The New York State Governor’s Office of Employee Relations Work-Life Services will be offering virtual winter-spring 2021 NYS Pre-Retirement DIRECTIONS Sessions through May 2021. Using the WebEx platform, these live sessions will be conducted biweekly over Tuesdays and Wednesdays with the following agenda on the following dates:

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AGENDA

Tuesdays
10:30–10:45 a.m. - Overview (GOER-Work-Life Services)
10:45–11:45 a.m. - NYS Deferred Compensation Program
11:45 a.m.–Noon - Break
Noon–1:30 p.m. - Pension Benefits (ERS)

Wednesdays
10:30–10:45 a.m. - Overview (GOER Work-Life Services)
10:45–11:45 a.m. - Social Security
11:45 a.m.–Noon - Break
Noon–1:30 p.m. - Health Insurance (NYSHIP)

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SESSION DATES  

February
Webinar Session II: February 16 and 17    

March  
Webinar Session I: March 2 and 3
Webinar Session II: March 16 and 17    
Webinar Session III: March 30 and 31    

April
Webinar Session I: April 13 and 14   
Webinar Session II: April 27 and 28    

May   
Webinar Session I: May 11 and 12
Webinar Session II: May 25 and 26    

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These important and informative DIRECTIONS webinars will provide exactly the same live training as the in-person seminars, including the same valuable information provided by the same presenters. As these are popular events, prior attendance rules will continue to apply. All employees may attend only one complete webinar session one time in their career. When live seminars do safely return, employees who attended these webinars will not be permitted to register and attend the live seminar. Prior eligibility criteria will also remain consistent. One attendance is open to any employee who is at least 50 years of age and is eligible to retire within five years.  

As these popular DIRECTIONS webinars are statewide and availability is extremely limited, we ask that confirmed registrants be mindful of their reservation and attendance at both the Tuesday and Wednesday portions of their registered session.   

If you are interested in attending one of these two-day DIRECTIONS sessions, please e-mail Linda Kravitz, employee benefits manager, with your name, e-mail address, and preferred session date(s). We will verify your eligibility criteria and reply regarding seat availability and confirmation information as well as alternative dates.

Please note: the deadline to register for any session is 10 days before the session start date.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The first meeting of the College Senate for the spring 2021 semester will be held Friday, February 12, at 3:00 p.m. via the videoconferencing platform Zoom.

Zoom meeting link
Meeting ID: 852 4856 6567
Passcode: 575139

Maintenance scheduled for Saturday, February 6, may result in a brief period of downtime for Ensemble Video between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. Please avoid using the service during that time.

The New York Business Plan Competition is an opportunity for students attending New York State colleges and universities to compete (graduate and undergraduate students alike). The competition has two parts. The first is the regional competition, and regional winners advance to compete against the top contenders throughout New York State. Both regional and state competitions have cash prizes. The 2021competitions will be in a virtual setting.

The Small Business Development Center, through our Student INC.ubator program, prepares our students to excel in both the regional and state competitions. In 2020, Buffalo State College students were very successful, winning in three categories regionally, and ultimately a state winner!

Please share this flier (PDF, 2.2 MB) with your students and encourage them to attend one of our virtual informational sessions on Thursday, February 11, at either 12:30 or 4:30 p.m. 

Students can register online. Please contact the program coordinator, Karina Loera, or call the SBDC office at 878-4030 with questions.

Student Outcome Tracking (SOT) will alert a student via a message during registration if a course is ineligible for financial aid. It works by conducting a "what-if analysis" against the student's current Degree Works audit and then reporting back in real time to Banner. SOT will not stop a student from adding the course; rather, it will inform the student in real time that the course is not aidable. Students with questions regarding a course(s) must consult with their academic adviser and then e-mail the Financial Aid Office. Students will start to see SOT messages in Banner effective Monday, February 8. More information on SOT is available on the FAQ web page.

From the University Faculty Senators
The following resolutions were approved during the University Faculty Senate (USF) Winter Plenary on January 21 and 22:

• EXEC: 187-01-1 Shared Governance in These Times of Extraordinary Challenges (PDF, 149 KB)
• BLM: 187-03-1 Board of Trustees Acknowledges that Black Lives Matter (PDF, 77 KB)
• BLM: 187-04-1 University Faculty Senate Recognizes and Supports Black Lives Matter (PDF, 127 KB)

Please review the Winter 2021 Post-Plenary Report for an overview of reports and discussions from the SUNY University Faculty Senate 187th Plenary.

It's finally here! Buffalo State Dining is proud to announce that our Ghost Kitchen concept, featuring weekly globally inspired cuisine, has launched through the Boost mobile ordering app for guests. Chop'd salads are also back in the mobile order form daily.

We're excited to offer our chocolate-dipped strawberries during the month of February not only at Market 1300 and Spot Coffee locations but also on our Boost mobile app under the Ghost Kitchen brand, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Please contact Joshua Ungaro, Chartwells marketing manager, with questions.

Welcome back from the Undergraduate Research Office! Please visit the UR website to download the spring 2021 flier with details on student funding awards and faculty development programs available this semester. Application e-portals for the EURO-Early Undergraduate Research Opportunity (both full-semester and micro-project awards, deadline February 19) and the Small Grants Program (deadline February 24) are now open. Undergraduates may continue to apply for support to participate in virtual disciplinary conferences through the Undergraduate Travel Program (currently restricted to non-travel expenses). Buffalo State College's 23rd annual Student Research and Creativity Conference (Digital SRCC 2021), open to both graduate and undergraduate students (deadline March 17), and the annual SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (deadline March 12) welcome virtual presentations of scholarly and creative work.

Registration is now open for the ?SUNY Online Summit 2021. This year’s annual SUNY-wide conference will be delivered virtually February 22–26 and is free of charge for anyone interested in online teaching and learning, including SUNY Online practitioners with expertise in online program administration, online faculty development and instructional design, online instruction, and online student support.

Presentations include SUNY Update and SUNY Online Update, Improving Student Equity with Great Instructional Design, SUNY Online Degrees at Scale Student Panel, HyFlex–Opportunities and Lessons Learned, and Deciphering Online Learning Data during COVID-19.

For more information on the program and speakers or to register, please visit the SUNY Center for Professional Development website.

Episode 7 of the Data Science and Analytics program podcast Buffalo State Data Talk is now available. This episode features John O’Hara, marketing analytics and insights manager at the Walt Disney Company. O'Hara received a master’s in professional applied and computational mathematics at Buffalo State College, which launched his analytics career leading to his current position. He will share advice for building your network and getting into the field of data analytics, as well as describe what it’s like working for the Walt Disney Company.  

Buffalo State's Data Talk podcast series introduces listeners to data and explores careers that involve data. Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.