Winterim provides a variety of activities to support the intellectual, personal, and professional growth of the Buffalo State community. Winterim will be held January 17–20 and is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and learn from one another. Sessions this year include LinkedIn 101, a card game series, team trivia, community service activities, and many more. Please register for sessions through the Workshop Registration System (LibCal).

Lots I-34 and I-35 will be offline on Thursday, December 29, to accommodate the installation of generator housing at Upton Hall. Individuals requiring accessible parking that day may make use of the handicap spaces in lots I-32 and I-37. The north entrance of Bulger Communication Center will also be closed on December 29.

Please contact Parking Services with any questions about this temporary lot closure. Your patience is appreciated as this important work is undertaken.

Campus map (PDF, 3.9 MB)

There is a new feature in Banner for J-Term 2023. All students (including those who have a hold that would normally prevent this type of activity) will be able to submit an online withdrawal from a course directly in Banner from January 6, 2023, to January 17, 2023. It is no longer necessary for a student with a hold to submit a Request to Withdrawal from Course Due to a Hold form.

The following position on campus is open to internal candidates before being open to the public. This is an internal job posting open to employees of SUNY Buffalo State who are currently paid from any state-appropriated-funds payroll:

Title: Senior Staff Assistant/Assistant to the Director
Department: Graduate Studies Office
Salary: Competitive
Negotiating Unit: UUP

Brief Job Description:
The senior staff assistant works closely with the director of the Graduate Studies Office. The position has three main functions:
(1) serves as an assistant to the director, requiring a high degree of initiative, judgment, and discretion;
(2) works with the director to manage the overall office operations and monitoring of expenditures and supervising the maintenance of financial accounts and records, requiring personnel management skills, effective communication skills, and organization skills;
(3) works with the director and the office staff to develop plans and strategies for the effective performance of all operations of the office, unit assessment, reviewing operations and procedures, and making recommendations for improvements.

To view the required qualifications and to apply, please view the posting on the Buffalo State Job Opportunities website.

The posting is open for consideration of internal candidates through Thursday, January 12, 2023.

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

In-Person Training Options
In-person training sessions are being hosted by Instructional Design and Distance Learning (IDDL) in a variety of labs on campus. Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

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 are Navigation and Interface; Communication Tools; Authoring and Publishing Content; Gradable Activities: Assignments, Discussions, and Quizzes; and Gradebook.

Getting Ready for Brightspace: 10 Tips to Enhance Your Course Design
The move to Brightspace gives us the opportunity to shift how we think about course design and to create a more interactive and consistent design of learning experiences within a course. This workshop will discuss key design principles and highlight how we can use features within Brightspace to create a cohesive experience for our learners.

Managing Your Move to Brightspace: “Build from Scratch” or “Copy and Clean” Strategies
These workshops offer strategies for either building a course in Brightspace or migrating course materials from Blackboard into Brightspace.

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.

Online Training Options
Online synchronous workshops will be provided by the SUNY Center for Professional Development. Registration is open.

Online asynchronous modules are available within the Buffalo State Brightspace environment. Log in to mylearning.buffalostate.edu using the "Network Login" button, where you can enter your Buffalo State username and password. If you are experiencing log-in issues, please submit a ticket via the IT portal.

Please direct any questions about Brightspace functionality to SUNY Online. If you need on-campus assistance from IDDL, please submit a ticket through the IT portal.

Attention, all Teacher Education Unit faculty members: Before leaving for winter break, we ask that all candidate submissions to Taskstream be evaluated for the fall 2022 semester. These data are needed to prepare for the program improvement retreat to be held January 25, 2023. 

For questions about accessing Taskstream, please review the faculty resources found on the TEU website.

Thank you!

The Higher Education Administration Department offers three distinctive programs that may be of interest to staff members looking to advance their careers or knowledge in various areas. Staff members are encouraged to use tuition benefits supported through CSEA and UUP to engage in coursework in any of these programs as non-degree or degree-seeking students.

M.S. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration (HESAA)
The HESAA program is a professional preparation program that prepares individuals to work in the dynamic environment of colleges and universities in administrative and student support roles.

Advanced Certificate in Assessment in Student Affairs (fully online)
The ASA program is designed to equip practitioners with the skills to gather information, the ability to understand the nature and value of formal inquiry, and the opportunity to serve as change agents within their institution through assessment. 

Microcredential in Data Management and Storytelling (fully online)
The microcredential equips professionals with foundational knowledge and technical skills to manage and analyze data, identify patterns within datasets, and effectively communicate those stories through more interactive visual models. (Coursework enhances knowledge of Tableau specifically).

With questions about any of these programs, please contact HEA Department chair Amy Wilson.

Are you interested in integrating community-engaged learning in your courses but aren't sure where to start? Would you like to connect with other Western New York faculty members who are interested in community-engaged teaching? Join the 100-plus Buffalo State faculty members who have become faculty fellows with the Civic and Community Engagement Office (CCE) and the Western New York Service-Learning Coalition.

Faculty fellows sessions will be facilitated by Edward Zlotkowski, Ph.D., professor emeritus of English and media studies at Bentley University, and sponsored by the WNY Service-Learning Coalition. The training will take place virtually on Wednesday, January 11, and Thursday, January 12, 2023, and will be broken into three sessions, as follows:

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JANUARY 11
Session 1
Service-Learning and Community-Engaged Learning Overview
10:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Session 2
Reflection
2:00–3:30 p.m.

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JANUARY 12
Session 3
Course Design and Community Partnerships
2:00–3:30 p.m.

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Fellows acquire an in-depth understanding of service-learning pedagogy and are then supported through the process of converting an existing course or creating a new course that incorporates service learning. Time will be dedicated to exploring ways to maintain high-quality, community-based learning in distance-learning and on-site environments. Dr. Zlotkowski’s two-day master class in service learning is appropriate for both long-term practitioners and beginners. Fellows must commit to attending the entire program.

Details and application materials can be found on the WNY Service-Learning Coalition website.

If interested, please register (preferably) by Tuesday, December 27. Please contact the Civic and Community Engagement Office, (716) 878-3919, with questions.

Please be reminded that J-Term 2023 classes are being offered January 4–24. Detailed information can be found on the J-Term 2023 Courses web page. Please review the J-Term flier (PDF, 180 KB) before the term starts and bookmark it for reference. A total of 105 sections are being offered, 63 of them 100 percent online.

Facilities Construction and Design will conduct campuswide elevator inspections (excluding the residence halls) Monday, December 19, and Tuesday, December 20. Inspections will be conducted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and will take roughly one to two hours per elevator.