From the Chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee
The College Senate elections to fill two at-large College Senate seats (professionals or academics) close at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, April 29. Both seats have three-year terms (2022–2025). The College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee is again using an electronic voting system supplemented by paper ballots to conduct the elections.

Our primary goals are to encourage participation in the shared governance of Buffalo State College and to share information on each candidate. If you have not already visited the College Senate’s Elections and Caucus information site to review the candidates’ qualifications, please do so.

Voter Eligibility
All full-time academics and professionals (NU = 8; negotiating unit 8) are eligible to vote.

Voting
We urge everyone to vote electronically. Paper ballots will be sent only to voters who request them.

Electronic Ballot

• Visit the election voting portal link (log-on required), located on the College Senate’s Elections and Caucus information site.
• Log in using your e-mail username and password.
• When you log in, the system will identify the election(s) in which you are eligible to vote. If you think you have been misidentified or some other issue arises, please contact Slade Gellin, College Senate parliamentarian.
• With general questions only, please contact Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, 878-5139.

Paper Ballot
Paper ballots will be sent only to voters who request them. Please e-mail Vince Masci, assistant to the College Senate, to request a paper ballot. Please provide your name and phone number. Requested paper ballots must be returned to the College Senate office by 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 29, to be counted.

Thank you for your participation in this year’s election. Please send any feedback, questions, or concerns to Ramona Santa Maria, chair of the College Senate Bylaws and Elections Committee.

Please join us for "Guided Meditation" facilitated by Raquel Schmidt, chair and associate professor of exceptional education, on Wednesday, May 11, from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. via Zoom.

Meditation is something most of us do whether we call it meditation or not. A few deep breaths in a hectic day. Shutting the door to close out the outside world while we recalibrate, problem solve, and figure out the best way to move forward in any challenging situation. This session is designed to show how we can all integrate meditative practices into our day-to-day lives without needing a soft cushion, a quiet room, or a dark corner. Meditation is in part about giving your active brain a break so it can focus on other priorities, including being still. 

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

SUNY has selected Desire2Learn’s (D2L) Brightspace learning management system to replace Blackboard as the new systemwide hub of its digital learning environment. The SUNY contract with Blackboard expires December 21, 2022.

Here’s your opportunity to obtain early access to a Brightspace sandbox and work with an Instructional Design and Distance Learning team member to explore the new platform.

The Brightspace sandbox is an initial Brightspace environment that can be used to explore the core functionality that will be available in the new learning management system. The purpose of the sandbox is to explore Brightspace from a faculty and student perspective. This is a temporary environment that will look different from the final production environment. For example, the Brightspace sandbox will not have additional third-party or extended functional tools that will be available in production. There will be both in-person and virtual workshops via Microsoft Teams.

Please register using the links below or through the Workshop Registration System.

The following workshops will be held in Butler Library 314:

Friday, May 6, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 18, 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

The following workshops will be held online via Microsoft Teams:

Saturday, April 30, 9:30–11: 00 a.m.

For more information or future offerings of this workshop, please email Jamie Tabone, instructional designer.

The Center for English Teaching at Buffalo State College and the Western New York Network of English Teachers present the annual Youth Voices Conference, a celebration of the remarkable stories and talents of K–12 students from across our region, on Friday, May 6, from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. on campus. Adam Zyglis, Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist for the Buffalo News, will deliver the keynote address. The event is free and open to the public. Please register online for the conference. Dinner will be served following the student presentations.

The series, now in its sixth year, seeks to reclaim space for the voices of youth and their teachers and to reposition classrooms as learning spaces of meaning, purpose, and power in the Buffalo Niagara and Rochester regions. 

There will be over 150 presentations from K–12 students across the region, including students from EDGE Academy, Elmwood Village Charter School, Lafayette International, Maryvale Union Free School District, McKinley High School, Olmsted High School, Sweet Home Middle School, Tapestry Charter School, West Irondequoit Central Schools, West Seneca East Middle School, Williamsville North High School, and Wilson High School.

Student presentations at the Youth Voices Conference have included research presentations, short documentary style films, spoken word poetry, and TED talks based on classroom projects.

Past presentations have featured student work exploring childhood and families, popular music, Islamophobia, the impact of genocide, identity and immigration, race and gender, the environment, and religious beliefs, among others.

The conference gives young people the opportunity to showcase their academic work along with their thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about issues that are important to them and the larger community. Youth Voices is the only student-centered conference that brings young people together from across our region to share the work they are doing in their classrooms.

Schedule of Events
4:00–4:30 p.m.: Registration (Campbell Student Union Social Hall)

4:30 p.m.: Keynote Speaker: Adam Zyglis, Pulitzer Prize–winning editorial cartoonist for the Buffalo News. Musical Performance: Curtis Lovell 

5:00–7:15 p.m.: Student Presentations (Caudell Hall)

7:30–8:30 p.m.: Dinner and Dessert (Campbell Student Union Social Hall)

All professional staff members, faculty members, and librarians must submit their 2021–2022 individual annual reports online via Qualtrics. Individual links will be emailed this week, May 2–6. If you do not receive the email, please contact Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst in Institutional Effectiveness and Planning.

For reference, template versions of the annual report can be found on the Institutional Effectiveness and Planning website under Annual Reporting of Assessment Resources.

Report links are accessible from any device, and you can save and return to the form at any time. Each page is saved when you advance to the next screen. Once you submit the online form, you will be given the option to print or save the completed form as a PDF. A summary of all responses will also be emailed to you in a confirmation email. A copy of each report will be automatically uploaded to the Department Annual Report Workspace in Watermark’s Planning and Self-Study (Taskstream).

Deadlines

• Individual Faculty,* Professional Staff, and Librarians
  Individual Annual Report Deadline - Thursday, June 30
  *Reporting expectations for adjunct and part-time instructors vary by department. Instructors should contact their department chairs if they are unsure whether they need to complete a report.
• Academic Department Chairs and Functional and Co-curricular Areas
  Department and Unit Annual Report Deadline - Friday, July 15
  Chairs and directors review individual faculty and staff annual reports and submit an annual report for the department or unit via Watermark’s Planning and Self-Study Module (formerly Taskstream).
• Vice Presidents, Associate Vice Presidents, and Deans
  School/VP Area Report Deadline - Friday, August 19
  Deans/AVPs/VPs review department or unit reports and provide feedback via Watermark Planning and Self-Study (PSS) (formerly Taskstream). 
  Deans/AVPs/VPs submit an annual report for the school or VP Area via Watermark Planning and Self-Study (PSS) (formerly Taskstream). 

Annual Report Workshops
The Institutional Effectiveness and Planning Office will offer annual report workshops for chairs and directors through the months of June and July. These meetings will be virtual, and you will receive a Microsoft Teams link upon registration. Registration is required via the Workshop Registration System.

Please contact Tiffany Fuzak, (716) 878-4132, with questions.

All professional staff members, faculty members, and librarians must submit their 2021–2022 individual annual reports online via Qualtrics. Individual links will be emailed the week of May 2–6. If you do not receive the email, please contact Tiffany Fuzak, research analyst in Institutional Effectiveness and Planning.

For reference, template versions of the annual report can be found on the Institutional Effectiveness and Planning website under Annual Reporting of Assessment Resources.

Report links are accessible from any device, and you can save and return to the form at any time. Each page is saved when you advance to the next screen. Once you submit the online form, you will be given the option to print or save the completed form as a PDF. A summary of all responses will also be emailed to you in a confirmation email. A copy of each report will be automatically uploaded to the Department Annual Report Workspace in Watermark’s Planning and Self-Study (Taskstream).

Deadlines

• Individual Faculty,* Professional Staff, and Librarians
  Individual Annual Report Deadline - Thursday, June 30
  *Reporting expectations for adjunct and part-time instructors vary by department. Instructors should contact their department chairs if they are unsure whether they need to complete a report.
• Academic Department Chairs and Functional and Co-curricular Areas
  Department and Unit Annual Report Deadline - Friday, July 15
  Chairs and directors review individual faculty and staff annual reports and submit an annual report for the department or unit via Watermark’s Planning and Self-Study Module (formerly Taskstream).
• Vice Presidents, Associate Vice Presidents, and Deans
  School/VP Area Report Deadline - Friday, August 19
  Deans/AVPs/VPs review department or unit reports and provide feedback via Watermark Planning and Self-Study (PSS) (formerly Taskstream). 
  Deans/AVPs/VPs submit an annual report for the school or VP Area via Watermark Planning and Self-Study (PSS) (formerly Taskstream). 

Annual Report Workshops
The Institutional Effectiveness and Planning Office will offer annual report workshops for chairs and directors through the months of June and July. These meetings will be virtual, and you will receive a Microsoft Teams link upon registration. Registration is required via the Workshop Registration System.

Please contact Tiffany Fuzak, (716) 878-4132, with questions.

Please join us for "Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe," an exploration of the connections between the movement of the sun, moon, and Venus; Maya cosmology; and the built environment at six Maya sites, on Thursday, May 5, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. or Wednesday, May 11, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Whitworth Ferguson museum, Science and Math Complex 150. "Mayan Archaeoastronomy" is a full-dome, animated movie that examines the Maya understanding of the cosmos through their knowledge of astronomy.

This film is free and open to the Buffalo State community. Seating is limited. Please register online using the links below:

Register for the May 5 event.

Register for the May 11 event.

Please email Susan Maguire, associate professor of anthropology, for additional information.

Sponsored by the Grant Allocation Committee, the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium, the Muriel A. Howard Honors Program, the departments of Anthropology and Earth Sciences, the Indigenous studies minor, the Anthropology Society, the Lambda Alpha Anthropology Honor Society, and the Native American Students Organization.

Please join the Chemistry Department for the final talk of the Spring 2022 Seminar Series, "Identification and Quantitation of Unspecified Impurities Discovered in Novel Oral Irinotecan," presented by Laura Beth Donnelly, M.S. forensic science student at Buffalo State, on Thursday, April 28, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Science and Mathematics Complex 151.

Seminar Abstract
Irinotecan is a cancer medication that was approved for medical use in the United States in 1996. It is currently administered via intravenous injection; however, intravenous dosing has many disadvantages, such as administration by a trained professional in a medical facility, possible severe adverse effects, pain at the injection site, and possible hemolysis if injected too rapidly. Previously oral administration was not feasible because the p-glycoprotein (p-GP) on the cell membrane of stomach cells acts as a defense mechanism against harmful substances by pumping the irinotecan back into the intestinal lumen for excretion. With the discovery of the p-GP inhibitor encequidar by Athenex Pharmaceuticals, the combination of oral encequidar and irinotecan allowed for the convenience of oral administration of irinotecan. However, it was discovered that oral irinotecan tablets contained unspecified impurities that are above 0.2% (w/w). In this presentation, detection, structural identifications, and control of unspecified impurities in the oral irinotecan product will be reported. Analytical techniques used to quantitate and monitor the impurities in the oral irinotecan include high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) equipped with ultraviolet visible light detector (UV-Vis) and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Basic principles and method development via these analytical techniques and other quality control techniques will be discussed.

The campus community is invited to attend the New York State EAP webinar “Move to Your Favorite Song!” on Thursday, May 5, from noon to 12:30 p.m.

The May WellNYS Everyday Monthly Challenge is to dance or move to your favorite song. Are you looking for motivation? Are you too tired to exercise? Do you need to change your mood? During this month’s wellness webinar, we will share the magic of music and how it can motivate and encourage you to start moving. This 30-minute seminar will be presented by Linda Carignan-Everts, EAP wellness coordinator, NYS Work-Life Services. 

Please register through the WebEx meeting registration page. You will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to join the seminar.

College Senate elections to fill two at-large College Senate seats continue through 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 29. Please don't forget to vote. You must log in to access the voting portal (buffalostate.edu).

Please contact Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, 878-5139, with general questions.

Candidates Running for At-Large Positions
Dorothea Braemer, Assistant Professor of Communication, School of Arts and Sciences
Julian Cole, Interim Associate Dean, School of the Professions
Judi Harris, Lecturer, Best Buddies Co-adviser, School of Education
Staci Newmahr, Associate Professor of Sociology, School of Arts and Sciences
Holly Quicksey, Director of Advising Support Initiatives, Academic Success