The Buffalo State College community is saddened by the death of Jennifer M. Vara, former lecturer in the College Writing Program, who died December 23, 2020. Ms. Vara joined the college in 1999 and retired in 2019. She is survived by a sister, a brother, and extended family members. Services will be held at a later date. More information is available online.

As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar "Ensemble Dropbox," presented by Todd Benzin, educational technology specialist, on Monday, January 11, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

While students at Buffalo State College do not have Ensemble Video accounts, instructors can create an Ensemble dropbox to allow students to submit videos and audio files to their instructors for class. This workshop will walk you through the steps of creating an Ensemble Video dropbox and how to post a direct link to the dropbox in your Blackboard Learn course.

You can access the webinar using Todd Benzin's Training Room. Please review the BbCollaborate website to become familiar with using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra as a participant, if you'd like.

Google Chrome or Firefox is highly recommended as a browser. If you have a webcam and microphone, that's great. If not, you should be able to get everything you need as long as your headset or speakers are working.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Student Leadership and Engagement offers a series of workshops in the areas of student organization development, team building, conflict resolution, time management, diversity, and much more. These workshops are designed primarily for students, learning communities, and clubs and organizations to gain new skills and perspectives, while helping achieve their goals.

Guidelines for On-Demand Workshops

• Workshops must have a minimum of five participants in attendance.
• Workshops must be requested at least two weeks in advance.
• Workshops must be scheduled between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• Please notify our office 48 hours in advance of any cancellations.
• Workshops will be conducted virtually for the spring 2021 semester.

A list of workshops that are being offered and how to request a workshop can be found on the Student Leadership and Engagement website.

If you have any questions or would like to customize a specific workshop for your organization, please e-mail Student Leadership and Engagement or call us at 878-4631.

The Buffalo State College community is saddened by the death of F. Christopher Tahk, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Art Conservation, who died December 17, 2020. Dr. Tahk joined the college in 1983 and retired in 2004. He is survived by his wife, Charlotte Tay Tahk; two children; and three grandchildren. Private services will be held. More information is available online.

The Buffalo State College Literacy Center is offering free remote one-on-one literacy tutoring (reading and writing strategy instruction) for children (grades K–12) of Buffalo State students, faculty, and staff. Sessions are on Monday or Tuesday evenings and begin in February. Please e-mail Keli Garas-York, professor of elementary education, literacy, and educational leadership, to register.

As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar "Blackboard Learn Basics," presented by Brooke Winckelmann, instructional designer, on Monday, January 11, from 11:00 a.m. to noon.

This workshop is designed for instructors new to Blackboard Learn 9.1 or anyone who would like a refresher course. We will address the basics of navigation, course tools, and procedures necessary to create new course content. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to navigate the learning management system, upload files, create course content, add text, add multimedia, and organize content in meaningful ways.

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

As we prepare for spring 2021, please join us for the webinar "Blackboard Ally," presented by Sumana Silverheels, technology accommodations coordinator, on Thursday, January 7, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Ally is embedded within Blackboard Learn to assist content creators in making files such as Word, PowerPoint, images, and PDFs more accessible and helping students work with their digital course content.

•  Receive feedback on the accessibility of your content
•  Improve content accessibility with Ally step-by-step instructions
•  Provide students with alternative formats to support personalized learning

Please register through the Workshop Registration System.

Teacher Education Unit faculty members, it is time for our annual program improvement retreat! The retreat will be held on Tuesday, January 26, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. via Zoom videoconference.

RSVP online by Friday, January 15.

Retreat Focus
You will dig deep into program-level data with colleagues using interactive data dashboards prepared especially for your program. You will explore your candidates' performance on state and unit assessments. You will develop action plans to capture the work you do. You will learn about new remote teaching CAEP requirements as well as updates related to our CAEP accreditation. Come and discover the importance of your role over the next few months. We need you!

The Zoom link will be sent a few days before the retreat.

Please direct questions to Shannon Budin, professor of exceptional education.

SUNY Online is committed to supporting campuses as they plan for ongoing challenges in the upcoming spring semester. The SUNY Online Teaching unit has developed a portfolio of resources in a variety of modes to best fit institutional or individual needs. We will continue our monthly webinar series to provide an overview of the various resources resuming in February. Please mark your calendars for the dates below. All webinars take place from noon to 12:30 p.m.

Checklist for Remote Teaching
Wednesday, February 10

Supporting Online Student Success
Thursday, March 11

Facilitating Student Engagement Online
Tuesday, April 20

Assessing Student Learning Online
Thursday, May 6

Registration is open for these free webinars.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, February 12, for the 2020–2021 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Classified Service. This SUNY system-level award recognizes classified service employees for excellence and superior service to students and the community at large. Members of the Buffalo State College community are encouraged to submit nominations for deserving colleagues.

The nomination form and award guidelines are available online. Thank you.