This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
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Briefs

  • Events to celebrate life of Charles Haynie

    Talking Leaves Books will host two free events next week celebrating the life and work of the late UB teacher, mentor and activist Charles Haynie.

    Two former students, colleagues and friends of Haynie will perform from their own work as a tribute to their mentor at 7 p.m. Aug. 27 in the Talking Leaves store at 3158 Main St., Buffalo.

    Paul Richmond, who studied at UB and taught at College F (Leo Tolstoy College) until 1979, is a magician, poet and performer; Michael Basinski studied at UB as an undergraduate and graduate student, and currently serves as curator of the UB Libraries’ Poetry Collection. He also is a performing poet and musician.

    The next evening, also at 7 p.m. in the Main Street store, a party will be held celebrating the posthumous publication of Haynie’s political autobiography, “A Memoir of the New Left: The Political Autobiography of Charles Haynie,” edited by Haynie’s daughter, Aeron, and independent scholar Tim Miller. Aeron Haynie will attend the celebration and give a talk about her father’s legacy in Buffalo.

    Charles Haynie came to UB in 1969 to teach experimental courses in Tolstoy College—one of the university's residential colleges of the 1960s and 1970s—and soon became known as a voice of the left-wing perspective on campus and in the Buffalo area. He was one of the "Faculty 45"—faculty members arrested during an anti-war sit-in in Hayes Hall in 1970—and was a reform Democratic candidate for the Buffalo Common Council in 1979.

    He retired from UB in 2000 and died the following year at age 65 following a three-year battle with cancer.

    His most popular course was the history of social movements. A veteran activist in the anti-nuclear, anti-Vietnam War, civil rights and environmental movements, he often shared his own experiences with his classes—and with the student population in general—through a series of remembrances and essays published in The Spectrum. It is these writings that have been compiled and published.

    Both events are open to the public. For more information, contact Jonathon Welch at 837-8554 or at tleaves@tleavesbooks.com.

  • MLS program retains accreditation

    The Master of Library Science Program in the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS), Graduate School of Education, has received continuing accreditation from the American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation (COA). COA granted continuing accreditation to the program through the spring of 2012, when it will undergo its next comprehensive review.

    “In the interim,” says Judith Robinson, professor and department chair, “Buffalo’s accreditation is designated as ‘continuing conditional’ because the COA body has identified specific areas for improvement. Robinson says the COA had asked to see improvement in areas affected by the department’s loss of several full-time faculty members between 2007 and 2009, and three new faculty members are starting in the fall.

    “The COA also wants to see a demonstration of systematic planning for the online MLS program, increased availability of course electives, a broadening of assessment of learning outcomes and student advisement,” she says.

    More information about the accreditation process is available on the GSE Web site.

    Robinson says current students enrolled in the MLS program will continue to earn an ALA-accredited Master of Library Science degree, as they have since 1972, and will benefit as the department pursues solutions to issues highlighted in the decision. She says the department has begun to work on constructive suggestions for improvement conveyed in the decision letter from the Committee on Accreditation, and recently met to begin to develop a plan to address the issues COA targeted.

    “We look forward to the continued involvement of all our constituents in our MLS program planning process,” she says.

  • CEL to launch ‘strategic’ program

    With the help of a $25,000 sponsorship from First Niagara, a new Strategic Entrepreneurship program will be launched in September by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) in the School of Management.

    The 12-month program will be part of CEL’s ongoing initiative to provide a continuum of programming for area entrepreneurs, giving them the tools needed to grow their businesses and create jobs.

    Designed for graduates of the CEL Core program, the Strategic Entrepreneurship program will focus on moving businesses to the next level and increasing profitability. The curriculum will be presented by industry experts and focus on such topics as branding, financial controls, mergers and acquisitions, building a management team, leadership and technology.

    As with the CEL Core program, participants in the Strategic Entrepreneurship program will benefit from personal coaching and a strong network of fellow business owners.

    “The Strategic Entrepreneurship program offers graduates of our Core program a ‘next step’ to move their businesses forward by helping them implement professional management practices in a supportive atmosphere,” says Thomas Ulbrich, executive director of CEL. “We are fortunate to have a partner like First Niagara Bank that understands the ongoing educational needs of entrepreneurial companies in this area and we look forward to working with them to help the business community.”

    CEL has been assisting area entrepreneurs for more than 21 years. Nearly 700 CEL alumni employ more than 22,000 Western New Yorkers, and their businesses are worth more than $2 billion to the local economy.

    In addition to its Core and Strategic Entrepreneurship programs, the center offers a CEL Hi-Tech program for early-stage life sciences companies, the Henry A. Panasci Technology Entrepreneurship Competition for students and recent graduates, and the Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurs program.