Everything Nac

Dr. Martin Stone, director of the Baker Arboretum at Western Kentucky University, will be the guest speaker for the SFA Gardens’ monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series, slated for 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

Stone is the director of the Baker Arboretum at Western Kentucky University and holds the Leichhardt Professorship of Horticulture. The Baker Arboretum specializes in conifers and was recently recognized as an American Conifer Society Reference Garden.

Stone has worked as a senior research scientist in California, a nurseryman in Lindale, where he grew roses in the wholesale market, at a garden center in Port Arthur and owned a garden center in Oklahoma, where he grew roses for the retail market. He has been a member of the WKU faculty for the past 12 years.

With more than 100 popular and scientific articles published, Stone leads study-abroad trips to Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, China and Costa Rica. He also is a local food organizer, who founded a farmers’ market in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and lives on a farm with his family raising blueberries, blackberries, pawpaws and cut flowers.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public. However, donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.

Dr. Chay Runnels, associate professor, hospitality administration program coordinator and graduate program co-coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University, is the latest recipient of the Jim Towns Mentoring Professorship.

The Jim Towns Mentoring Professorship recognizes professors who instill, foster and promote a mentoring culture at SFA. The award is named for Dr. Jim Towns, a longtime SFA professor of communication studies.

The university will recognize Runnels at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, in the Regents Board Room, Room 307, in the Austin Building on campus.

Runnels said she’s honored to receive the professorship and follow in the footsteps of past recipients who have been recognized for their commitment to student success.

“I was so touched by the letters my former and current students and colleagues wrote supporting me for this professorship,” Runnels said. “I’ve tried to make a difference in my students’ lives, and receiving this honor just makes me want to work harder to be student-focused.”

Runnels, who joined SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education and the School of Human Sciences in 2005, teaches undergraduate and graduate students in various courses, including customer relations in hospitality, destination management, convention and meeting planning, administration and supervision, and service management.

Students in her customer relations course manage the front-house duties at the Culinary Café, a customized learning experience where students work with a chef to operate a gourmet restaurant on the SFA campus. As program coordinator, Runnels assists with scheduling events, monitoring reservations, and acts as the liaison between the café and the public.

“I want my students to be as passionate about their studies as I was. My goal is to connect the dots for them and inspire them to become leaders in their fields,” Runnels said. “I cheer their successes, and I try to encourage them when they struggle. Fortunately, I do a lot more cheering than encouraging.”

Currently, Runnels is working on a grant with the National Park Service, Oglala Lakota College in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and an interdisciplinary team at SFA to develop an interpretation and tourism curriculum pathway for Lakota students at a tribal college. Her other research interests include service learning, course integration, destination and interpretive marketing.

Runnels received her bachelor’s degree in American studies and master’s degree in architectural studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her doctoral degree from SFA and is a certified Texas Friendly Program Trainer though the Texas AgriLife Extension.

Funding for the professorship was largely raised by Towns with the help of former students, colleagues and friends.

Dr. William “Joe” Oliver, retired SFA professor of communication, received the 2016 Texas Association of Broadcasters’ Educator of the Year Award. During his more than 30 years on the SFA faculty, Oliver was instrumental in designing the university’s radio station KSAU-FM.

“Because of my extensive background in commercial broadcasting, from the beginning I saw myself as someone to bridge the gap between educators and the broadcast industry, and promote mutual respect and understanding,” Oliver said. “I take this award as validation of some success in my efforts. It came as a complete surprise to me and is a major highlight of my career.”

Oliver’s broadcasting career began at age 16 when he was hired by his hometown radio and television station WOWL in Florence, Alabama. After pursuing broadcasting in higher education, he received his doctoral degree in 1977 — one year after joining the SFA faculty.

His teaching centered on radio/television writing and media management and, after beginning at SFA, he was responsible for designing a fully professional university radio station that would be managed and operated entirely by students.

“After the radio/TV academic program was approved in the 1970s, I was brought in and allowed to establish bonds with professional organizations and design KSAU along the lines of a commercial broadcast station model,” Oliver said. “We used it to train students for electronic media, and also used the master’s program, which I directed, to help prepare our graduates for careers in professional broadcasting and education.

“SFA graduates now serve in broadcast positions and in college teaching in Texas and beyond. My award clearly reflects the success of the professional emphasis of the SFA program and its regard by both Texas broadcasters and educators.”

Unable to attend the 63rd annual TAB Convention Awards Gala in Austin, Oliver’s award was accepted by Sherry Williford, SFA radio/television faculty.

“Upon my coming to SFA in 1992, Dr. Oliver insisted I go to my first TAB convention to meet broadcasters and expand my knowledge of the industry to take back to the classroom,” Williford said. “He was very passionate about bringing the broadcast industry to his students.”

Oliver retired from SFA in 2007. He and his wife, Gloria, remain in Nacogdoches.

Stephen F. Austin State University students will again partner with Cotton Incorporated to collect denim for the Blue Jeans Go Green project this fall. Fashion merchandising students collected approximately 6,000 pieces of denim last fall and hope to collect more than 10,000 pieces this semester.

This recycle program encourages people to donate denim to be “upcycled” into UltraTouch denim insulation. Jamie Cupit, fashion merchandising instructor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences, is helping coordinate the project on campus.

“Participating in Blue Jeans Go Green for the third year in a row is really exciting for me and the students. We have enjoyed working closely with Cotton Inc. and appreciate their staff members’ willingness to showcase the denim collection efforts of our students on campus and in the community,” Cupit said.

SFA fashion merchandising students enrolled in a fashion promotion course and the Fashion Merchandising Club will plan and execute the denim drive on campus. A table will be set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 20 and Oct. 4 in front of the Baker Pattillo Student Center for students and faculty and staff members to donate denim.

In fall 2015, SFA fashion merchandising students collected approximately 6,000 pieces of denim during their second year of participation, which surpassed the 1,800 pieces the students collected during their first year. Cupit said it is their goal to collect more than 10,000 pieces of denim this fall.

SFA has partnered with Goodwill of East Texas during previous drives to collect denim for this effort, and Goodwill has donated thousands of pieces for the cause.

“Blue Jeans Go Green enhances students’ awareness of sustainability efforts and teaches them that denim can be transformed into another eco-friendly product after its useful life as apparel has expired,” Cupit said.

A highlight of the denim drive is the “Green is the New Black” recycled fashion show and gallery exhibit scheduled for Oct. 12. Fashion- and event-planning students are working on this event with Cupit and Dr. Gina Causin, assistant professor in the School of Human Sciences.