The Economics and Finance Department will sponsor a meet and greet event on Tuesday, November 14, during Bengal Pause (12:15–1:30 p.m.) in Bulger Communication Center 214. Come and learn how to become a master's graduate in economics. Graduates have been earning an annual salary of $116,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Refreshments will be served.

An information session for students interested in participating in a spring study-abroad course, GST 483 or GST 783 Interdisciplinary Exploration: Belize Culture and Community Engagement, will be held Tuesday, November 28, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in South Wing 100 or online. The study-abroad course will offer students the opportunity to explore their discipline in the context of cultural exchange while focusing on developing community engagement and service-learning activities with local nonprofit community partners in Belize.

Program leaders Laura Hill Rao, director of civic and community engagement, and Joy Guarino, director of global engagement, will offer the information session. RSVP for the meeting.

Participants will travel to Belize March 22–30, 2024. The program is open to Buffalo State undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines and will explore the UN Sustainability Goals in the context of students' individual disciplines. Additional details can be found online.

The Newman Center offers free home-cooked dinners and a place to play video games, play cards, or shoot pool. Dinners are made by the local parishioners and bring a touch of home to students who may be missing homemade meals and need a break from academic life. We offer vegetarian choices at the meals, too! Come and hang out with us every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Reserve a spot by email or phone, (716)-882-1080, or just show up—and bring a friend!

The Newman Center is located at 1219 Elmwood Avenue, right across the street from the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

The Campbell Student Union will modify its hours beginning Tuesday, November 21, to Sunday, November 26, for the Thanksgiving holiday:

Tuesday, November 21: 8:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 22: 8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Thursday, November 23 (Thanksgiving): CLOSED

Friday, November 24: CLOSED

Saturday, November 25: CLOSED

Sunday, November 26: 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. (normal operating hours)

Please visit the Campbell Student Union website for more information regarding space requests, building policies, rental fees, and availability.

A reception for the Fall 2023 Art and Design Student Exhibition will take place today, November 9, in the Upton Hall foyer from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and all are welcome! The Art and Design Student Exhibition—on view through November 30 in the Czurles-Nelson Gallery—features 100- and 200-level student work from many Art and Design concentrations.

Please contact Marie Bogner, Czurles-Nelson Gallery coordinator, (716) 878-4390, with questions.

The Fall 2023 Art and Design Student Exhibition is on view in the Czurles-Nelson Gallery through November 30. This exhibition features 100- and 200-level student work from many Art and Design concentrations.

A reception will be held in the Upton Hall foyer on Thursday, November 9, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served, and all are welcome!

Please contact Marie Bogner, Czurles-Nelson Gallery coordinator, (716) 878-4390, with questions.

Faculty members are invited and encouraged to complete a brief survey (1–2 minutes) to designate courses they are teaching this spring 2024 semester that have zero textbook cost (ZTC). ZTC courses do not require students to purchase textbooks or other learning materials; instead they use open educational resources (OER), library resources, faculty-created resources, and other materials that are freely accessible to students. Gathering this data will enable us to meet SUNY reporting requirements.

Designating your course as ZTC will help make the costs of higher education more transparent to students and will increase equitable access to the materials students need to succeed.

The survey will ask you to provide the spring 2024 CRNs for your ZTC courses. ZTC courses will be designated in Banner so that they are easily identifiable by students during registration. CRNs can be retrieved from department administrators.

More information on ZTC courses is available on the Butler Library website. Please email Chris Hulsman, faculty librarian, with questions.

Bengal Buy onboarding has been completed ahead of schedule, and as such, all orders to vendors should be placed via Bengal Buy. Procurement will no longer accept digital requisitions for orders to suppliers, with limited exceptions, such as personal reimbursements. All other items that use state funds are to be submitted in Bengal Buy.

Future enhancements to the system to allow for further efficiencies and use of other funding sources are underway, and the campus will be notified of those planned rollouts.

Users are encouraged to follow the Bengal Buy training to accurately set up their default ship-to address to ensure that their orders are delivered to their exact campus location. As a reminder, Bengal Buy training can be found on the Procurement Services website as well as within Bengal Buy. Pertinent information is available on the new Procurement web page, as well as within the organizational message of Bengal Buy for campus users. Please use both of these online tools for important purchasing-related deadlines and information throughout the fiscal year.

Campus users are also encouraged to use the purchasing@buffalostate.edu email for questions or customer service needs to better support them.

Campus users are encouraged to use the new Sole/Single Source Justification Form (PDF, 110 KB) to support any procurement request where additional quotes or competition does not exist. Use of this form replaces the existing practice of writing a justification memo and is provided for efficiency and clarification in department requests when only one company can fulfill an order or service.

The following are common examples for appropriate use of the Sole/Single Source Justification Form:

• The supplies or services to be acquired are unique.
• Only one known source can meet Buffalo State’s needs within the required time frame; administrative delays do not justify urgency.
• Data is unavailable for competitive procurement.
• The goods or services being acquired are compatible with existing equipment.

Please note that all sole/single source justifications still require reasonableness of price of university funds. A few ways to determine if the price is reasonable are listed below:

• The vendor’s published price list or documented discount(s)
• Invoices or costs sheets from prior state contracts
• Comparison to other vendor’s prices for similar products or services
• Comparison to similar purchases by other campuses

The Sole/Single Source Justification Form should be uploaded as an attachment to Bengal Buy when a sole/single source procurement is being requested.

Please email the Procurement Office with questions or concerns.

Get ready to witness the future of entrepreneurship at the Bengal Entrepreneurship Competition on Tuesday, November 14, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center.

This semester, the Small Business Development Center's Bengal Entrepreneurship Program has been preparing our talented students to showcase their innovative business ideas. The students have invested their time and effort to craft eight-minute pitches that will impress our esteemed panel of judges. Eight talented students will battle it out for a chance to win a share of the $3,000 prize pool. Our judging panel consists of local entrepreneurs, a representative from Bank of America, and esteemed alumni.

Please join us for this extraordinary showcase of entrepreneurial brilliance, generously sponsored by Bank of America.