The Continuing Professional Studies and Enrollment Management offices invite any office or department that facilitates or supports K–12 summer programs to join the K–12 Summer Programming Committee. Together we will collaboratively address marketing, staffing, and participant recruitment. Please contact Kristin Fields, director of continuing professional studies, to join. A meeting date will be determined based on respondent availability.

Faculty members, it’s time to submit your textbook adoptions for the 2023 J-Term and spring semester.

Please take a moment right now to log in to our Adoption Insights Portal (AIP), found under the Faculty Resources tab in Blackboard, and submit your adoptions. With the quick turnaround between the fall and spring semesters, it is important to get adoptions in as soon as possible so we can be sure to have books available to students on the first day of the semester, if not before.

Please contact textbook department manager Trista Hayes, (716) 878-5509, with questions about textbook adoptions or the AIP system.

SUNY and Turnitin have teamed up to provide support opportunities and engagement activities for SUNY faculty members.

Topic-Based Solution Workshops
Get the most out of your Turnitin solution to deliver quality feedback faster and inspire student success by attending one or more topic-based solution workshops. All sessions are 40 minutes; instructors who would like to stay for a Q&A session afterward are welcome to do so. Sessions have a hard stop at 50 minutes.

Office Hours for SUNY Faculty Members
Faculty members can attend SUNY-specific open office hours, run by Turnitin customer engagement consultant Leann McArthur, every Friday from noon to 2:00 p.m. No registration is required.

Turnitin Training Sessions for Buffalo State Faculty
Getting Started (Session 1)
Tuesday, October 18, 12:15–1:40 p.m.
Instructors can use an academic integrity strategy and the Turnitin Similarity Report to help develop original writing. This session will cover the steps to create a Turnitin assignment in Brightspace, as well as how to interpret the Similarity Report and begin to explore and understand academic integrity to best support students.

Deeper Learning (Session 2)
Friday, October 21, 3:00–4:30 p.m.
When students have the opportunity to review multiple drafts and receive feedback, their learning and writing can improve. The Similarity Report, “Where to next?” feedback, and rubrics for evaluation can allow students to think critically about the academic writing process.

For more information, please email Jamie Tabone, instructional designer.

Please join the Chemistry Department for the seminar "Development and Improvement of Cocaine Identification from Complex Powders using Voltammetric Analysis," presented by Daniel Weglarski, a graduate forensic science student, on Thursday, October 13, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 151.

Abstract
Cocaine is one of the most commonly abused illicit drugs in the world, with an ever-growing market in the last couple of decades. The drug is highly regulated worldwide and illegal in many places because its production, trafficking, and distribution are positively correlated to the crime rate, and because of its overall negative health effects. Currently, the usual methodologies for identifying cocaine fall into a colorimetric test—normally the Scott’s test—and complex analytical techniques centered on chromatography and mass spectrometry. Because of the unreliable specificity that colorimetric tests provide, as well as the needed trained personnel for sophisticated analytical techniques, a more reliable and easy-to-use method needs to be introduced to close this gap. This presentation will introduce two new identification methods for detecting cocaine in mixed powder samples using voltammetric analysis: first, a method using square wave voltammetry (SWV) to correct for the poor specificity in Scott’s test on a graphite screen printed electrode (GSPE); and second, a method using anodic sweep voltammetry (ASV) that can identify cocaine in mixed powders using reagentless conditions on a glassy carbon electrode. This talk will conclude with a summary of the proposed techniques with future research and how they may be applied to current forensic techniques.

Please join the Philosophy Department for its next lecture in the annual fall colloquia, “Gattaca as Philosophy: Genoism and Justice,” presented by Jason Grinnell, chair and associate professor of philosophy, on Thursday, November 3, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the Grande Conference Room, Cleveland Hall 418. This talk is free and open to the public.

Please join the Philosophy Department for its next lecture in the annual fall colloquia, “Being Thoughtful: Ethical Reasoning in an Age of (Un)civil Disagreement,” presented by John Draeger, professor of philosophy and director of the Teaching and Learning Center, on Thursday, October 27, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Caudell Hall 110. This talk is free and open to the public.

Please join the Philosophy Department for its first lecture in the annual fall colloquia, “Optimism in Ted Lasso: Kansas City Candide Meets Camus,” presented by Kimberly Blessing, professor of philosophy, on Thursday, October 20, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in the Grande Conference Room, Cleveland Hall 418.

Beyond Boundaries Film and Discussion Series is pleased to present the award-winning film The Janes (2022) on Thursday, October 13, at 7:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center Tower Auditorium. The screening is free and open to the public and will be followed by a discussion.

Directed by Tia Lessen and Emma Pildes, The Janes tells the story of a small group of Chicago women who built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, and illegal abortions pre-Roe v. Wade. The Janes offers firsthand accounts from the women at the center of the group, many speaking on the record for the first time. Using code names, blindfolds, and safe houses to protect their identities and their work, they called themselves “Jane.” Facing the mafia, the church, and the state, the Janes exhibited unparalleled bravery and compassion for those most in need.

Watch the trailer.

Beyond Boundaries is sponsored by the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Communication Department, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. The series is curated by Ruth Goldman and Meg Knowles, associate professors of media production in the Communication Department.

The Buffalo State community is saddened by the death of Joseph R. Piccillo, ’61, ’64, professor emeritus of art education, who died September 26, 2022. Mr. Piccillo joined the college in 1967 and retired in 2017. He is survived by two daughters, five grandchildren, and three siblings. More information is available online.

Please join the campus community and our many off-campus communities as we present Buffalo State’s annual social justice festival AFP 2022:  Healing through Stories, today, October 12, through Friday, October 14, in the Campbell Student Union Social Hall. This is an excellent opportunity to welcome our students back from their fall break with three days of social justice engagement. 

Festival attendees will personally and kinesthetically engage with leaders, activists, educators, authors, and artists from multiple disciplines as they reflect on this year’s theme, “Healing through Stories.” AFP 2022 provides a free, on-campus, and diverse social justice common experience for instructors to assign to students who can then return to class to further analyze and examine the material in discipline-specific assignments. 

Now in its 14th year, AFP continues to provide a unique platform for Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff to extend the learning of our world’s most pressing needs and concerns. As the nation’s college campuses struggle to create hands-on social justice programming, we are proud to all “co-own” this important academic ritual at Buffalo State. Thank you for continuing to make AFP’s social justice festivals part of your teaching routines. We look forward to seeing you at AFP 2022!

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank

Please find the complete AFP 2022 program and schedule online. Please direct students interested in volunteering with AFP 2022 to the online volunteer form.

To schedule post-festival class workshops and discussions led by AFP staff or to ask questions about AFP, please contact Jonise Hall, AFP assistant director.