Everything Nac

Two outstanding Stephen F. Austin State University faculty members will be honored during the 28th annual SFA Gala Saturday, Dec. 10, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom.

Faculty member awards presented during the Gala recognize innovation and excellence in teaching and research. Dr. Emmerentie Oliphant, professor in SFA’s School of Social Work and director of the Master of Social Work program, is the recipient of the 2016 Faculty Achievement Award for Research. Dr. Kevin Langford, SFA associate professor of biology and the director for the university’s pre-health professions program, is the recipient of the 2016 Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching.

Dr. Emmerentie Oliphant

Oliphant joined SFA’s School of Social Work in 2006. She currently serves as a professor of social work and director of the Masters of Social Work program. During the past several years, she has secured more than $1 million in grant funding for community development as well as assistance for individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

According to Dr. Freddie L. Avant, director of the School of Social Work, Oliphant is an ideal recipient for this award because of her vast and innovative research contributions and the positive impact her research has had on the lives of people, especially those from the most vulnerable populations in society.

“She is very deserving of this award, having established a reputation as an outstanding researcher since arriving at SFA 10 years ago,” Avant added. “In fact, she has emerged and engaged in research at a level that I and many of her peers would consider exceptional.”

Oliphant received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She then graduated with a doctoral degree from the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1993.

She has served in a number of professional leadership roles and services. Currently, Oliphant serves on the Texas Evaluation Network board of directors and the Nacogdoches Area United Way board of directors.

Previously, Oliphant has held roles with the HIV Research and Partner Network Group hosted through the University of Texas at Tyler Medical Center, the South African National Research Foundation and the South African Council for Social Service Professions, among others. She also served two terms on the Council on Practice Methods and Specializations for the Council on Social Work Education, a national council for social work educators.

Most of Oliphant’s research focuses on ways to improve the quality of life. She also has engaged in unfunded research in areas that are personally important to her.

“One of the most amazing examples is her research project in San Augustine County where she completed a community needs assessment over a three-year period,” Avant said. “That study led to the creation of a community drug court and a one-stop service model that contributed to the funding of a $500,000 building.”

Oliphant is the author or co-author of seven book chapters and 26 peer-reviewed journal articles, and has presented at 103 local, national and international conferences. She also has served as principal or co-investigator for 23 grants and research projects.

“Dr. Oliphant is an outstanding teacher, professional, mentor and colleague,” said Laura Squiers, deputy executive director of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. “I have worked with Dr. Oliphant for more than a year on the Impact Lufkin initiative, which is a community revitalization effort that the foundation instigated and is funding. The research that Dr. Oliphant has collected has led to much-needed change and better outcomes for the community. She has brought a remarkable set of research skills to the Impact Lufkin project.”

Dr. Kevin Langford

Langford began his educational relationship with SFA when he attended in the 1980s. He served as an undergraduate teaching assistant from 1985-86 and a graduate teaching assistant from 1987-89. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SFA in 1987 and 1989, respectively, and went on to earn a doctoral degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Langford returned to SFA in 2002 as an assistant professor. He currently serves as the pre-health professions program director and as an associate professor of biology.

“Dr. Langford has taught at SFA for the last 14 years and has sustained a critical role in the teaching and mentoring of our students interested in pursuing careers in the health professions,” said Dr. Stephen J. Mullin, professor in and chair of SFA’s Department of Biology. “He enthusiastically connects with students about what it would take to succeed in their respective degree programs and encourages them to discover the best in themselves at SFA.”

A member of three national and two state professional societies, Langford has authored or co-authored 17 articles in various journals and publications.

Civically, Langford participates in a number of community and state organizations, including the Nacogdoches Rotary Club, American Red Cross, Texas Association of Advisors of the Health Professions, Joint Admissions Medical Program and Texas Rural Health Association.

Langford teaches courses in human and cell biology, human physiology, vertebrate anatomy and human development, among others.

“Each summer, Dr. Langford directs SFA JAMP camp through funding from the Joint Admission Medical Program. He works carefully to mirror camp activities as closely as possible to the lifestyle of pre-med students who must successfully juggle rigorous coursework with other responsibilities that are crucial for successful entrance into medical school,” said Dr. Josephine Taylor, SFA professor of biology. “These efforts are truly a labor of love with the goal of ensuring the best possible start to college for the young people under his mentorship. Dr. Langford is a passionate and dedicated teacher who puts the needs of his students first and foremost.”

Under his tutelage, approximately 150 SFA graduates have successfully continued into the medical profession as medical or dental students, pharmacists, physical therapists and optometrists.

The Gala cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a candlelight dinner at 7 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by Blind Date, featuring seven of Austin’s most accomplished musicians whose repertoire ranges from dance music to jazz, rock, country and hip hop.

Tickets are $175 for orchestra seating and $125 for ballroom seating. Proceeds from the Gala help build a permanent endowment created by the SFASU Foundation to honor faculty member achievement. For more information or to purchase tickets, call April Smith, associate director of development at SFA, at (936) 468-5406.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Human Sciences is home to the Center for Economic Education, which is one of six centers in Texas designed to help train educators who teach students about economic education.

“Financial literacy is such an important area of concern,” said Dr. Nancy Shepherd, who serves as the center’s director and program coordinator for family and consumer sciences at SFA. “SFA is very focused on financial literacy, and it is part of our strategic plan.”

The center operates under the Texas Council on Economic Education. Its primary function is to provide training for teachers across the state. SFA’s center concentrates on serving teachers in Deep East Texas and the Beaumont and Huntsville areas.

During training sessions, Shepherd and other presenters demonstrate how to teach a specific financial topic. The center receives grants to sponsor the trainings, which sometimes funds support materials such as the current VE4.5 jump drive that has more than 1,400 lessons that apply to students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Lessons include economics, financial literacy and entrepreneurship courses. Presenters help teachers navigate the lessons and find additional resources to help them in their classrooms.

“We have some great teachers doing really great things, but they need more support and training,” Shepherd said. “They don’t feel comfortable with some of the concepts, so we are trying to provide as much training as we can.”

Shepherd will host a curriculum training session from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, at SFA in the Culinary Café, Room 121, located in the Education Annex Building on campus.

The session will focus on understanding fiscal responsibility and utilize real-world situations that illustrate current fiscal issues such as the national debt, budget deficit, national security, Social Security and national policy issues. The training session costs $15. Space is available for the Monday training. To register online, visit www.economicstexas.org.

For more information, contact Shepherd at (936) 468-1413 or shepherd@sfasu.edu.

The combined choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with the Orchestra of the Pines, will present SFA’s traditional holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the university campus.

The highly anticipated annual celebration will feature “Hodie,” or “This Day,” a Christmas cantata by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, according to Dr. Tim King, director of choral activities for the SFA School of Music.

“This exhilarating telling of the Christmas story was composed between 1953 and 1954,” King said. “It was Williams’ last major choral-orchestral composition and was premiered under his baton at Worcester Cathedral as part of the Three Choirs Festival on Sept. 8,1954.

“The cantata, in 16 movements, is scored for treble chorus, mixed chorus organ and orchestra, and it will feature our SFA voice faculty soloists,” he said. Those include Charlotte Davis, Scott LaGraff and Richard G. Leonberger.

The program will also include the popular Christmas carol sing-a-long that has become a favorite feature of the annual event, King said.

The concert is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Turner Auditorium is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Rockin’ Axes at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “The Sounds of the ’80s” when the two student ensembles perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Andrew Sperandeo, director of the Rockin’ Axes groups, chose a theme that chronologically followed popular music through the decades because he wanted his students to experience “great music and great artists.”

Beginning with songs of the ’50s and ’60s three years ago, moving to the music of the ’70s last year, and forward to the music of the ’80s this year, Sperandeo’s students have seen how music, culture and style have changed over time, and they have seen how the music of previous decades influenced musicians that followed, he explained.

Among the program selections are “Rosanna,” written by David Paich and recorded by Toto; “Let’s Groove,” written by Maurice White and Wayne Vaughn and recorded by Earth, Wind & Fire; and “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” written by Trevor Rabin and recorded by “Yes.”

Toto was comprised of talented studio musicians from the ’80’s who played on many of the big hits by other artist of the time, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Sperandeo said.

“‘Rosanna’ can be appreciated by so many because it has solid half-time shuffle groove, catchy chord progression and amazing vocals and harmony,” he said. “It contains a bit more advanced elements such as key changes and style changes, notably in the outro.”

Sperandeo chose “Let’s Groove” because he “always loved the intro bass line double with a vox vocoder, and also because this band is the epitome of groove – great horn lines and vocal harmonies,” he said. “I knew the kids and the audience would have fun with this one.”

Performing “Owner of a Lonely Heart” will allow student to experience a little of the “progressive rock scene” of the ’80’s, Sperandeo said, “and Yes definitely fell into that category.”

“I love the different textural layers in this tune created from great guitar tone and effects, with synth orchestral hits, hard-hitting bright snare and high clean vocals,” he said. “All of these elements and great mixing and mastering make it sound very progressive, even 30 years later.”

The Contemporary Ensemble will also perform after the two Rockin’ Axes Groups.

“Bust out your leg warmers, jean jackets and parachute pants for this concert as we try to transport you back 30 years to a time where MTV music videos changed the course of music history and culture,” Sperandeo encouraged audience members, “to a time we can all look back at our hair styles and wardrobe and honestly say, ‘What were we thinking?'”

The concert is a presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Cole concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.