Everything Nac

The online Bachelor of Business Administration degree program within Stephen F. Austin State University’s Nelson Rusche College of Business is ranked among the top 50 best online undergraduate business programs in the nation, according to College Choice, an independent online publication dedicated to helping students discover the right college.

The publication recognized SFA as the 28th best program in the nation based on the university’s reputation and affordability.

The online degree program began at SFA in fall 2011 after several years of working to create the courses, said Dr. Susan Jennings, online program coordinator and adviser at SFA. Jennings said she is pleased with the recognition and proud of the program.

SFA’s online Bachelor of Business Administration degree program allows students who have completed required courses to finish their general business degree through Web-based classes.

The general business major includes courses selected from various academic disciplines within the Nelson Rusche College of Business. The program provides students who are limited by time and distance with an option to complete their degrees.

“This program is designed to help students complete their degree in a non-traditional setting,” Jennings said. “Having been a non-traditional student myself in obtaining my undergraduate degree, I am an advocate for this type of program.”

SFA senior Morgan Toney, who is currently enrolled in the online program, also praised its benefits.

“This program has not only saved me money and time, but it also allowed me to stay home and take care of my kids before they started school,” Toney said. “I wouldn’t have been able to attend college for years had this program not been available to me. It offers people the opportunity to get a good degree from a respected business school, and it allows them to work around their schedules, families and jobs. It’s a gift because not everyone can drop everything and drive to a campus.”

The degree is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International, the longest-serving global association dedicated to advancing management education worldwide.

For more information, contact Jennings at (936) 468-1634 or sjennings@sfasu.edu.

Clarinetist Dr. Mary Druhan will perform in a trio concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in the Music Recital Hall in the Wright Music Building on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Druhan, associate professor of clarinet at Texas A&M University Commerce, will be joined by TAMU-Commerce colleague Dr. Luis Sanchez, piano, and Dr. Sue Barber, professor of bassoon at James Madison University, when they present works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Julius Fucik, Karl Goepfart and Mikhail Glinka.

Among the works for clarinet, bassoon and piano to be performed are Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat major, op. 11, and Glinka’s Trio Pathétique in d minor, according to Dr. Christopher Ayer, professor of clarinet in the SFA School of Music.

“The most well known of these works is the Glinka,” Ayer said, “which showcases all of the instruments in the trio and will be an instant audience favorite.”

Druhan has enjoyed an active performing career in the United States, Germany, Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Thailand and Puerto Rico. She became a member of the Dallas Wind Symphony in 2003 and has since also performed with the Dallas Festival of Modern Music, Triforia Winds, Shreveport Symphony, Shreveport Opera, East Texas Symphony, Plano Symphony and the Color of Sound chamber series.

Barber serves as chair of the woodwind area at the James Madison University School of Music. She is a member of the resident faculty ensemble The Montpelier Wind Quintet. During the summer, she is a member of the artist/teaching faculty at the Brevard Music Festival in Brevard, North Carolina. She is an active freelance bassoonist, performing regularly with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony, Opera Roanoke, Opera on The James and the Williamsburg Sinfonia.

For more than two decades, Sanchez has maintained an active career as soloist, collaborative artist and teacher. He has appeared in concerts in the United States, South America, Europe and Asia. Since 2011, he has presented lectures yearly at the Texas Music Teachers Association Convention, and he is a 2011 and 2013 TMTA Collegiate Teacher of Year nominee.

While on the SFA campus, Druhan and Barber will present a master class for SFA clarinetists and bassoonists. Druhan will also present a separate workshop on coping with performance related injuries for all music students. She has suffered from and is undergoing treatment for a serious playing-related injury, which inspired her research into musician injury, prevention and recovery, Ayer said.

Admission to the concert is free. For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Sixty-five Girl Scouts attended an informative and hands-on science, technology, engineering and math day organized by the Stephen F. Austin State University College of Sciences and Mathematics this month.

Begun in 2011, the annual Girl Scout STEM Day is hosted by SFA’s STEM Research and Learning Center. Through hands-on learning discoveries, the event is designed for girls to cultivate an early interest in the STEM fields.

“We had approximately 65 Girl Scouts attending our annual Girl Scout STEM Day, which is an increase from 50 attendees last year,” said Julie Sandifer, the SFA STEM Research and Learning Center K-12 outreach coordinator. “The theme was ‘Science is my Superpower’ and was designed for girls kindergarten through sixth grade.”

Girl Scouts who attended the Saturday afternoon event worked with SFA faculty and staff members to make fossils, learn how to use microscopes and computer coding on iPads, and investigated engineering in science with origami. Participants also examined the golden ratio in nature, investigated the properties of fungi, and explored the world of reptiles, bugs and animals with the interactive Wildlife on the Move presentation by K.C. Rudy, an SFA alumnus and co-owner of Wildlife on the Move, a Dallas-based company that is dedicated to helping children develop an appreciation for nature and fostering a stewardship for Earth’s wildlife.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Human Sciences is hosting a graduate studies open house from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, in the Culinary Café, located on the SFA campus in the Education Annex, Room 121.

This event is open to the public and anyone interested in learning more about the online Master of Science in human sciences and graduate certificate program in hospitality administration. Light refreshments will be served and Dr. Richard Berry, dean of SFA’s Graduate School, will speak at 4 p.m.

Graduate advisers, current graduate students, and faculty and staff members from SFA’s Center for Teaching and Learning will be available to answer questions about graduate programs. Focus areas for the master’s degree include human development and family studies, family and consumer sciences, interior design and interior design-health care.

For more information, contact Dr. Chay Runnels, co-graduate program coordinator in SFA’s School of Human Sciences, at runnelsc@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-2060. Also, more information is available online at www.sfaonline.info/#!humansciences-/c5dk.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s hospitality administration program welcomed approximately 200 high school students to its second Cooking Up Careers event on Friday, April 15.

The event was designed to introduce SFA and the program to high school students who are interested in taking hospitality and culinary courses.

“It was wonderful having more than 200 students on campus to experience our hospitality program firsthand,” said Dr. Chay Runnels, SFA hospitality administration program coordinator and associate professor. “We are one of four hospitality four-year programs in the state, and the only program with a culinary focus. The students who attended were able to learn about career options in the industry and college life at SFA.”

Dr. Judy Abbott, dean of SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education, and Blake Loggins, the Lumberjack mascot, welcomed students before the festivities began. Janet McLeroy, assistant director of admissions, and Brittany Fish, SFA hospitality administration graduate, spoke with the participants.

During the event, students were divided into groups and attended two 45-minute sessions. Industry professionals delivered a session on careers in the hospitality industry and discussed how to make a positive impression during and dress for a job interview. Panel participants were Bric Alverson and Ryan Russell from Aramark; John McLaren, The Fredonia Hotel general manager; Marty Prince, Texas Forest Trail executive director; Jessica Gilligan, sales manager at Courtyard by Marriott in Lufkin; and Claudann Jones, Nacogdoches County AgriLife Extension agent.

Eight SFA seniors also conducted a session and discussed college life at SFA, choosing a major and how to successfully transition from high school to college.

High school teachers in attendance were invited to attend two sessions, which informed them about SFA, how to help their students prepare for college, and new and existing resources available to teachers.

As the sessions were convening, Todd Barrios, chef and clinical instructor at SFA, hosted a Market Basket Challenge with seven culinary teams in the Human Sciences North Building lab. The East Texas Restaurant Association awarded $600 to the top culinary teams. Challenge judges included Roger Lumley, owner of Pappasito’s in Tyler and current president of the East Texas Restaurant Association; Bob Westbrook, retired restaurant owner and past president of the East Texas Restaurant Association; Chef Jack Bretzke, East Texas Chef’s Association member; and Chef Jackson York, chef of Lakeview Methodist Conference Center and Texas Chef’s Association Chef of the Year 2010.

Participating high schools included Carthage, Diboll, Marshall, Hallsville, Beckville, Union Grove, Gilmer, Alba-Golden, Pine Tree, Lufkin, Winona and Nacogdoches.

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts’ Dean’s Circle will bestow the first-ever community-established endowed professorship at SFA when the annual Dean’s Awards are presented at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Dr. Charles R. Gavin, professor of horn and chamber music in the SFA School of Music, is the recipient of the inaugural Dean’s Circle Endowed Professorship award, which was created to recognize and honor those who “embody the qualities of the ideal professor that characterize all College of Fine Arts faculty members,” according to Dr. A.C. “Buddy” Himes, dean of the College of Fine Arts.

“The award symbolizes the esteem in which all fine arts faculty are held as a result of the high level of artistry they bring to SFA, the impact their students have on the community as a result of their dedicated teaching, and the commitment they have to furthering their disciplines nationally,” Himes said. “When this award is presented to an individual, it is done so in recognition and on behalf of all fine arts faculty members.”

Gavin said he felt “truly humbled” to be the first recipient of the endowed professorship.

“All I have to do is walk the halls of the Wright Music Building and see so many colleagues deserving of the award,” Gavin said, “and the same holds true for the faculties of the School of Art and School of Theatre. SFA is fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated faculty in the College of Fine Arts.

“Good students make teachers look good,” he continued, “and I have been so fortunate to have been blessed with terrific students over my entire career. It did not take me long to realize that the best school music education programs are in the state of Texas, so why should I leave this state with such amazing band and orchestra programs.

“The success so many of my students have had and continue to enjoy is the greatest accomplishment of my career,” he said.

Establishing and funding the professorship was “the realization of vision,” Himes said. The Dean’s Circle, which is an external support organization of community members founded in 2008, began raising funds for the endowment principal that same year. With support from the SFA Office of University Advancement, the endowment was finally completed in 2014.

“This endowed professorship is absolutely unprecedented in the College of Fine Arts as its first-ever endowed professorship,” Himes said. “But what really makes it unique is that, while other colleges at SFA already have endowed professorships, this award is the first ever for any college that I know of resulting from the work of an external support advisory board of dedicated community volunteers.”

Broad-based criteria made the award open to faculty of all ranks and of all fine arts disciplines, Himes said. Special emphasis was placed on candidates who demonstrated effectiveness at making their wealth of knowledge accessible to students of all levels; effectiveness in recruiting and retaining quality students; application of the concepts of cooperation, mutual support, teamwork and collaboration; and commitment to the mission of the institution.

The recipient was selected by an objective and distinguished panel consisting of two senior faculty members from each discipline – art, music and theatre – and two Dean’s Circle representatives from the community.

Over the three-year term of the award, the recipient will receive a total of $15,000 above his/her base salary. The award is intended to provide the resources for all manner of professional endeavors in which the recipient may choose to become involved, Himes said.

Gavin said the award allows him to travel to important professional events in his field, such as the annual Symposium of the International Horn Society. It will also fund the purchase of new instruments, such as an alphorn and a natural horn.

The next goal for the Dean’s Circle is to have at least one endowed professorship for each of the college’s disciplines in art, music and theatre. This first professorship was made generic to all disciplines until the other professorships are completed, Himes said.

“This is a source of pride and accomplishment for the Dean’s Circle,” Himes said. “This organization draws people from the community closer to the life of the university, and it enhances the symbiotic relationship between the institution and the community.

“This award can have the effect of enhancing the entire faculty inasmuch as the recipient is a role model for all faculty,” he added. “This award can become a source of inspiration and motivation to which all faculty may aspire.”

Two research projects by students in the Stephen F. Austin State University Department of Psychology won top honors this month during the Southwestern Psychology Association conference in Dallas.

Senior undergraduate Stephen Ratliff won a Psi Chi undergraduate research award for his study on the effect of being the target of envy on satisfaction with success. Graduate students Kyle Ripley, Margaret Hance and Stacey Kerr also won a Psi Chi graduate research award for their research looking at ways to increase reading of consent forms in human subjects research. Both projects were conducted in collaboration with Drs. Lauren Brewer and Kyle Conlon, SFA assistant professors of psychology.

In addition to recognition at the Psi Chi awards ceremony, winners also received a $300 monetary award. Pictured, from left, are Brewer, Ripley, Ratliff, Hance and Conlon. Kerr is not pictured.

SFA Department of Psychology faculty members and students gave a total of seven talks and presented 33 posters during the conference. Student travel to SWPA was supported by SFA Student Affairs, the Department of Psychology and the School of Honors. Faculty member travel was supported by the Department of Psychology and the SFA Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.