News Briefs

The online Student Opinion of Teaching survey period is Nov. 23 to Dec. 14. To read the memo and get information on SOOT requests for fall 2012, go to http://www.binghamton.edu/oira/soot.html.

Binghamton University Dean of Students April Thompson announces the appointment of Lester Coghill as director of Greek Life, a position that has been upgraded from assistant director to strengthen oversight of Greek Life activities.

Coghill, who will begin his duties Jan. 2, 2013, comes to Binghamton from his position as assistant director of campus activities and student engagement at the University of Maine, Orono, where he has served as the main contact for over 1,000 student members of 22 national and two local fraternities and sororities at the University of Maine. He has also advised its Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils and their subsidiary groups, and overseen all aspects of IFC and Panhellenic recruitment.

At Binghamton, Coghill will work closely with student leaders within Greek letter organizations and advise chapters and councils on programming, new member recruitment procedures, and ongoing membership education programs to promote responsible membership, citizenship and chapter management. He will also collaborate with staff in the Dean of Students Office to develop and implement leadership development training, risk management programs and other programming for Greek organization leadership and members.

The Undergraduate Research Center offers awards to support Binghamton University undergraduates who will graduate in spring 2014 or later to conduct special research, scholarship or creative activities during the summer with faculty mentors.

The $3,000 fellowships support a student’s original research or creative projects, not research assistance for a faculty member’s research project. Faculty mentors will receive $1,000. Proposals from all academic disciplines are welcome.

The deadline for fellowship applications is Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Awards will be announced no later than mid-March. For criteria and application information, visit the Undergraduate Research Center website at http://www2.binghamton.edu/undergraduate-research-center/summer-scholars-and-artists-program/index.html.

Human Resources announces that due to Hurricane Sandy, the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations has extended the 2013 Flex Spending open enrollment period. The open period has now been extended through 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. The electronic application system at http://www.flexspend.ny.gov will be suspended at midnight on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012; however it will re-open beginning Friday, Nov.16, and will continue to be available through 10 p.m. Nov. 30. During the open enrollment period, employees without Internet access, or those who prefer not to use online enrollment, may enroll by calling 800-358-7202 (select Option 1 to speak with a customer service representative).

The Office of Commencement invites all faculty to participate in Binghamton University’s Fall 2012 Commencement ceremony at noon Sunday, Dec. 16, in the Events Center. If you are interested in participating, simply complete the Faculty Participation form available on the Commencement website at http://www2.binghamton.edu/commencement/fall/faculty-and-staff/faculty-participation.html. The participation form allows you to indicate your planned participation in the ceremony as well as to submit a request for rented regalia. Questions? E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

The 2012 State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA) Campaign kicks off this week with the Campaign theme, “State Employees offer their hands and hearts by supporting charities through SEFA.” Last year, University employees generously donated more than $63,000 to the campaign.  Faculty and staff will receive information packets in their campus mailbox this week.

Donations can be directed to specific agencies and may be designated to local agencies to assist individuals in the local community. Those who donate a minimum of $78, or just $3 per paycheck, before Dec. 1, will have their names entered into a drawing for one of 10 gift certificates from local stores and restaurants donated by the President’s Office, each valued at $50. SEFA contributions may be made by check or through payroll deduction.

For more information, contact Martha Gahring at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). SEFA donations should be sent to Cornelia Mead, SEFA Committee Chair, Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Research Foundation employees participate in the United Way Campaign and have already received information about how to contribute. For more information on the United Way campaign, contact Paul Parker at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Nominations are being sought for the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Faculty Service, Excellence in Librarianship and Excellence in Teaching. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, Dec. 12, with completed dossiers due to the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, attention P. Allie Dugan, by Friday, Jan. 4.

Visit http://www2.binghamton.edu/academics/provost/excellence-awards/service-ex-award.html for information regarding the faculty service award, http://www2.binghamton.edu/academics/provost/excellence-awards/library-ex-award.html for information regarding the librarianship award and http://www2.binghamton.edu/academics/provost/excellence-awards/teaching-ex-award.html for information regarding the teaching award.

The Binghamton University Globalistas (BUGS), a volunteer group of faculty, staff and students devoted to internationalization, has created a LinkedIn group for students, alumni, faculty and staff to discuss international topics. It’s a place to talk about international travel, study, work and more. The group, which has nearly 300 participants, is also a great way to learn about globally oriented events on campus. To join the group, named B Global, visit http://go.binghamton.edu/bglobal.

Student Health 101 is a free newsletter for students, faculty and staff. In its monthly issues, you can learn how to achieve or maintain a healthy lifestyle both on and off campus.

Through articles, videos and graphics, it as an easy and informative way to learn how to fuel your body with energy to get you through those long work days and various fitness tips and exercises you’ll love. With videos from students at various colleges, you can learn how your students may be feeling pertaining to their health on campus. The newsletter covers all dimensions of health from physical to social to emotional to environmental to spiritual and intellectual.

The Health and Wellness Department has monthly issues and be sure to look out for its next one, which will include information about the new Health and Wellness minor.

Go to http://readsh101.com/binghamton.html to view the Student Health 101 September 2012 issue.

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Interim Harpur College Dean Wayne Jones has announced the appointment of Florenz Plassmann and Chris Reiber to serve as interim associate deans of Harpur College while Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Jennifer Jensen is on an American Council on Education fellowship. Plassmann will serve as associate dean for academic affairs and Reiber as associate dean for research, effective Aug. 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Both Plassmann and Reiber will serve half time in their interim positions.

“I believe it’s vital that faculty remain engaged with the dean’s office,” said Jones. “As the University is poised for growth, this restructuring will allow Harpur College to support our dual focus of providing a high-quality education to our students and of broadening and deepening our research and scholarly activities.”

Plassmann, associate professor of economics, earned his master’s and doctorate from Virginia Tech. He joined Binghamton’s faculty in 1999, and has served as a program director for the National Science Foundation and as a visiting resident scholar for the International Monetary Fund. As a public economist, he studies voting systems and alternatives to takings under eminent domain, as well as U.S. and international tax policies.

Reiber, associate professor of anthropology, earned her doctorate and her postdoctoral master of public health in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the faculty at Binghamton in 2005. As a biological anthropologist, she studies evolutionary and epidemiological modeling of women’s health issues, focusing on the intersections between behavior, biology and environment. She has been an independent analytical consultant to federally funded researchers in psychology and addiction medicine and is the former director of Analytical Services for the Clinical Trials Group of UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. 

FATIMA

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Nieman has announced the appointment of Nasrin Fatima as assistant provost for institutional research and effectiveness. Fatima comes to Binghamton University from Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College) where she served as the assistant vice president for assessment, research and planning.

In her new position, Fatima oversees and coordinates internal and external reporting of official University statistics and data files; conducts research studies and analyses of University data in support of key campus initiatives, decision making and strategic planning; oversees the University’s Operational Data Store; and leads the implementation of an enterprise-wide data warehouse.

Fatima earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and a second master’s degree and doctorate from the University of New Orleans. Prior to working at Penn College, she served as the director for institutional effectiveness and assessment at Xavier University of Louisiana.

She has published and presented a number of scholarly papers and is a member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP).