The Dean of Students Office is proud to announce Prevention Education Week from September 13 to 17, starting with a kickoff tabling event on Monday, September 13, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union lobby. The goal of the week is to provide all Buffalo State College students with education, awareness, and prevention services regarding responsible student decision making toward health, wellness, and safety. A variety of programs will be offered focusing on relationship, physical, mental health, community, and personal safety wellness. For a complete list of events, please visit the Dean of Students website.

Please join us for the Teaching and Learning Center’s “Applied Learning Course Proposal Workshop,” presented by Ann Emo, professor and chair of the Theater Department and applied learning coordinator, on Tuesday, September 14, from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. in Butler Library 314.

Are you interested in integrating applied learning into your class? Are you already doing it? This workshop will walk you through the five tenets of applied learning at Buffalo State College so you can submit your class for Applied Learning Designation. Designation is assigned to individual instructors for each class that you teach. Please see the Applied Learning website for more information on the benefits of applied learning and the types of applied learning happening on our campus.

Please email Ann Emo with questions.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Please join us for a "Mindfulness Meditation" session with Leigh Duffy, assistant professor of philosophy, on Tuesday, September 21, from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. in Butler Library 318 (virtual participation optional).

This 30-minute guided mindfulness meditation in the tradition of the eight-limbed yoga practice will focus on the limb of pratyahara—or withdrawal of the senses—in order to begin to quiet the mind and let go of distractions. This kind of exercise is useful for dealing with stress, particularly when life feels chaotic. No prior experience is required.

For more information and to register, please visit the Workshop Registration System.

Blackboard will deploy its Collaborate Ultra v21.16 release on Thursday, September 9, 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.

The basic Online Course Development series will guide you through the design and development of your online synchronous, online asynchronous, or hybrid course. Throughout the series, you will develop one complete week, module, or unit of your online or hybrid course and will conduct a "mini" course design review of the week, module, or unit you developed.

Series Information and Registration
The basic Online Course Development series will be offered in a facilitated online asynchronous format during the fall 2021 semester. All activities will occur through Blackboard Learn.

By earning this certificate, you will be able to

• discuss the benefits and challenges of online synchronous, online asynchronous, and hybrid learning;
• develop measurable learning objectives for a course;
• apply the steps of backward design to plan and create outcomes-based assessments, evaluation criteria, and learning activities for synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid environments;
• use principles of universal design for learning (UDL) to design online course components;
• create a plan for instructor presence and regular and substantive interaction;
• develop opportunities for interaction (student to student, instructor to student, and student to content) in a course.

The series will run from Monday, October 4, to Friday, November 5. Please register for this series through the Workshop Registration System.

Please contact Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer, with questions.

Student Leadership and Engagement invites students, faculty, and staff members to participate in the "What Changed You?" Project.

The COVID-19 pandemic has filled many of us with uncertainty and left us unsettled over the past year and a half. Our lives have been turned upside down, and we have gone down paths we may not have seen coming. For many it is has been an uncomfortable experience, and we found ourselves asking, When will this end? Why is this happening? and When will things get back to normal? Some of us have lost loved ones, some have lost jobs, some have felt isolated or even hopeless or exhausted. 

The pandemic has changed us all in different ways, each unique to our own lived experience, but we all have something in our lives that has changed us at some point. Those are the stories this project cares about, and we invite you to share them with our Buffalo State College community. This platform is for you, and we invite you to participate in the "What Changed You?" art project. We want to hear how you have changed this past year.

Your story and your life matter. So let's hear your story. Whether it is through spoken word, art, music, or photography, we want you to share what this past year has been like for you.

The project is open to all Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff members. Participants can share their stories by uploading them through the project's submission form by the deadline of Monday, December 20.

Please email Student Leadership and Engagement with questions or for more information.

Please join the Teaching and Learning Center for a scholarly discussion of chapter 1 of From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (2020), on Friday, September 17, from 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. in Butler Library 318. 

Coffee, tea, and light breakfast snacks will be served. 

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Please join us for the Teaching and Learning Center webinar "Teaching Sensitive Topics," presented by Andrea Nikischer, associate professor and interim chair of the Social and Psychological Foundations of Education Department, on Wednesday, September 22, from noon to 1:00 p.m. 

This webinar will prepare instructors to teach "sensitive" topics remotely or online as well as in classrooms. Participants will discuss trigger and content warnings, alternative assignments, personal journal entries, and educator self-care. Examples from online courses on family violence and diversity issues will be shared. 

Please register through the Workshop Management System.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as CDC-approved masks and hand sanitizer will be available at various COVID-19 information stations across campus during their respective operating hours:

• Butler Library lobby
• Campbell Student Union 
• Fitness Center (located in Houston Gym)
• Weigel Wellness Center vestibule

Faculty members are welcome to request two or three masks to have on hand to provide to students if necessary. Please email Paula Madrigal assistant director of prevention and health promotions, ahead of time with these requests or with any questions. COVID-19 workshops can also be requested via email.

Faculty members: please remember to keep consistent class seating for the semester.

Thank you all for your participation; have a safe and healthy semester.

Please join us for an Intercollegiate Moot Court Team Information Session on Thursday, September 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 214.

Moot Court is a wonderful introduction to legal thinking and a legal career. Plus it is lots of fun! You do not need any legal background or specific subject knowledge. All you need is the willingness to work with others to learn how to argue well and become a polished appellate litigator.

Moot Court simulates appellate argument before the U.S. Supreme Court. The team will  prepare and compete in at least one pre-regional tournament before competing in the American Moot Court Association's official Midwest Regional Tournament in November 2021. This year's case involves whether the federal government can mandate vaccinations in possible violation of religious liberty enshrined in the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Co-coaches William Altreuter, local attorney and partner at Altreuter Berlin, and Peter Yacobucci, associate professor of political science, will be present to answer questions. If you cannot attend the information session but wish to join, please email Dr. Yacobucci for more information.