Everything Nac

The Orchestra of the Pines at Stephen F. Austin State University will present the program “Stories from Afar” when the ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 25, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The program features music by composers Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. A highlight of the program will be a return performance of guest artist Ning An, assistant professor of piano at California State University, Fullerton, visiting artist at Lee University and celebrated concert pianist who has performed in venues worldwide.

“Our music for this concert conveys stories about Greek mythology, Christian piety and the distant Orient, all while spinning the spotlight on outstanding solos by members of the orchestra and our guest pianist, Ning An,” said Dr. Gene H. Moon, director of orchestras for the SFA School of Music.

The orchestra will perform Wagner’s illustrious overture to the opera “Tannhäuser,” whose stories “speak of a knightly minstrel struggling between the temptations of the flesh and spiritual love,” Moon explained. Graduate student Jeff Leung from Hong Kong will guest conduct.

An will join the orchestra in its performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major.

“An’s last engagement with the SFA orchestra was six years ago in 2010 when he performed Sergei Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto,” Moon said. “It was an evening that has remained memorable for all those who attended and shared the stage with the artist.”

The program concludes with the “sensational storytelling” of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” Op. 35, Moon said.

“‘Scheherazade’ is one of the greatest orchestral works penned and continues to be widely programmed work,” he said. “It is a great undertaking for this orchestra. The last time the Orchestra of the Pines performed ‘Scheherazade,’ the orchestra’s personnel consisted of roughly 20 music students complemented with SFA music faculty and professional musicians from Dallas and Houston. Ten years later, we bring it back but with an orchestra whose personnel consists of all music students studying at SFA. We even have a few alumni returning to join in the festivities. It is really a hallmark moment in the orchestra’s history.”

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.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Steel Band will present a multifaceted program when the band, also known as Jacks of Steel, performs at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 24, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“The concert will consist of a diverse variety of styles, including traditional, contemporary, pop songs and even some ska music,” said Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies for the SFA School of Music.

The Steel Band will perform the fun ’80s tune “Take on Me” by A-Ha! and the Ernies’ “Inspector 8,” which is an energetic ska tune arranged by Brian Nozny. Ska is a modern style of vocalized Jamaican popular music, which emerged in the 1950s as a blend of African-Jamaican folk music, calypso and American rhythm and blues.

The band will get the audience “grooving and moving,” Meyer said, with “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars.

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 visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Meyer described the Steel Band as “one of the most popular and requested ensembles in the School of Music.” With 16 members, the group uses a full set of steel pans, including three leads, two double tenors, two cellos and bass pans as well as a large rhythm section with drumset, electric bass and various Latin percussion. The group performs a wide variety of music, including traditional Caribbean music, pop, rock and Latin.

“The nature of the ensemble allows for student members to develop skills in improvisation and music arranging,” Meyer said.

Membership is open to both music and non-music majors with consent of the instructor. The band is available to perform at private local events. To reserve the group to perform, contact Meyer at meyerbe@sfasu.edu.

Three Stephen F. Austin State University political science students, from left, Parker Lambes, Alec Bartlett and Dawson Dowdy, presented their research on various topics last week during a joint conference with the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor. Dr. Ken Collier, SFA associate professor of political science, right, chaired the panel “Politics, Presidents, and Prices,” which was one of 10 panels hosted throughout the day.

Dr. Nancy Beck Young, a political historian and professor at the University of Houston, served as keynote speaker of the event. She presented research titled “The Lady Bird Special: Race and the 1964 Presidential Election.”

Members of the Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents viewed schematic drawings for a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics facility during the group’s April quarterly meeting and voted to name the facility in honor of long-time SFA benefactors Ed and Gwen Cole.

“The Coles have changed lives at SFA,” said Jill Still, SFA vice president for advancement. “Funding provided by Ed and his late wife, Gwen, supports fine arts, audiology, nursing, student scholarships, faculty development, athletic programs and more. Their generous gifts have impacted student success, which was a passion that they shared.”

A glass atrium planned for the four-story Ed and Gwen Cole STEM Building will highlight the 50-foot dome of a new planetarium, which will seat more than 100 people and provide significant viewing opportunities for SFA students and the public.

Barry Nelson, Board of Regents secretary and chair of the building and grounds committee, said the committee members enjoyed the challenge of working with the architects to develop a design that was unique and impressive while meeting the budgetary requirements of the project.

“The building will have a stunning entryway that will draw people in,” Nelson said. “The facility will define our campus, and it will be a structure that others will come to see when they are planning STEM facilities and even other types of building projects.”

In correlation with current educational trends, the facility will showcase “maker spaces,” which are classrooms and laboratories focused on hands-on learning. Dr. Kimberly Childs, dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics, defined maker spaces as “unscripted labs where students go to invent, imagine and build.”

Dr. Danny Gallant, vice president for finance and administration, said the university is moving forward to the next design phase. Construction is projected to start in November, and the expected completion and move-in date is August 2018.

When the STEM facility is complete, space will become available in other buildings on the campus, particularly the E.L. Miller Science Building. During a special meeting Friday, the board heard presentations from two architectural firms to determine space requirements and develop programming for the science building.

Members approved hiring Facility Programming and Consulting, a company that specializes in space utilization. Facility Programming and Consulting worked with the university on the new STEM building and has completed projects across the nation. The company will identify renovation needs in the Miller Science Building and provide recommendations to ensure the best use of institutional space in the building.

Regents also approved construction of a parking lot adjacent to the parking garage on Feazell Street to replace spaces that will be removed as a result of the STEM facility construction.

SFA’s 2020 master plan addresses the need for additional space for the College of Fine Arts, including the development of a performing arts district. Three architectural firms presented material and ideas concerning this project to the board during Friday’s meeting.

Regents approved the hiring of Houston-based Kirksey Architecture to review the university’s needs, requests and limitations pertaining to the performing arts center. Kirksey Architecture will create “a recipe book for building” the performing arts center through fact-finding, facility tours and research. Kirksey Architecture also played a role in the design of SFA freshman residence hall Lumberjack Landing.

The board approved renovations to the William R. Johnson Coliseum men’s basketball locker room, which includes converting 200 square feet from the shower area to provide more room for team gatherings and meetings.

In other business, regents approved the allocation of scholarship funding to support enrollment in the Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership in the James I. Perkins College of Education. Board members approved a reduced rate for students in the online educational leadership program, which will save each student in the 18-credit hour certificate program more than $2,000, while each student in the 30-credit hour master’s program will save almost $4,000. The rates will allow SFA to remain competitive among peer institutions.

Additionally, regents ratified a five-year agreement with AcademicWorks, a financial software program, to help centralize the scholarship process and make it easier for students to apply and search for scholarships.

Regents approved the fiscal year 2015-16 summer budget and ratified $82,125 additional grant awards allocable to the 2016 fiscal year; the funds are a portion of the $6.7 million in grant funding for the fiscal year.

When the Stephen F. Austin State University Foundation was created 40 years ago, members of the SFA Board of Regents at that time served as foundation board members. On Tuesday, regents honored the current foundation board members and reaffirmed the university’s relationship with the foundation, a non-profit organization that exists to serve and benefit the university.

Regents heard reports from Hilltop Securities, the Faculty Senate, Student Government Association and President Baker Pattillo. Regents received an update on the university’s marketing campaign and new SFA website, and approved the campaign’s budget.

During the Tuesday meeting, the board received a report from the SFA auditor and also approved:

• building and grounds policy, academic and student policy, and financial affairs policy revisions;

• the redistribution of funds from the sale of property donated to the university;

• curriculum and core curriculum revisions;

• an amended agreement with the Educational Advisory Board through June 2021;

• an amendment of SFA’s and Texas A&M University’s investment agreement; and

• increasing Aramark’s financial commitment to the university as it continues to diversify its food service program.

Dr. Steve Bullard was appointed provost and vice president for academic affairs during Stephen F. Austin State University’s Board of Regents meeting Tuesday.

Bullard has served as interim provost since July 2015 and has been dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at SFA since 2009. He also holds the Henry M. Rockwall Chair in forestry. Prior to his employment at SFA, Bullard served as chair of the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky from 2004 to 2009, and as a faculty member and administrator at Mississippi State University from 1983 to 2004.

Bullard received a bachelor’s degree in forestry and a master’s degree in forest management-economics, both from Mississippi State University, as well as a doctoral degree in forest management economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1983.

Dr. Kenneth Farrish, director of the division of environmental science and professor of forestry and environmental science, was officially named the 2016-17 SFA Regents Professor during the board meeting.

Reserved for exemplary role models to the university community, the title of Regents Professor is the highest honor SFA bestows upon faculty members and is held for one academic year.

Farrish joined the SFA faculty in 1996. In 2003, he was named the Arnold Distinguished Professor of Forest Soils and Environmental Science.

Faculty members granted tenure by the board included Luis Aguerrevere, human services; Mary Catherine Breen, secondary education; Andrew Brininstool and Christopher Sams, English; Ellen Caplan, library; Dusty Jenkins and Sarah Savoy, psychology; Leah Kahn and Pamela Vaughn, elementary education; Kelly Noe, accounting; Mark Schaub, economics and finance; and Linda Post, art.

Regents approved the following faculty promotions:

To professor – Mario Ajero and Christina Guenther, music; Kwame Antwi-Boasiako, government; Jeremy Becnel, mathematics and statistics; Linda Bobo, kinesiology; Philip Catton, history; I-Kuai Hung and Matthew McBroom, forestry; Kefa Onchoke, chemistry; Mark Scanlan, economics and finance; Scott Shattuck, theatre; Le’Ann Solmonson, human services; and Chris Talbot, art.

To associate professor – Luis Aguerrevere, human services; Mary Catherine Breen, secondary education; Andrew Brininstool and Christopher Sams, English; Karol Chandler Ezell, anthropology, geography and sociology; Brandon Fox, elementary education; Dusty Jenkins and Sarah Savoy, psychology; Kelly Noe, accounting; and Linda Post, art.

In addition, regents approved the appointment of Eralda Lameborshi as visiting lecturer of English and creative writing.

Regents approved the appointment of Kyle Keller as head men’s basketball coach, as well as Christopher Morriss, coordinator of intramural sports and camps, and Katherine Yandell, Campus Recreation coordinator of aquatics and safety; Elizabeth Chambliss, financial aid officer; Tanh Nguyen, postdoctoral research associate, forestry and agriculture; Aparecida de Fatima Cordeiro Dutra, research associate in the Center for Regional Heritage Research; Amanda Romig, compliance coordinator in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs; Gavin McCarty, post office manager; and Cynthia Haile, director of parking and traffic.

Appointments in the Office of Admissions included Lauren Manzanares, regional coordinator, and Chelsea Pitts, counselor. Changes of status in the office included Ryan Horne, from assistant director to regional coordinator; and Janet McLeroy, from senior admissions counselor to assistant director.

Other status changes included Kristen Smith, from financial aid officer to student loan manager in the Office of Financial Aid; Gary Wurtz, from professor of music to professor and interim director of the School of Music; Katie McClain, from human resources specialist II to human resources representative; Veronica Weaver, from assistant director of orientation to director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs; Randall Scott, from director of Piney Woods Area Health Education Center to manager of transportation and special services; and Laura Turner, from academic adviser in the Nelson Rusche College of Business to academic adviser in the College of Sciences and Mathematics.

Promotions in the Ralph W. Steen Library include Johna Von Behrens to librarian II and Dillon Wackerman to archivist II. Status changes include Hayley Gillen, from program associate in the James I. Perkins College of Education to supervisor, library acquisitions and loans; Barbara Olds, from supervisor of library acquisitions and loans to manager of library e-resources and assessment.

Donald Brent Burt of the Department of Biology was granted faculty development leave for the fall 2016 semester. Faculty development leave for the spring 2017 semester was granted to Philip Catton of the Department of History and James Van Kley of the Department of Biology.

Regents honored three long-term faculty members who have recently retired with the title professor emeritus: Libby Rhodes, kinesiology; Kathleen Belanger, social work and Robert Strader, computer science. Regents also approved the retirements of John Goodall, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts; Rebecca Greer, professor of human sciences; and Mark Turner, assistant professor of music.