From the Chair of the College Senate
The next meeting of the College Senate for fall 2021 will be held tomorrow, October 8, 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 format of the meeting (remote or in person) may be subject to change with evolving guidance from the CDC, state, and SUNY.

Please note that because of social distancing, only 175 seats are available in Newman Lecture Hall, even though the room capacity is 367. Senators and members of the administration will have preferred seating.

The Civic and Community Engagement Office invites students and first-time voters to learn how to register to vote, learn how to apply for an absentee ballot, and learn more about the voting process.

In-person workshops will be held on the following dates from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in South Wing 100:

• Thursday, October 7: First-Time Voter: What You Need to Know
• Tuesday, October 12: How to Vote by Absentee Ballot 
• Thursday, October 21: How to Vote Early
• Tuesday, October 26: Voting in Person: What’s on My Ballot and Making a Voting Plan

Please contact the CCE with questions or visit our website.

The following schedules for fall 2021 are now available online:

• CEP Schedule (PDF, 92 KB)
• CEP Schedule with Block Exams (PDF, 141 KB)

M&T will be on campus this month recruiting a variety of majors and class years. Please share this information with students.

M&T Tech Reserves – An exclusive paid internship program for freshman and sophomore students at Buffalo State College. Interns will help resolve tech problems for bank employees, build and repair hardware, and test software or hardware. This is a great opportunity to gain professional work experience.

• Information Session: Wednesday, October 13, 3:00-4:00 p.m., Technology Buildling 358

M&T Campus Programs – Students will learn more about the bankwide Summer Internship Program, Operations Development Program, Community Branch Management Program, and Technology Development Program and gain an understanding of how their interests and skills could translate into a career with M&T.  Open to all majors

• Virtual information session: Thursday, October 14, 12:15 p.m. – Virtual Link
• Virtual interviews will take place Tuesday, October 26. To be considered for an interview, students must apply on BengalLink.

Please email the Career Development Center with questions.

Please join the Civic and Community Engagement Office for the webinar "Higher Education’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Building a More Sustainable and Democratic Future," featuring speakers Ira Harkavy from the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania; David Maurrasse from Marga Inc.; and Brian Murphy, president emeritus of De Anza College, on Thursday, October 14, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. This event is presented by Campus Compact as part of its National Webinar Series and is free to members of the Buffalo State College community.

This webinar will feature key themes from the 2021 book Higher Education’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Building a More Sustainable and Democratic Future, which included contributions from some 40 authors across the globe. Published as part of the Council of Europe’s Higher Education Series and edited by Sjur Bergan, Tony Gallagher, Ira Harkavy, Ronaldo Munck, and Hilligje van’t Land, the book examines not only the ways in which higher education has responded to the immediate crisis but also how it can and should contribute to a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive society.

Please register online today for this webinar and any others in the National Webinar Series that interest you, and get the best of your Campus Compact from wherever you are. Across 12 webinars, find tools, resources, and ideas to support and inspire you in your work.

All are invited to attend two very special events with visiting distinguished alumna and Academy Award–winning producer Deborah Oppenheimer. Meet Ms. Oppenheimer at a reception on Wednesday, October 20, at 5:00 p.m., followed by her master class in producing at 6:00 p.m., in the LoRusso Alumni and Visitor Center. We will screen her award-winning documentary film FOSTER, followed by a Q&A with Ms. Oppenheimer, on Thursday, October 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s Tower Auditorium as the next film in the Beyond Boundaries: Dare to Be Diverse screening and discussion series.

FOSTER is a revealing firsthand look at the foster care system as seen through the eyes of those who know it best—the children and youth, parents and foster parents, social workers, advocates, attorneys, and judges involved in it. With extraordinary access to the inner workings of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Ms. Oppenheimer and writer-director Mark Jonathan Harris go beyond the sensational headlines and stereotypes to take an unprecedented look at an often-misunderstood world and upend some of our most enduring myths about foster care and those involved.

Beyond Boundaries is co-presented by the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Communication Department, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center. This program is supported by the 150th Anniversary Fund and the Grant Allocation Committee.

Watch the trailer.

The campus community is invited to join us for the first event of the semester in the Diversity Dialogue Speaker Series, featuring Gliset Colón, assistant professor of exceptional education, and Hermen Díaz III, assistant professor of higher education administration, on Tuesday, October 12, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. The event will be hosted by Crystal J. Rodriguez-Dabney, chief of staff to the president and chief diversity officer.

RSVP: Meeting Registration - Zoom

Gliset Colón, Ph.D., is the coordinator of the teaching bilingual exceptional individuals graduate certificate program. She has research interests and expertise in literacy and language outcomes for multilingual students with and without disabilities, multitiered systems of support, disproportionality, and intersectionality. Dr. Colón is actively involved in several professional organizations at the local, state, and national levels.

Hermen Díaz III, Ph.D., brings over a decade of experience as a scholar-practitioner in higher education administration. His scholarly interests center on the experiences of students of color at institutions of higher education. Dr. Diaz's research specifically concentrates on the transactional relationship between the campus environment and Latino men as it relates to belonging, equity, and liberation. Dr. Díaz received a B.A. in psychology from Grand Valley State University, an M.S. in student personnel administration from Buffalo State College, and a Ph.D. in higher education leadership from Colorado State University. 

The Diversity Dialogue Series has gained a reputation for combining the use of interactive activities and dialogues as a means for participants to discuss issues of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The Equity and Campus Diversity Dialogue Series has also been hailed for its ability to bring together Buffalo State’s students, faculty, and staff.

This event is supported by Buffalo State’s Equity and Campus Diversity Office.

For more information, please contact Crystal J. Rodriguez-Dabney, chief diversity officer.

It's National Voter Education Week, a week devoted to sharing the tools and information students need to cast their ballots with confidence.

Students are invited to join the Civic and Community Engagement Office: 

• Today, October 6, between 11:00 a.m and 1:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union to learn about the five ballot measures that will be on this November's ballot;
• Thursday, October 7, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in South Wing 100 for a workshop geared toward first-time voters and all the things they should know.

More information about voting can be found on the CCE's website.

Please join us for the Teaching and Learning Center faculty development workshop "Decoding the Disciplines," presented by John Draeger, professor of philosophy and director of the Teaching and Learning Center, on Wednesday, October 13, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Butler Library 318.

The model (Pace & Middendorf, 2004) encourages faculty members to focus on the topics and skills where significant numbers of students struggle. These are often the places where things seem obvious to faculty and yet are missed by students. The model provides a process by which faculty can identify these bottlenecks and find ways of getting around them.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Please join us for the Teaching and Learning Center webinar "Teaching Online Synchronous: Tips and Strategies," presented by John Draeger, director of the Teaching and Learning Center, and Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer, on Wednesday, October 20, from noon to 1:00 p.m.

This session is meant to provide an overview of issues and strategies related to delivering online synchronous instruction. For example, we will discuss how pre-class work can set up virtual class sessions as well as strategies for running effective class discussions on web conferencing platforms.

Access the webinar using the Teaching and Learning Center meeting room. Please review the BbCollaborate website to become familiar with using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra as a participant, if you'd like.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.