A $50,000 grant secured by State Senator Mary Lou Rath to Buffalo State College's Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education will be used to develop both jointly registered bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary education with Genesee Community College. Senator Rath, a former teacher and Buffalo State College alumna, has expressed strong support for connecting the resources of a strong, urban institution like Buffalo State College with the needs of her rural area constituents like those served by Genesee Community College.

The proposed program would allow students from the Genesee Community College area to earn an undergraduate elementary education degree at Genesee Community College by using a variety of instructional delivery systems including online courses, traditional classroom courses, tele-courses and hybrid courses that use a combination of delivery systems.

The grant will allow the two institutions to explore the level of interest in the Genesee County area as well as in the other rural areas Genesee serves. It will also allow the colleges to determine the institutional issues that need to be addressed to ensure implementation of the administrative and curricular interfaces necessary to make the program work, according to Robert J. Stephen from the Faculty of Applied Science and Education at Buffalo State College, who is coordinating the feasibility study.

Stephen said issues such as registration, curriculum and academic and administrative rules and regulations would be addressed and that Buffalo State courses would be offered at GCC in as many ways as possible, such as online, via interactive fiber-optic classrooms, weekend courses and Buffalo State faculty teaching directly on the GCC campus.

The availability of the courses may also be extended to Genesee's five campus centers located in three contiguous rural counties.

The grant will help Buffalo State develop a semester-by-semester rendering of courses that would culminate in the awarding of a bachelor or master of science degree in elementary education, Stephen said.

Toward that end, he said, Buffalo State will offer two undergraduate and two graduate courses from Genesee Community College in the spring 2003 semester that begins Jan. 21, 2003.

EDU 211: Introduction to Literacy, will meet Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 10:15 a.m. via interactive fiber-optic classroom at Genesee Community College; EDU 416: Teaching Literacy in Middle and Secondary Schools will be taught entirely online.

EDU 513: Survey of Basic Concepts of Elementary Reading and Instruction will meet Wednesday from 4:45 to 7:25 p.m. via interactive fiber-optic classroom at Genesee Community College, as will EDU 577: Teaching Individuals with Exceptionalities in the Regular Classroom on Monday from 4:45 to 7:25 p.m.

The undergraduate courses are open to Genesee Community College students and others in the community interested in pursuing a bachelor's in elementary education. The graduate courses are open to anyone in the community wishing to pursue a master's degree who has completed a bachelor's degree. Genesee Community College students who carry at least 12 credit hours can cross-register for one of the Buffalo State courses without charge. Students who take both Buffalo State undergraduate courses will be assessed Buffalo State College tuition and fees for the second course.

Graduate students will be assessed regular Buffalo State College graduate tuition and fees.

For more information about Buffalo State's spring 2003 semester courses offered through Genesee Community College, contact Priscilla DiRisio at (585) 343-0055, Ext. 6423.