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Canisius in the News

Julie Anna Golebiewski, PhD, associate professor of economics and finance, spoke with The Buffalo News on Sunday, December 5, about the local labor shortage.  Golebiewski sees it as a lasting trend ,as people are rushing into retirement and causing the local labor pool to shrink. 

To read more click here.

Submitted by: College Communications

Christmas Carols to Welcome the Holiday Season

Cantio Sacra will perform a selection of favorite Christmas carols in the library vestibule on Wednesday, December 8 at 1:00 p.m.  Under the direction of Mason Cancilla, Cantio Sacra will fill the hallway entrance with song and the joyous spirit of Christmas.

Let Cantio Sacra help you reduce your stress and engage the spirit of Christmas!

Submitted by: Veronica Serwacki, executive associate to the dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Do you have questions about the Covid Vaccine for the Kids in your Life?




Give It A Shot Event Image

Many families are now making decisions about whether they should get the children in their lives vaccinated against Covid.  The following opportunity is being shared to allow members of our community to hear from an expert in children’s health.

Because parents, families and educators have new questions and concerns due to the continued increasing spread of Covid-19 throughout our schools and community, Dr. Stephen J. Turkovich, MD, will offer valuable information, via a free webinar, on Monday, December 20, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. Dr. Turkovich is vice president and chief medical officer at Oishei Children’s Hospital, and serves as a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the University at Buffalo.

Dr. Turkovich will discuss the most current information surrounding the virus and vaccines, discuss what parents need to know for their children and directly answer questions about COVID-19. During this webinar, he will also discuss the new Omicron variant, the appropriate ages for children to become vaccinated, how to respond to challenges for children in school, and how to keep the entire family safe.

Representatives from the Parent Network will inform parents about the “vaccinate, educate, graduate” vaccine incentive provided by New York State, and the collaboration of the YMCA and Lyft to offer free transportation to/from COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

To register for this FREE Live Webinar on Zoom, click here: Register
Once you register, you will receive a notification with the meeting link.  

Submitted by: Sara Morris, PhD, vice president, Academic Affairs

TIAA Virtual Counseling Sessions

Curtis Cluster, a financial consultant for TIAA, is scheduling appointments for December 10 to discuss TIAA accounts one-on-one.  Register today for a session at www.TIAA.org/schedulenow or by calling 800-732-8353, weekdays 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Submitted by: Bethany Voorhees, executive associate, President’s Office

Better Multiple Choice Questions

Even the humble multi-choice question can be a powerful – and cheat-resistant – assessment. While we may not use these questions as our sole means of assessing student learning, they are undeniably efficient, especially for busy faculty.

Traditionally, we think of multiple-choice questions as quizzing students on facts and rewarding memorization. Besides, in the information age, aren’t answers to these sorts of questions readily available on the internet? But what if a multiple choice question asked students to perform analysis, or make judgments, on an example?

Many faculty have academic integrity concerns over online exams and quizzes, although there are plenty of ways to complicate cheating on those assessments. Meanwhile, despite our assumptions and best efforts, classroom exams are shockingly easy to cheat, and cheaters typically know where on the internet to go for tips. (We, um, won’t link those kinds of places here.)

But either online or in the classroom: what if the *questions* weren’t so easy to cheat? Better still, what if the questions challenged them to use higher-level skills in your discipline?

Here are some resources to help you consider how you might build more effective multiple-choice questions, to deploy alongside other kinds of assessments.

COLI has a short guide to making better multiple-choice questions.

Also see Eric Loepp’s recent article in Inside Higher Ed, “The Benefits of Higher-Order Multiple-Choice Tests.”

Submitted by: Tyler Kron-Piatek, academic technologist, COLI