Everything Nac

As technology continues to change the way students learn, professors are discovering new ways to establish a virtual classroom.

Dr. Scott Hutchens, Stephen F. Austin State University Department of Psychology chair and professor, recently created an online version of the general psychology course to help SFA’s dual credit initiative.

“I do not ask my faculty to do anything I would not do myself,” Hutchens said. “Thus, I decided to develop the online course during the summer of 2018 in order to lead by example.”

Teaching a course online had a learning curve, but Hutchens said he quickly adjusted to the format. And although his “first love” is teaching face-to-face, he said teaching online was rewarding in numerous ways.

“I have put my heart and soul into developing this course based on best practices and the direction of the Center for Teaching and Learning at SFA, and as a result, the course has a very personal touch,” Hutchens said.

Hutchens used a discussion-based method to instruct the class, and he said he was proud of how well students performed and engaged in thoughtful discussions. One particular discussion Hutchens mentioned involved Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford agreed to give her testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee the same week Hutchens’ class was studying gender. Ford’s testimony centered around an event that occurred when she and Kavanaugh were roughly the same age as the dual credit students, so Hutchens took the opportunity to have students incorporate what they were learning in the course to this event, such as frontal lobe development, the effects of alcohol on the frontal lobe, memory and sexism.

“The discussion was one of the best discussions I have ever heard in an online general psychology course. I was very impressed with the students’ level of maturity in discussing this sensitive topic,” Hutchens said. “The discussion encouraged students to think critically and apply several things they learned about biopsychology, memory and sexism in an integrated and novel manner.”

Hutchens’ online innovation recently was honored with a Bright Spot award by the university vice presidents, Faculty Senate, and the Center for Teaching and Learning.

“This course has a highly organized design, and it runs very smoothly. After teaching it for the first time in fall 2018, I have spent even more hours fine-tuning it and making it more engaging, user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing with the use of new templates provided by the Center for Teaching and Learning,” he said.

Following Hutchens’ guide, the Department of Psychology will continue to integrate coursework online. The department is in the process of developing an online 2+2 program to offer to community college transfer students who may be unable to move to Nacogdoches due to family responsibilities and jobs in other locations, as well as an online graduate certificate in teaching college psychology.

For more information about the department, visit sfasu.edu/psychology.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist for Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present the comic operetta “The Pirates of Penzance” by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, April 4 through 6, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. With memorable melodies, sharp dialogue, a twisting plot and clever lyrics, “The Pirates of Penzance” is one of the most beloved shows in the English-speaking world. Among the student performers are, from left, Houston graduate student E.J. Grayson as Sam; The Colony graduate student Jacob Rivas as the Pirate King; and Houston sophomore Isaiah Collazo and Spring freshman Rudy Barrera as pirates. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.

Dr. Jason Reese, Stephen F. Austin State University assistant professor and sports business program coordinator, will serve as the interviewer for the second installment of the Nelson Rusche Distinguished Lecture Series, which will feature professional skateboarder and successful business owner Tony Hawk as the guest speaker.

“Tony Hawk’s career goes beyond his professional athletic career. He has been an entrepreneur, philanthropist and innovator in the sports industry. It is an incredible opportunity for students to learn from his experiences,” Reese said.

With varied experience in the sporting industry, Reese continues to spearhead SFA’s sports business program. Prior to joining the SFA faculty in 2014, Reese spent time in marketing and sales for the Round Rock Express, a Triple A Affiliate of the Houston Astros, and in sport facility management. He continues to work closely with industry professionals, consulting for various sporting events, such as ultra-distance trail running and obstacle racing, as well as with businesses in Texas.

Reese earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, and master’s and doctoral degrees in sport management from Texas A&M University. His research interests include pricing, sport event marketing, consumer behavior and business case writing. His main hobby is sports officiating, having officiated college and high school football, as well as high school baseball and basketball.

Reese said he is looking forward to interviewing the skateboarding legend and successful businessman.

“Tony Hawk changed the face of professional skateboarding and the whole action sports industry. He also was one of the first athletes to understand he was a brand, something to be leveraged,” Reese said. “His entrepreneurial mindset led to a video game series, amusement park rides and appearances on numerous television shows and movies.”

The lecture series will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 29, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center’s Grand Ballroom.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stephen F. Austin State University timbersports team, the Sylvans, claimed its third consecutive victory at the 62nd annual Association of Southern Forestry Clubs Conclave hosted last week by Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

“This was the most talented and dedicated team I’ve seen since becoming the faculty advisor in 2012,” said Dr. Jeremy Stovall, associate professor of forestry.

The team competed in a series of challenging academic and physical events against 13 other universities from across the South, including Clemson, Virginia Tech and Auburn.

Although physical events, such as crosscut sawing, axe throwing and log birling, an event in which two competitors run on a floating log with the goal of pitching an opponent into the water, take center stage, excelling in the academic events is a key point of pride for the Sylvans.

“The win in the academic competition really speaks to the strengths of our forestry program and the quality of our undergraduate students,” Stovall said. “This win is coming in the same year our student chapter of the Society of American Foresters won the national quiz bowl and our student chapter of the Wildlife Society won the state quiz bowl.”

As if placing first in both academic and physical events wasn’t enough, two SFA students sealed their positions in Southern Forestry Conclave history by setting records in two physical events.

For the first time in the 62-year history of the Southern Forestry Conclave, Tyler Jones, a junior urban forestry major, threw a perfect score of 15 by hitting five consecutive bullseyes in the axe-throwing event.

“The axe-throw competition was a lot of fun, and my throws went by like a blur,” Jones said. “Breaking the record at my first conclave was such a surprise.”

Senior forest wildlife management major Ian Erickson then broke a 26-year record in the men’s bowsaw event by cutting an 8-inch-square cant in 6.56 seconds.

The Sylvans also were awarded the Sportsmanship Award for the team’s efforts in assisting Louisiana State University in executing the event, as well as for overall professionalism and support of other teams.

While the Sylvans primarily comprise forestry students, all majors are welcome to join. For more information on the Sylvans, contact Stovall at stovalljp@sfasu.edu.

Story by Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. Contact information: (936) 468-1185 or fullersa@sfasu.edu. Photo courtesy of Rachel Murray.

As the use of technology expands to encompass almost every activity in our lives, it has become an integral teaching tool in higher education.

This past fall, two faculty members in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of History utilized new media to team teach the senior capstone course by introducing podcasts into the program.

“Podcasts are a growing medium that encourages students to consider audience engagement beyond the professor reading a paper and stuffing it in a desk drawer,” Dr. Hunter Hampton, lecturer of history, said.

Hampton and Dr. Court Carney, professor of history, assigned students the task of producing podcasts based on original research. This project introduced history students to public history, or how historians present the past to the public, and it helped them gain skills using new media.

The duo agreed that producing the podcasts required the same components as writing a successful history paper: primary sources, argument, context and narrative.

“We wanted to do something a bit unexpected that would still maintain the integrity of a research-intensive senior capstone class,” Carney said. “This project required students to choose a research topic that had appeal to a larger audience, and it pushed the students to sharpen their communication skills as they worked to bring their research to a nonacademic audience.”

Hampton said it took a while for the students to settle in to a course that was taught by two instructors simultaneously, but once they began to understand the assignment and what was expected, the students’ podcast projects began to take shape.

“As a teacher, I believe it is important for students to understand the past and engage the present. This project gave them the opportunity to think about how to communicate the value of their history project in a way that would involve the public,” Hampton said.

Hampton and Carney’s innovative teaching method was recently honored with a Bright Spot award from the SFA Faculty Senate, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the SFA vice presidents. Hampton and Carney said that moving forward, they plan to look for more opportunities to team teach.

“The team-taught element of the course created a real energy in the classroom, so we are already looking for new ways to incorporate that structure into future courses,” Carney said. “I think it’s a great thing to emphasize here at SFA, especially for interdisciplinary courses.”

For more information on the Department of History, visit sfasu.edu/history.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Employees from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently met with Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business students to share their insights.

OCC representatives Jennifer Pena, national bank examiner and Longview field office analyst, and C. Welch, assistant deputy comptroller, spoke to students about their work with the federal government. The OCC charters, regulates and supervises all national banks and federal savings associations, as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.

Pena began her career as a banker before joining the OCC in 2008. As a national bank examiner, she has led training teams and training for newly hired examiners.

Welch, a 20-year OCC veteran, worked for many years in Washington, D.C., within the problem bank/resolution division. In her current role, Welch leads a team of 18 bank examiners and supervises 26 banks chartered by the OCC operating in East Texas.

SFA’s Finance Club hosted the event in partnership with the Student Success Passport program. David Kaiser, director of SFA’s Chadwick family banking program, explained this presentation helped introduce students to new career options.

“I believe one of the main takeaways for students is that banking supervision is a viable career and is very attainable for Rusche College of Business graduates. There are real opportunities not only in Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C., but also in places like Longview,” Kaiser said.

SFA offers a Bachelor of Business Administration in banking to help prepare students to fill the growing need for qualified bank and financial services industry personnel. The program combines core coursework in business and finance with a variety of industry-specific courses and learning opportunities. To learn more, visit sfasu.edu/cob.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.