Everything Nac

What does a day in the life of a two- or four-person household living in poverty look like? What does it feel like to have to choose between baby formula and diapers? How can poverty affect and control even the smallest portions of life?

The Poverty Simulation, hosted by Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, aims to address these questions and others through a simulated poverty experience.

“The Poverty Simulation is designed to help participants begin to comprehend what it might be like to live in poverty from week to week,” said Veronica Beavers, OMA director. “Participants will experience some of the daily challenges a family in poverty may endure through a simulated experience. I hope participants gain understanding and awareness of poverty in society. I also hope that participants become empathetic to what some families deal with day to day.”

Budgeting is a focus of the simulation; however, the psychological stress families in poverty endure also will be discussed.

The OMA partnered with the East Texas Human Needs Network, which conducts the simulation. The OMA also is interested in collaborating with other Nacogdoches organizations for volunteers. Any person interested in volunteering can sign up at sfasu.edu/oma.

Two Poverty Simulation sessions are being offered. The first will be at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, and the second at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, both in the Norton H.P.E. Complex on the SFA campus. The event is open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities. It will last approximately two to three hours.

Seats are limited for this event. Preregister by Wednesday, Sept. 27, on the OMA website.

By Christine Broussard, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

SFA’s College of Liberal and Applied Arts is launching the Applied Skills Internship for juniors and seniors in the 2018 spring semester. This is the first program of its kind in the nation.

Students who are chosen for the internship will work on campus in a team under a high-level executive. Students will earn three credit hours toward their degree and gain practical experience.

Eight applicants will be chosen and then split into two teams that will each be overseen by a high-level executive.

“This size enables supervisors to maintain close contact with each student,” Dr. Brian Murphy, dean of the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, said. “The internship involves team members working collaboratively to define a solution to a real-life workplace problem.”

According to SFA’s internship policy, internships allow students to gain practical work experience and academic credit at the same time. Internships are intended to provide students with the opportunity to apply what they are learning in class to real-world situations.

Students who participate in internships tend to be hired more quickly and at a higher salary. In one report from The Chronicle of Higher Education, employers place more weight on professional experiences acquired during school versus academic credentials.

Students also can make connections through internships. Murphy said that students who participate in the Applied Skills Internship “will receive mentoring from a high-placed corporate executive who can attest to their competence to potential employers.”

Students will be assessed for seven skills, including collaboration, professionalism and intercultural fluency, among others, and can earn certificates for any of the skills in which they demonstrate proficiency. These skills can be included on résumés.

The college’s goal with this internship is to exhibit that liberal arts students hold the skills to succeed in various careers. Research has shown that liberal arts students have the potential to exceed other undergraduate majors in terms of income but it takes longer to accomplish this task.

“We want to prove our students are ready now,” Murphy said. “Unlike most programs that award certificates for skills, our program has designed an objective way to verify student skill acquisition.”

The selection for the internship will be based on three criteria: prior graduate performance, relevance of career plans to the program’s objectives and quality of the application essay. The selection committee will follow college policy on internships. This includes that the applicant must have a cumulative 2.0 GPA or above, completed at least two upper-level courses in his or her major, and be of junior or senior standing.

To obtain an application, send an email request to Dixie Groll at grollda@sfasu.edu. The application must be received no later than 5 p.m. Nov. 1, 2017.

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

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host a BioBlitz event Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22 and 23, in the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St.

Elyce Rodewald, education coordinator for SFA Gardens, explained that a BioBlitz is an event in which teams of scientists and community members work together to find and identify as many species as possible of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms within a designated area.

Professors and students from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture as well as the College of Sciences and Mathematics will lead participants through the 42-acre center to identify and document a range of organisms and species.

The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday with mammal identification led by Dr. Daniel Scognamillo, SFA associate professor of wildlife, followed by amphibian identification beginning at 8:30 p.m. led by Erin Childress, lab coordinator in the SFA Department of Biology. The final event of the night will be an 11 p.m. bat walk guided by the SFA student chapter of the Wildlife Society.

Saturday’s first session begins at 6:30 a.m. with a bird identification walk led by members of the Audubon Society followed by fungi identification at 8 a.m. with Dr. Josephine Taylor, SFA professor of biology; fish identification at 10 a.m.; and macroinvertebrate identification at 2 p.m. with Dr. Matthew McBroom, associate dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.

Event planners encourage those who attend to download the free iNaturalist app to document and upload their findings.

“iNaturalist allows people from around the world to document species observations that are then shared with scientific data repositories,” said Jessica Pruneda, a senior fire ecology major at SFA and BioBlitz event planner.

A number of other family-friendly, outdoor activities will also take place during Saturday’s sessions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The SFA Gardens’ Nacogdoches Naturally team encourages families to join them in making hand-cranked frozen yogurt, creating eco-art, using binoculars on a nature hike, fishing for “backyard bass” and other outdoor adventures.

For more information, contact Rodewald at (936) 468-1832 or erodewald@sfasu.edu.

By Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Taylor 2 dancer Amanda Stevenson applauds the work of Stephen F. Austin State University dance students during a master class the company conducted Wednesday on campus. Taylor 2 opens the College of Fine Arts’ 2017-18 University Series with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for non-SFA students/youth. Tickets for SFA students are $3. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Taylor 2 also conducted educational outreach classes with local dance studio students.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs is hosting its first Brave Space Series of the fall semester at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Tiered Classroom, Room 2.201. The series’ discussion will focus on immigration.

“This topic is relevant to many of our lives, but unfortunately, it is often categorized as controversial,” said Dr. Griselda Flores, SFA assistant director of OMA. “Our goal is to enlighten audiences about this topic and properly educate them about the various misbeliefs or lack of knowledge.”

Each month, OMA’s Brave Space Series provides a forum for open and honest discussion of difficult topics.

“We hope attendees will leave better informed and equipped to work with individuals who may identify with a specific immigration status,” Flores said. “The goal of Brave Space is not only to educate but also to engage and empower everyone to speak up.”

The discussion is free and open to the SFA and Nacogdoches communities.

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