Student Union 402
Residential Life Office - Twin Rise 

Suggested items include cereal, canned chicken, hygiene products, vegetables, fruit cups, shelf-stable almond milk, soup, and peanut butter. Please see the Milligan’s website for other suggested items. Help us take steps to support students become food secure.

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “Stream Fish Assemblage Responses to Long-Term Shifts in Hydrology and Climate,” presented by Corey Krabbenhoft, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University at Buffalo, on Monday, November 13, at 3:00 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 151. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar.

Abstract
Shifting climate regimes are projected to increase drought and drying events in river networks across the globe. Given these projected changes, understanding the factors contributing to species persistence under increasing aridity will inform long-term conservation of fish biodiversity. To investigate fish assemblage responses over large spatial and temporal scales, Krabbenhoft's team compiled data on 194 fish species found in 1,379 arid land stream sites in the United States and Australia to explore how changing flow regimes are related to changes in fish richness and assemblage composition over 50 years. They additionally investigated trait data for fish species in this dataset to identify characteristics common to species in these systems and those eliciting the strongest responses to environmental change. The data show declines in precipitation, increased low or no-flow hydrological events, and increasing temperatures over the last several decades. In these same systems, an overall decline in fish species richness was observed. General declines in richness were observed in both the United States and Australia, though the longest datasets available were all from the United States, underscoring the need for accessible, long-term datasets on occurrence in other regions of the world. This work highlights a critical conservation need for fishes that are especially vulnerable and aquatic communities that are likely to experience more severe drying events in the future.

The Buffalo Region SUNY Alliance received funding from the National Science Foundation to provide student enrichment programming to underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This program, the SUNY Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (SUNY LSAMP), aims to increase the numbers of students matriculating into and successfully completing degree programs so that the STEM workforce can be diversified. Emphasis is placed on transforming undergraduate STEM education through innovative, evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies, and relevant educational experiences.  

An orientation meeting will take place Friday, November 10, in Technology Building 160 for students who are underrepresented in STEM. Criteria and opportunities will be shared. Qualified students will be eligible for funding to support their research. Please encourage students to visit the LSAMP website and register for the meeting. Thank you!

Students may now apply to join the Anne Frank Project's 2024 delegation to Rwanda! Students can learn more about this summer trip to East Africa during a general interest meeting tomorrow, November 9, at 12:30 p.m. in Campbell Student Union 419. 

Through our unique study-abroad program in Rwanda, we teach students to facilitate story-based learning, enable them to participate in authentic cultural expeditions, and immerse them personally in Rwanda’s reconciliation process following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Students will experience Rwanda's culture as we visit schools, villages, genocide memorials, government offices, national parks, and cultural centers.

Applications are due Monday, November 20.

Please visit the AFP website for more information or email Drew Kahn, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and founding director of the Anne Frank Project.

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 27, 2023, paycheck.

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. Due to 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.

Walt Whitman’s most famous poem, “Song of Myself,” is a “barbaric yawp” that celebrates freedom, inclusion, and democracy. Working with this iconic piece, the New York theater collective Compagnia de’ Colombari has created seven short films with actors and musicians around the globe bringing Whitman’s words to life in startling and beautiful new ways.

The films will be screened on Thursday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center as part of a Whitman on Walls (WoW!) event. After each film, a local performance poet will offer an original piece of work written in response to the film—conversing with, talking back to, wrestling with Walt Whitman. The seven poets include Buffalo’s poet laureate, the Emmy-nominated Jillian Hanesworth, and Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry.

The evening will begin with Curtis Lovell, accompanied by Luis Montijo, performing two of the songs she has created from Walt Whitman’s poems for the Calamus Project and Ujima Company. The founder and director of Compagnia de’ Colombari, Karin Coonrod, who teaches drama at Yale University, will offer brief remarks. The event is free and open to the public.

Faculty and staff advisors play an integral role in the success of student organizations at Buffalo State. They offer guidance to student leaders through their experience and lend continuity to the organization. Each year Student Leadership and Engagement receives multiple requests from students to create new organizations on campus. At times these organizations are without a faculty or staff advisor and are unsure where to look in order to fill the role. In addition, returning student organizations may find themselves in a situation where the advisor position has become vacant and needs to be filled.

The following student organizations are without a faculty or staff advisor:

• Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority
• Sigma Delta Tau Sorority
• Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority

Roles and responsibilities of advisors include the following:

• Must be a full-time faculty or staff member. Graduate assistants or interns are not eligible to serve as student organization advisors.
• Must have knowledge and understanding of the student organization's mission, values, and history, lending continuity to the organization.
• Must be aware of and attend (when necessary) activities, meetings, and programs sponsored by the student organization.
• Must build trust with the student organization and establish guidelines for their role as advisor.
• Must encourage members to assume responsibility for their actions and effectiveness of their programs.
• Must guide while at the same time allow freedom for members to plan and coordinate their own activities and programs.
• Must provide knowledge and information relevant to the needs of the organization through expertise and experience

If you are interested in serving as an advisor to one or more of these organizations, please contact Luke Haumesser, associate director of student leadership and engagement.

In celebration of National Distance Learning Week, Instructional Design and Distance Learning is excited to launch an Online and Hybrid Community of Practice. This community of practice aims to amplify exemplary work already happening across campus with regard to online and hybrid teaching and course design, from training and workshops to innovative course design and student-centered pedagogy. This opt-in community is intended for anyone in the Buffalo State community with an interest in online or hybrid education. 

If you are interested in joining this community of practice, please complete the Online and Hybrid Community of Practice Interest Form.

Please let your students know that spring 2024 scholarship applications are available now in the Campus Application Portal for Scholarships (CAPS). Students may apply for spring 2024 scholarships until Monday, January 15.

Please email scholarship@buffalostate.edu with questions.