Learn how to strengthen your online and hybrid skills to enhance your course design and increase student engagement with the Online Course Development Series May 22–June 20. The Online Course Development Series guides participants through a systematic approach to the design and development of online synchronous, online asynchronous, and hybrid courses. Participants will be equipped to make design decisions that support interaction, student engagement, authentic learning and assessment, and meaningful integration of technology. This online asynchronous series will benefit instructors seeking to design or refresh an online or hybrid course.

A full description of the online course development series can be found on the Instructional Design and Distance Learning website.

Series Information and Registration
This online asynchronous course will begin Monday, May 22, and end Tuesday, June 20. All activities will occur through Brightspace. Instructional Design and Distance Learning recommends taking the Online Course Development Series at least one year before teaching online or hybrid.

Please register for this series through the Workshop Registration System.

For more information and future offerings of this series, please visit the Instructional Design and Distance Learning website. Contact Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer, with questions.

Buffalo State alumni, students, faculty, and staff members are invited to attend the talk "Post-Racial Origins of Our Divided America," presented by John Torrey, assistant professor of philosophy and contributing assistant professor of Africana studies, tonight from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center. The talk is free; refreshments will be served. This event is part of the Buffalo State Talks Lecture Series.

Learn more and RSVP on the Alumni Association website.

Buffalo State alumni, students, faculty, and staff members are invited to attend the talk "Post-Racial Origins of Our Divided America," presented by John Torrey, assistant professor of philosophy and contributing assistant professor of Africana studies, on Wednesday, April 12, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center. The talk is free; refreshments will be served. This event is part of the Buffalo State Talks Lecture Series.

Learn more and RSVP on the Alumni Association website.

The Buffalo State community is saddened by the death of Myron H. Nadel, professor emeritus of performing arts, who died March 5, 2023. Mr. Nadel joined the campus in 1985 and retired in 2000. He is survived by his wife, Jane Poss; two sons; and five grandchildren. More information is available online.

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center today, April 10, for the seminar “Anthropocene Lakes: A New Hydrological Regime and the Redevelopment of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor,” led by Phillip Campanile, a Ph.D. candidate and graduate student instructor at the University of California Berkeley, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 216. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar begins.

Abstract
Ecologists now recognize that climate change has generated a “new hydrological regime” across the Great Lakes. From the perspective of human geography, this case study of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor examines articulations between the new hydrological regime, post-industrial redevelopment, and the region’s settler-industrial past. Since 2013, semiannual polar vortices have instigated a sharp rise in lake water levels, producing several record high levels. Combined with an increase in extreme wind events, high water levels have supercharged Lake Erie’s seiches—wind-generated wave events. Seiche waves tend to funnel directly toward Buffalo and cause significant damage across the waterfront. Buffalo’s manmade Outer Harbor was originally built to accommodate shipping traffic, and while it no longer serves that purpose, it does protect downtown against seiche damage. Environmentalists have recently proposed to develop the Outer Harbor into a nature-based solution: a wetland and barrier island that doubles as a resilient coastline and public park; however, a development corporation manages the 200-acre Outer Harbor and plans to turn it into a housing colony. This talk—based on interviews, fieldwork, participant observation, and archival research—ties Buffalo’s urban ecology together with its growth machine politics, demonstrating that a new hydrological regime is simultaneously a political and ecological phenomenon. In light of this political ecology, this talk argues for a place-based approach to the Anthropocene and puts forth a critical interpretation of restoration ecology, which gears ecological redevelopment in Buffalo toward a more just horizon.

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “Anthropocene Lakes: A New Hydrological Regime and the Redevelopment of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor,” led by Phillip Campanile, a Ph.D. candidate and graduate student instructor at the University of California Berkeley, on Monday, April 10, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 216. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar begins.

Abstract
Ecologists now recognize that climate change has generated a “new hydrological regime” across the Great Lakes. From the perspective of human geography, this case study of Buffalo’s Outer Harbor examines articulations between the new hydrological regime, post-industrial redevelopment, and the region’s settler-industrial past. Since 2013, semiannual polar vortices have instigated a sharp rise in lake water levels, producing several record high levels. Combined with an increase in extreme wind events, high water levels have supercharged Lake Erie’s seiches—wind-generated wave events. Seiche waves tend to funnel directly toward Buffalo and cause significant damage across the waterfront. Buffalo’s manmade Outer Harbor was originally built to accommodate shipping traffic, and while it no longer serves that purpose, it does protect downtown against seiche damage. Environmentalists have recently proposed to develop the Outer Harbor into a nature-based solution: a wetland and barrier island that doubles as a resilient coastline and public park; however, a development corporation manages the 200-acre Outer Harbor and plans to turn it into a housing colony. This talk—based on interviews, fieldwork, participant observation, and archival research—ties Buffalo’s urban ecology together with its growth machine politics, demonstrating that a new hydrological regime is simultaneously a political and ecological phenomenon. In light of this political ecology, this talk argues for a place-based approach to the Anthropocene and puts forth a critical interpretation of restoration ecology, which gears ecological redevelopment in Buffalo toward a more just horizon.

Please join the Chemistry Department for the seminar "Ruthenium Complexes That Modulate the Aggregation and Cytotoxicity of the Amyloid-? Peptide," presented by Michael Webb, assistant professor of chemistry at SUNY Geneseo, on Thursday, April 6, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 176. 

Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating neurological disorder where one of the primary pathological hallmarks is aggregate deposits of the peptide amyloid-beta (A?). Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved therapeutics that target and remove these deposits, as they offer clinical benefit; however, the soluble form of A? has also been recognized as being cytotoxic. This creates a critical need for novel therapeutics to ideally target both soluble and deposited A?, thereby perturbing both sides of the aggregation equilibrium. Metal-based compounds are propitious therapeutic candidates as they exploit the metalloprotein nature of A?, forming stable interactions with the soluble form of the peptide, thereby limiting its aggregation and toxicity. Dr. Webb and his team have prepared a small library of Ru complexes and evaluated their abilities to modulate the aggregation and cytotoxicity of the A? peptide such that structure-activity relationships (SAR) could be established. The results of these studies will be discussed, where SAR identified the importance of hydrogen-bonding functional groups improving the activity of the Ru complexes.

The Center for China Studies is presenting its annual China Week 2023 this week, April 3–7, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union lobby. All students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome to attend. This is part of international education at Buffalo State University and an extra opportunity for us to learn more about China and its culture.

From the Chair of the Buffalo State Senate
Please consider participating in the final Future Forward Forum (faculty and staff focused) on Friday, April 7, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall to engage in discussions regarding future pathways, opportunities, and possibilities for Buffalo State University. The themes that emerge from the campus forums will suggest opportunities that the campus might explore in the next decade or so. A facilitator, Morgan Williams-Bryant, will work with graduate students from the Higher Education Administration Department to gather feedback during these sessions and will turn the information over to the Future Forward Committee, which will develop a white paper delineating opportunities to be available to the campus community.

Please register online for the forum.

If you were not able to attend a forum or if you have additional input, please complete this short survey by Monday, April 10, so that your comments can be considered.

Below are the guiding questions asked at each forum. These were developed by a group of campus individuals convened by President Katherine Conway Turner and College Senate Chair Kimberly Kline. Time was also allotted at each forum for more general comments about future pathways, opportunities, and possibilities.

Guiding Questions

1. In what new ways can we engage our students moving forward?
2. How does our new designation as a university change how we see ourselves moving forward at Buffalo State?
3. To meet the demands of today’s workforce, what are the programs we need to modify or create to meet the contemporary needs of our students?
4. Given our commitment to applied research and community engagement experiences, what are some opportunities we might explore in areas such as service orientation, cultural competencies, and appreciation of scientific inquiry?

From the Chair of the Buffalo State Senate
Please consider participating in the final Future Forward Forum (faculty and staff focused) on Friday, April 7, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall to engage in discussions regarding future pathways, opportunities, and possibilities for Buffalo State University. The themes that emerge from the campus forums will suggest opportunities that the campus might explore in the next decade or so. A facilitator, Morgan Williams-Bryant, will work with graduate students from the Higher Education Administration Department to gather feedback during these sessions and will turn the information over to the Future Forward Committee, which will develop a white paper delineating opportunities to be available to the campus community.

Please register online for the forum.

If you were not able to attend a forum or if you have additional input, please complete this short survey by Monday, April 10, so that your comments can be considered.

Below are the guiding questions asked at each forum. These were developed by a group of campus individuals convened by President Katherine Conway Turner and College Senate Chair Kimberly Kline. Time was also allotted at each forum for more general comments about future pathways, opportunities, and possibilities.

Guiding Questions

1. In what new ways can we engage our students moving forward?
2. How does our new designation as a university change how we see ourselves moving forward at Buffalo State?
3. To meet the demands of today’s workforce, what are the programs we need to modify or create to meet the contemporary needs of our students?
4. Given our commitment to applied research and community engagement experiences, what are some opportunities we might explore in areas such as service orientation, cultural competencies, and appreciation of scientific inquiry?