The Art and Design Department is pleased to announce that In Process, the spring 2022 faculty exhibition, is now open in the Czurles-Nelson Gallery in Upton Hall through March 16. A reception to celebrate our faculty will take place in the Upton Hall lobby on Thursday, March 3, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. All are welcome!

In Process
As a twist on our traditional faculty exhibition, this year we are highlighting the diverse processes of our Art and Design faculty. In observing finished artwork, the viewer usually only sees an end result. The artist's creative process—the thought, labor, and love that went into creating a piece—is not always transparent. Through this unique exhibition, we lean into the Czurles-Nelson Gallery as a teaching space and show our students and visitors how our diverse creative processes are anything but linear. A work and concept does not spring into being but is the end result of a labor of love and passion for what we do and who we are as artists.

Displayed here are concepts or samples that are perhaps temporarily abandoned and picked up again: tools, material explorations, or finished work that is surrounded by all the samples and drawings that lead up to its creation. We hope students and visitors will enjoy this rare glimpse into the unique creative processes of our faculty. The exhibition demonstrates how every work is the culmination of scholarly research, extended periods of brainstorming, and trial and error—all done in the spare time between duties of teaching and service.

Czurles-Nelson Gallery Spring 2022 Hours

Monday
8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Tuesday
8:00–10:30 a.m.
Noon–1:30 p.m.

Wednesday
8:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

Thursday
8:00–10:30 a.m.
Noon–1:30 p.m.

Friday
8:00–11:00 a.m.
Noon–4:00 p.m.    

Or by appointment       

Please contact Marie Bogner, Czurles-Nelson Gallery coordinator, (716) 878-4390, with questions.

Faculty members are invited and encouraged to designate courses they are teaching in fall 2022 that have zero textbook costs (ZTC). ZTC courses do not require students to purchase textbooks or other learning materials; instead they use open educational resources (OER), library resources, faculty-created resources, and other materials that are freely accessible to students. Gathering this data will enable us to meet SUNY reporting requirements.

Designating your course as ZTC will help make the costs of higher education more transparent to students and will increase equitable access to the materials students need to succeed.

Please take a moment to answer this brief survey (two–four minutes). You will be asked to provide the fall 2022 CRNs for your ZTC courses. ZTC courses will be designated in Banner so that they are easily identifiable by students during registration. The survey also asks for information about the use of OER in courses.

Please contact Chris Hulsman, faculty librarian in Butler Library, with questions.

SUNY’s current systemwide contract with Blackboard expires December 21, 2022. Following an extensive RFP process, SUNY has selected Desire2Learn’s (D2L) Brightspace learning management system to serve as the new systemwide hub of its digital learning environment.

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.

Workshops will be held in Butler Library 314. Please register using the links below or through the Workshop Registration System.

Tuesday, February 22, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Monday, March 7, 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 23, noon–2:00 p.m.

A few days before your scheduled session, you will receive an email with instructions for obtaining your sandbox, recommended videos to watch before the session, and information about how to export your Blackboard course so you can maximize the workshop time to exploring Brightspace features such as importing your course, creating content, and customizing your settings.

For more information and future offerings of this workshop, please email Jamie Tabone, instructional designer. To schedule a one-on-one consultation (Teams or in person), please see our Instructional Design page.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The first meeting of the College Senate for spring 2022 will be held Friday, February 11, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 215 (Newman Lecture Hall). Please contact Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, with questions.

The online late add process for the spring 2022 semester began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, February 9, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, February 17. Students can continue to add a course directly in Banner after obtaining instructor permission and any other required overrides. All late adds are assessed a $20 late add fee. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the late add process as soon as possible. More information is available on the Registrar's website.

The Undergraduate Research Small Grants Program provides up to $400 to assist undergraduate students in carrying out a research, scholarly, or creative activity during the academic year. Up to $600 may be requested for a single project that involves two or more students. Funding is intended to help defray the costs to conduct the project and is limited to equipment, supplies, and domestic travel expenses. Award recipients will be required to participate in the SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) at Buffalo State College on Saturday, April 23. The spring deadline for submission of the student portion of the application is Wednesday, February 23; the faculty mentor approval is due by Friday, February 25. For more details, please visit the online application portal on the Undergraduate Research website.

In an effort to better meet our goal of creating an exceptional residential experience, Residence Life has reimagined the resident assistant position into two separate roles for the 2022–2023 academic year. The student staff within the residence halls will include community assistants and resident assistants. The community assistant position will focus on engagement and programming while the resident assistant position will concentrate on administrative tasks and emergency/crisis management.

These student leadership opportunities are designed to foster personal and professional development. To apply for one of these positions, students must carry a full course load, maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 each semester, and sustain a good conduct standing with Buffalo State College.

Residence Life will host two information sessions to review the application process and position responsibilities on Friday, February 18, and Tuesday, February 22, at 12:15 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Assembly Hall. Please contact Residence Life with questions or visit the Residence Life Student Staff Employment website for full position descriptions.

Blackboard will deploy its Collaborate Ultra v22.02 release on Thursday, February 10, between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. Collaborate Ultra customers will experience intermittent availability during the maintenance window.

For more information on the update, please see Blackboard's Release Notes for Collaborate Ultra.

Individual Collaborate training can be scheduled through the Innovation and Learning Collaborative Bookings page.

Please join us in congratulating Marnie Letzelter in her new role as the director of business operations for Westminster Community Charter School, a position affiliated with the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, during a farewell reception on Tuesday, February 15, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Grande Conference Room, Cleveland Hall 418. Light refreshments will be served.

The Buffalo State Counseling Center invites you to join an informal, interactive discussion of self-care and self-compassion as essential ingredients for giving students our best, preventing burnout, and enriching our daily lives. 

This single session will be offered from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Caudell Hall 234 on the the following dates:

• February 22
• March 2
• March 24