University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

News

Published: December 9, 2010

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  Simpson farewell reception set

  Members of the UB community are invited to attend a farewell reception for President John B. Simpson from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Dec. 15 in the atrium of the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

  The reception, which is free and open to all members of the UB community, is being held to honor Simpson for his many achievements during his seven years at the university.

  Simpson will retire on Jan. 15 to spend more time with his family.

  Those attending the reception are asked to RSVP by Dec. 13.

• 

  Nostaja to oversee Development,
  Alumni Relations

  Scott Nostaja will provide day-to-day leadership and oversight of the Office of the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations until a new vice president is appointed, President John B. Simpson has announced.

  Nostaja, UB’s chief operations officer, will be filling in for Kathryn Costello, who will leave her position as vice president for development and alumni relations in January to assume a similar position at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky.

  Costello, who is leaving Western New York to be closer to her family, will remain engaged in UB development efforts as a consultant for the university’s next comprehensive capital campaign.

  Preliminary work is beginning for a national search for Costello’s replacement, although a new vice president will not be appointed until a new president is in office.

• 

  Flags at half-mast on Friday

  Gov. David Paterson has directed that flags on state government buildings—including those at UB—be flown at half-mast on Dec. 10 in honor of a Brooklyn resident who died in Afghanistan.

  Marine Sgt. Nicholas Aleman died on Dec. 5 while supporting combat operations in Paktia Province.

  Paterson has ordered that flags on all state buildings be lowered to half-mast in honor and tribute to New York service members who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.

• 

  Grant to help train special ed teachers

  Six doctoral students in the UB-Buffalo State College Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education each will receive up to $40,000 a year in tuition assistance and a modest stipend, thanks to a highly competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Education designed to address a national and local shortage of skilled special education teacher-educators.

  The four-year, $1.2 million grant—80 percent of which goes directly for student scholarships—will be used to train six doctoral students who will assume leadership positions in special education teacher-training programs at colleges and universities.

  The doctoral students will be trained to prepare future teachers to use media, technology and communication tools to help students with disabilities, according to Sharon Raimondi, adjunct associate professor in the Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education in the Graduate School of Education and project director for the Department of Education’s special education training program.

  They will teach teachers how to provide greater access for students with disabilities, consistent with principles of universal design for learning, and deliver technology-rich instructional environments.

  “There is a severe shortage in this country of special education teachers to work with students with disabilities” says Raimondi. “Adding to this challenge, the country has a severe shortage of people at the college level to train these teachers.”

  The UB grant is part of almost $20 million going to higher education institutions to help prepare special education personnel to improve services and results for children with disabilities. Raimondi says the grant was very competitive. The grant proposal by UB and Buffalo State, which are partners in the grant, was one of only 22 proposals chosen to receive money from 90 applications. Kevin J. Miller, chair of the Exceptional Education Department at Buffalo State, will be co-principal investigator on the project with Raimondi.