The Burchfield Penney Art Center Board of Trustees and Buffalo State University are pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Propeack as the center’s executive director. 

Mr. Propeack has been a key member of the Burchfield Penney team for over 25 years, most recently serving as acting director. He has provided visionary leadership to guide the Burchfield Penney’s continued evolution within the local arts and cultural sector while raising its national profile as a top-tier multifaceted arts center. As executive director, Mr. Propeack will continue fostering collaboration with the Western New York community, Buffalo State University, and countless arts and educational organizations. He holds overall responsibility for the Burchfield Penney’s achievement of its mission in service to the public, determining the arts and cultural vision and providing oversight of all Burchfield Penney administrative, curatorial, programmatic, and educational initiatives. He oversees a budget of approximately $3.6 million and about 30 staff members.

Read more.

Would you like to take your course from Blackboard and use it in Brightspace? This Knowledge Base article, Importing Course Content Packages into Brightspace from Blackboard Learn, explains the steps to take.

Faculty members will have access to Blackboard through Monday, April 10.

Have other questions or need assistance?   

• The Buffalo State IT Knowledge Base has many articles to assist with Brightspace. Use the search bar at the top to find information on other topics.   
• Please direct any questions about Brightspace functionality to SUNY Online.   
• If you need on-campus assistance from Instructional Design and Distance Learning, please submit a ticket through the IT portal.   
• Check for upcoming Brightspace workshops on campus in the Workshop Registration System. 

Once you have your course ready in Brightspace, you must make the course "Active" for students to be able to access it.

The Knowledge Base article, Make a Brightspace Course Active for Students, explains the steps to take.

Have other questions or need assistance?  

• The Buffalo State IT Knowledge Base has many articles to assist with Brightspace. Use the search bar at the top to find information on other topics.  
• Please direct any questions about Brightspace functionality to SUNY Online.
• If you need on-campus assistance from Instructional Design and Distance Learning, please submit a ticket through the IT portal.  
• Check for upcoming Brightspace workshops on campus in the Workshop Registration System.

From the Chair of the Senate
The first meeting of the Buffalo State Senate for spring 2023 will be held Friday, February 10, at 3:00 p.m. in Newman Lecture Hall, Bulger Communication Center 215. Kimberly Kline, professor of higher education administration, serves as chair of the Senate for the 2022–2023 academic year. Please contact Dr. Kline with questions.

We encourage everyone to visit the Senate website to catch up on Senate news, find podcasts and minutes of past meetings, review reports and resolutions, and more.

Buffalo State University will host the Lake Erie/Niagara Division C Science Olympiad Regional Competition on campus this Saturday, February 4. The Olympiad starts at 7:00 a.m., with the first events at 8:00 a.m., and concludes about 3:00 p.m.

The Science Olympiad is a national event in which high school students compete as teams in science and engineering events. A team consists of 15 students working in pairs to enter events in subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, computing, and aeronautics. This year students will compete in 23 different events, including Codebusters, Bridge Building, and Flight. Students learn the event rules in early September, preparing to compete in the Lake Erie/Niagara Division C Qualifier in February. Teams that do well at the qualifier move on to the state competition in March.

Competitions take place in the Science and Mathematics Complex (SAMC), Houston Gym, and Bulger Communication Center. Last year roughly 400 high school students from 17 schools attended, and more are expected this year.

A STEAM Fair will also take place in the SAMC atrium from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. All Buffalo State STEAM departments interested in participating are welcome to set up a table or send a student club to talk with the high school students and families. Any other campus organization that wishes to participate can also potentially be involved. Please contact Elisa Bergslien, associate professor of earth sciences, to request a table.

D2L Brightspace is the official Learning Management System that is replacing Blackboard Learn for spring 2023 and beyond. Students are encouraged to attend workshops or open labs to learn more about the new system. Students can register through the Workshop Registration System.

If you have your own personal laptop, please bring it with you.

Students: Brightspace Introduction
Come to this session and learn how to navigate the Brightspace learning environment, message your instructors and peers, locate course activities, review progress and grades, and verify that you are receiving the appropriate notification for your courses so you don't miss any important information.

Students: Brightspace Open Lab
This lab is an open forum devoted to answering questions and solving problems that students may have about navigating Brightspace. Bring your course-specific questions and have them answered here!

Have other questions or need assistance? 

• The Buffalo State IT Knowledge Base has many articles to assist with Brightspace. Use the search bar at the top to find information on other topics. 
• Please direct any questions about Brightspace functionality to SUNY Online. 
• If you need on-campus assistance from please submit a ticket through the IT portal. 

All faculty members are encouraged to begin training in Brightspace, the new SUNY-wide learning management system.

In-Person Training Options:
In-person training sessions will be offered by Instructional Design and Distance Learning (IDDL) and the Teaching and Learning Center in a variety of labs across campus. Registration is through the Workshop Registration System.

Brightspace LMS Open Lab
Need assistance with your course in Brightspace? This lab is an open forum devoted to answering questions and solving problems that faculty members may have about navigating Brightspace. Bring your course-specific questions and have them answered here!

The Brightspace Fundamentals Workshop Series is designed for instructors new to Brightspace and is suitable for instructors teaching in any modality: face-to-face, hybrid, or online.

Workshops in the series:

• Navigation and Interface
• Communication Tools
• Authoring and Publishing Content
• Gradable Activities: Assignments
• Gradable Activities: Discussions
• Gradable Activities:Quizzes
• Gradebook

Have other questions or need assistance? 

• The Buffalo State IT Knowledge Base has many articles to assist with Brightspace. Use the search bar at the top to find information on other topics. 
• Please direct any questions about Brightspace functionality to SUNY Online. 
• If you need on-campus assistance from Instructional Design and Distance Learning, please submit a ticket through the IT portal.

The faculty and staff Bible study will have its first meeting of the spring semester on Friday, February 3, at noon. We meet every other Friday from noon to 12:50 p.m. by Zoom. 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 or with any questions.

The “Conversations in and out of the Disciplines” lecture series continues Friday, February 24, as Kimberly Kamper-DeMarco, assistant professor of psychology, presents “Risk Factors and Consequences of Peer Victimization: Understanding Victimization Experiences Across Development.”

The talk, followed by a brief Q&A, will begin at 3:00 p.m. in Ketchum Hall 320. A short wine and cheese reception will follow. Everyone is welcome.

Please also mark your calendars for the second and third talks of the spring semester. Hilary Lochte, assistant professor of English and elementary education, will present “The English Classroom as a Contested Space: Preparing English Teachers during Divisive Times” on Friday, March 17; and Aaron Daniel Annas, associate professor and director of television and film arts, will present “Capturing Truth: Exploring the Paranormal” on Friday, April 21. Both talks will also be held in Ketchum Hall 320.

The “Conversations” series was started 15 years ago by Ann Colley, SUNY Distinguished Professor Emerita of English, to “celebrate and draw attention to the research being done in various departments at Buffalo State University.” Over the last decade, colleagues from Anthropology, Art Conservation, Art History, Biology, Chemistry, English, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science, and Secondary Education, among others, have shared their work with the Buffalo State and Buffalo communities.

The Early Undergraduate Research Opportunity (EURO) program, sponsored by the Undergraduate Research Office, is now accepting applications for the spring 2023 semester. The EURO program is designed to provide lower-division students with an opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor on a research or scholarly project. A stipend of $1,000 is provided to each student who participates in an approved 10-week project with a faculty mentor. Alternatively, a faculty member may identify a micro-EURO project to be performed within a time frame of approximately five weeks, in which case students are eligible to receive $500 for participation. Up to $200 is available for supplies needed to complete a full EURO project. All awards are subject to IRB restrictions and availability of funding. Participating students must be classified as freshmen or sophomores, with at least 12 and no more than 60 earned credit hours at the time of application.

For more information and the online application portal link, please visit the EURO page. Applications should be received by Friday, February 17, for full consideration.