Free Tax Preparation Services

Dear University Community:

On behalf of the School of Management, I am pleased to announce that our IRS-certified accounting students will again offer free tax preparation services to individuals and families with an annual income below $54,000. UB employees* are encouraged to take advantage of this service and to invite their families and neighbors to do the same.

The service will be offered at the North and South campuses. Dates, times, locations, maps and other important details can be found at the link below:

http://mgt.buffalo.edu/freetaxprep

Sincerely,

Paul Tesluk
Dean
School of Management

* Please note that tax preparation for nonresident aliens requires special processing that is beyond the scope of the services provided by Beta Alpha Psi volunteers. UB employees who are nonresident aliens can visit this website to find out if you are eligible to use Sprintax for income tax filing.

 

2017 Center for Geohazards Studies Student Research Award

The UB Center for Geohazards Studies is pleased to announce a research grant opportunity for graduate students to support research in any discipline that is related to natural hazards.

All applications materials must be received by February 28, 2017 at 5:00 PM EST. Funds are available for projects to start on July 1, 2017.

Eligible individuals must be enrolled in a graduate degree program at the University at Buffalo and be a member of the Center for GeoHazards Studies.

For more info visit  http://geohazards.buffalo.edu/news/

CGHS_Application_2017

 

 

Call for Nominations: Gender Institute Excellence in Mentoring Award ~ Deadline Feb. 13th

Deadline: Feb 13, 2017: Call for Nominations: Gender Institute Excellence in Mentoring Award 

In recognition of the value and importance of mentoring, the Gender Institute invites nominations for our Excellence in Mentoring Award. The institute seeks to promote and recognize excellence at UB in mentoring undergraduate students, graduate students, staff, and faculty at all ranks. We are particularly interested in recognizing the achievements of mentors with a strong record of success in cultivating the professional potential of women, LGBTQ people, people of color, first generation college students, and students from low-income backgrounds. Candidates may be nominated by students, alumni, staff, faculty and administrators.

Letters of nomination should be sent to ub-irewg@buffalo.edu with the subject line: Nomination for Mentoring Award.

Deadline for nominations is Feb 13, 2017. For more information, please go to: http://bit.ly/2dSAVEl

Fulbright Scholarship Workshop Application ~ Deadline Jan. 30th

Deadline:  Jan 30:  Fulbright Scholarship Workshop Application

Would you like to spend a year doing work or research abroad?  The Fulbright provides funded opportunities for international research or study. Students can apply for a Fulbright grant in more than 150 countries.*   Fulbright applications are due almost a full year before your dates of travel. UB’s campus deadline will be in September 2017 so now’s the time to start thinking about your application!

To help you prepare a competitive application UB will be hosting a series of Fulbright workshops this spring.  Students will learn more about Fulbright, how to select the appropriate affiliates and how to develop a strong proposal.  These sessions will be hosted by the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships and UB’s Fulbright Program Advisor, Dr. Colleen Culleton.

Sessions will be held on Wednesdays: February 8th, February 22nd, March 8th and March 29th.  The sessions will be offered from either 9:00am-10:00am or 3:00pm-4:00pm on each of these days.  Students are required to commit to all 4 sessions which includes beginning preparation of the personal statement and project proposal.  To be considered for this program, students must complete the online application by 5pm EST on Monday, January 30th: https://universityatbuffalo-wgtck.formstack.com/forms/fulbright_development_program_for_graduate_students

* To qualify for Fulbright U.S. student programs, applicants must be U.S. citizens and have a bachelor’s degree by the time their Fulbright year starts, but not yet have a PhD. Graduate-level candidates must demonstrate the capacity for independent study or research along with a general knowledge of the history, culture and current events of the country to which they’re applying.

Fellowships and Scholarships January Boot Camp for Graduate Students

Fellowships

Fellowships and Scholarships January Boot Camp for Graduate Students

Do you have an interest in learning more about funding opportunities for graduate-level work, research or dissertation funding? Will you be in Buffalo during winter break?

The Office of Fellowships and Scholarships will be hosting a three day boot camp in January to help you prepare competitive applications. Students will learn more about how to apply for funding and what review panels are looking for. Students will spend time writing a personal statement and/or research proposal.

Sessions will be held from 9am to 11am on Tuesday, January 17, Wednesday, January 18 and Friday, January 20. Students are required to commit to all three sessions.

To be considered for this program, students must complete the online application by 5pm EST on Monday, January 2: https://universityatbuffalo-wgtck.formstack.com/forms/january_fellowship_scholarship_boot_camp.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the Office of Fellowships and Scholarships at fellowships@buffalo.edu.

Job Posting ~ GSA Statistics Lab Director

GSA STATISTICS LAB DIRECTOR SEARCH CLOSED

The Statistics Lab is a new component of the Graduate Student Association (GSA) that will provide assistance with statistical data analysis to all graduate students. It is planned as a consulting service helping students with statistical aspects of their final projects (thesis, dissertation, qualifying paper etc.).

Candidates are eligible only if they have paid their student activity fee. Candidates should:

  • Have experience with designing an experiment
  • Know how to do statistical data analysis using Minitab, Matlab, R, SPSS, and SAS
  • Know how to do data mining including supervised and unsupervised methods
  • Have taken at least two advanced statistics courses
  • Be organized

Experience with the following would be a plus:

  • Teaching courses in statistics
  • Tableau, Wolfram Mathematica
  • Machine learning

The Statistics Lab Director’s responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

  • Administrating the GSA Statistics Lab
  • Holding a minimum of 10 office hours per week + appointment hours
  • Assisting eligible graduate students in statistical research (data collection, analysis, evaluation, interpretation), experiment design, statistical analysis software
  • Submitting service reports at the request of the GSA Senate and/or the GSA E-board
  • Other duties as assigned by the GSA E-board

Any materials created as the Statistics Lab Director are property of the Graduate Student Association. Any GSA software or hardware requiring a password must be provided to the Graduate Student Association Executive Committee on modification or by request.

To apply, please, attach to an email in PDF the following:

  • Cover letter describing your background, availability, and interest
  • Resume

Send it to gsa-treasurer@buffalo.edu by January 5th. Qualified candidates will be invited to interview in the middle of January. This is a 6-month appointment (1 February – 31 July 2017) with a stipend of $5,500.

CIRTL Courses Open for Registration

As a member institution of CIRTL, UB graduate students and postdocs can sign up for CIRTL Network offerings for free.

Additional information about UB CIRTL is available at http://www.buffalo.edu/ubcirtl.html

CIRTL Network

CIRTL’s spring 2017 cross-Network courses are open for registration now through January 22! All our courses have enrollment caps, so registration does not guarantee admittance. We’ll process registration based on a few factors, including first-come, first-serve, whether you’re from a CIRTL institution, and whether you’re in a STEM/SBE discipline. You’ll need an account on our website to register, and we’ll refer to the institution and discipline  listed in your profile to help determine your registration priority.

Students who register by Monday, December 19 (our early bird deadline) will be notified of their enrollment status by December 21. Students who register after the 19th will be notified of their enrollment status the week of January 23.

Spring 2017 cross-Network Courses

Teaching-as-Research
On Mondays from January 30 to April 3. Weekly online meetings at 11AM-12:30PM ET/10-11:30AM CT/9-11:30AM MT/8-9:30AM PT

Want to develop a Teaching-as-Research (TAR) project and be ready to implement in summer or fall? This course is designed to cover basic concepts, techniques, and procedures of conducting TAR in the undergraduate classroom. Students will develop a full TAR proposal and will be poised to conduct their research in the summer or fall of 2017. Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 30 students.

Developing a Teaching Portfolio
On Tuesday, January 31 and March 21 at 3-5PM ET/2-4PM CT/1-3PM MT/12-2PM PT

Portfolios don’t just help you in the job search, they can help refine and advance your teaching in the classroom, too. In this class students will explore model teaching portfolios, write a personal philosophy of teaching, assemble evidence of their teaching, develop and present their own teaching portfolios, and use peer review rubrics to evaluate their own and peers’ portfolios. Prior teaching experience is helpful, but not required. The majority of this course takes place asynchronously, outside of the two sessions on January 31 and March 21. Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 20 students.

The College Classroom
On Tuesdays from January 31 to April 18. Weekly online meetings at 11AM-12:20PM ET/10-11:20AMCT/9-10:20AM MT/8-9:20AM PT

Students will learn the basics of effective teaching as well as ideas at the forefront of college education, including digital approaches to teaching and learning. Students will explore their teaching philosophy, design a course curriculum, learn how to monitor and investigate the effectiveness of the learning environment, and learn what it means to create an inclusive classroom environment that engages all learners.  Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 30 students.

Diversity in the College Classroom
On Wednesdays from February 1 to March 29. Weekly online meetings at 12-1:30PM ET/11AM-12:30PM CT/10-11:30AM MT/9-10:30AM PT

The course is designed for STEM educators interested in considering diversity issues in college-level teaching. We will explore definitions of diversity, consider ways that instructor and student diversity and implicit biases can influence how we teach and learn, and work together to develop effective techniques and strategies for teaching inclusively. Students will create their own inclusive teaching plan and present it to the class at the end of the semester. Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 32 students.

Basics of Online Learning and Teaching
On Thursday February 2, March 16, and April 6-20 at 1:30-3:00PM ET/12:30-2:00PM CT/11:30AM-1:00PM MT/10:30AM-12:00PM PT

This course is designed to help graduate students and postdocs new to teaching online learn how to design and run an effective course. From February 2 through April 20, students will attend 6 online sessions and, on weeks without sessions, students will complete assignments to help develop their own materials for a sample online course. At the end of the semester, students will present those materials to the class. Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 30 students.

Research Mentor Training
On Thursdays from February 2 to April 20. Weekly online meetings at 3-4:15PM ET/2-3:15PM CT/1-2:15PM MT/12-1:15PM PT

In this seminar-style class, participants will work with a community of peers to develop and improve their mentoring skills. By the end of the seminar, participants should be able to clearly articulate a personal mentoring philosophy to anyone inside or outside their discipline, and describe multiple strategies for dealing with mentoring challenges. Available for 1 optional credit. Open to 25 students.

Service-Learning in STEM Classrooms: Introduction to Pedagogy and Practice 
On Tuesdays from February 7 to March 28. Weekly online meetings at 2-4PM ET/1-3PM CT/12-2PM MT/11AM-1PM PT

Service-learning is a high-impact pedagogy that engages students in applying what they are learning about in their class to a real-world community need or issue, and includes reflective activities to demonstrate and deepen the service and learning connections. This course will introduce best practices, research, and examples of the pedagogy, with a special focus on STEM disciplines. Not available for credit. Open to 20 students.
 
CIRTL Quick Links 

Upcoming Courses

CIRTL Website

Create an Account

Job Postings

Teaching and Learning Development Specialist, UC San Diego (Open until filled)

Post-Doctoral Position in Science Education Research, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Post-Doctoral Position, Center for Teaching and Learning, Georgia Tech

Faculty Position, Biology, Michigan State University (Deadline: 1/20/17)

To view job postings, or submit one of your own, join our Academic Careers & Job Postings online community.

Statement on Sanctuary Campuses

SUNY Student Assembly President Marc J. Cohen’s Statement on ‘Sanctuary Campuses’

December 7, 2016 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tyler McNeil, Tyler.Mcneil@sunysa.org

“As President of the Student Assembly, I want to assure students that current SUNY policies and practices prioritize the safety of all students. SUNY prides itself on openness and accessibility – and I will do everything I can to uphold these values.

“The term ‘sanctuary campus’ does not have a uniform definition which makes unconditionally supporting the term difficult and irresponsible. However, if it means ensuring that all of our students – regardless of their citizenship status – are protected under the Fourth Amendment, if it means students can walk around campus without fear of being stopped and asked for proof of citizenship, and if it means not voluntarily offering up the personal information of our students – then I stand fully committed to this principle. I am thankful to learn in a system and state where this is a reality.

“We are aware that there are various petitions circulating across several campuses on this issue. We support and encourage students to make their voices heard. We stand squarely in the corner of students. We also pledge to continue working with SUNY leadership to maintain these ideals as they are the bedrock upon which our system was founded. This is not a border, or a port of entry, or a crime scene; it is a University.”