Please be sure to let students know that if they are planning to declare or change a major, it is best to submit their approved form to the Registrar's Office at least 10 days before they intend to register. As we get closer to the start of registration, the volume of forms received will increase. Forms are available in the academic departments. J-Term and spring 2020 registration begins Wednesday, November 6.

The campus community is encouraged to participate in the weekly online raffle to benefit Buffalo State's 2019 SEFA campaign. This week's prizes are a $100 gift card to SEAR, one of Buffalo's finest steakhouses, located on Delaware Avenue, and a $25 Visa gift card. To participate, simply visit the SEFA raffle website. The winner will be selected on Monday, October 14, and announced in the Daily Bulletin the following Tuesday. Please contact SEFA campaign chair Tom Koller, senior associate athletics director, 878-6514, with questions or for more information.

The campus community is invited to attend an open house for the Restorative Justice Center on Friday, October 11, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in Porter Hall 15. Members of the campus community are encouraged to attend to learn about the services and programs offered, as well as opportunities to become a Restorative Justice Center partner. Please confirm your attendance via e-mail.

Join us for a TIAA-sponsored seminar on the basics of Social Security on Monday, October 21, from noon to 1:00 p.m. in Technology Building 160. Social Security will likely play a significant role in building your retirement income. Learn the basics about Social Security including eligibility, how to apply, how your benefit is calculated, and strategies for claiming benefits.

TIAA’s seminar leader will discuss the following:

• Social Security basics 
• Available benefits and how they are calculated
• Deciding when to take Social Security 
• Income tax considerations 
• Additional resources

RSVP by phone at (800) 732-8353 or register online.

National Retirement Security Week (NRSW) is October 20–26. NRSW is the first congressionally endorsed national event to promote the benefits of saving for retirement and encourage everyone to do so through any or all available options. The focus of this week is a heightened awareness about the long-term planning that a comfortable retirement requires, and the actions along the way that can help us all get to that goal, including enrollment in employer-sponsored primary retirement plans and secondary retirement savings plans.

NRSW is a perfect time to recognize the importance of making a plan now to enjoy a more secure retirement later, and how retirement plan and voluntary savings plan enrollment can be part of that plan. Below are some resources to assist in doing so:

SUNY's Financial Education Planning web page

•  Offers a variety of tools and calculators to assist with both short- and long-term financial planning.

SUNY's Choosing Your Investments web page

• Offers introductory information to help familiarize employees with investments so they can make more educated decisions on where and how to invest.

SUNY’s Investment Providers

• Make an appointment today to discuss and plan for your future.

Take time today to plan for tomorrow!

The podcast of the September 13, 2019, College Senate meeting is now available on the College Senate's podcasts web page. Podcasts serve as the official audio record of each College Senate meeting. Minutes from the September 13 meeting are also available on the Senate website.

From the Chair of the College Senate
The next meeting of the College Senate for fall 2019 will be held Friday, October 11, at 3:00 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 423. The meeting agenda (PDF, 132 KB), which includes advance constituent questions that the administration will address at the meeting, is now posted.

Please direct questions to Vincent Masci, assistant to the College Senate, 878-5139.

Do you or your children play games using the Zynga app? If you do, please read this TechSpot article about a recent data breach. Zynga confirms that names, e-mail addresses, log-in IDs, hashed passwords, password reset tokens (if ever requested), phone numbers (if provided), Facebook IDs (if connected), and Zynga account IDs were compromised.

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Untangling the Evolutionary Dynamics of Complex Traits," presented by Sara Miller, Ph.D., NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, today, October 7, from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. in Technology Building 160. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Abstract
Next Generation Sequencing technologies are leading to new insight into evolutionary processes. My research uses genomic comparisons to understand the mechanisms by which complex traits evolve and spread through populations. I focus on adaptation to biotic selection in threespine stickleback fish and the evolution of a novel cognitive trait in the world's smartest insect, Polistes fuscatus.

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar "Untangling the Evolutionary Dynamics of Complex Traits," presented by Sara Miller, Ph.D., NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, on Monday, October 7, from 3:00 to 3:50 p.m. in Technology Building 160. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome.

Abstract
Next Generation Sequencing technologies are leading to new insight into evolutionary processes. My research uses genomic comparisons to understand the mechanisms by which complex traits evolve and spread through populations. I focus on adaptation to biotic selection in threespine stickleback fish and the evolution of a novel cognitive trait in the world's smartest insect, Polistes fuscatus.