Everything Nac

Award-winning horn soloist to perform in Cole Series

Posted on October 8, 2012 by admin

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS – The Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Music and the Cole Performing Arts Series will present “Music for the Horn: Award-winning Horn Soloist Heidi Lucas in Concert” in a guest recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, in Cole Concert on the SFA campus.

Heidi Lucas, professor of horn at the University of Southern Mississippi, will appear in a guest recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10, in Cole Concert Hall as part of the Cole Performing Arts Series of the SFA School of Music.

Lucas, professor of horn at the University of Southern Mississippi, will present a concert of repertoire for horn “that is unique, in that all of the works will be new to the concert stage at SFA,” according to Charles Gavin, professor of horn at SFA.

Gavin will join Lucas to perform a set of songs by Johannes Brahms that has been arranged for two horns and piano.
In addition to her extensive chamber music experience, including residencies and tours throughout New England, England, Brazil and as part of the Brevard College’s Eric Ewazen Residency, Lucas is currently a member of the Southern Arts Brass Quintet and Category Five, the faculty ensembles at USM. She works with the USM horn students in a variety of horn-related courses, including horn pedagogy, horn literature, horn choir, chamber music and horn jazz. She also conducts the USM Brass Ensemble.

Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. For tickets or more information, call (936) 468-6407.

Posted in All SFA, Events, SFA News | Leave a comment

SFA’s DeWitt School of Nursing recognized for excellence

Posted on October 8, 2012 by admin

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Richard and Lucille DeWitt School of Nursing at Stephen F. Austin State University has been recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as a Program of Excellence in Nursing Education.

DeWitt School of Nursing clinical instructor Laura Logan, left, consults with Shelby Mitchell, an SFA senior nursing student from Shepherd, in the Ed and Gwen Cole Simulation Lab. The DeWitt School of Nursing has been recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board as a Program of Excellence in Nursing Education.

The board recognizes nursing programs that achieve a graduation rate of 85 percent or higher, along with at least an 85-percent passing rate on the licensure test for registered nurses. The Dewitt School of Nursing is one of only 18 of the 90 nursing schools in Texas to meet the graduation benchmark, most recently reporting an 88-percent graduation rate and a 93-percent passing rate on the licensure exam.

Enrollment in the nursing school is on the rise. More than 250 nursing students currently are enrolled in the SFA program, along with more than 1,050 pre-nursing students.

Dr. Glenda Walker, director of the DeWitt School of Nursing, attributes the increase in applications and pre-nursing majors to statewide recognition of the nursing program for its excellence in curriculum, facilities and faculty.

“The nursing program has always excelled in committed, dedicated faculty who use state-of-the-art teaching strategies to produce graduates that are recognized as exceptional nurses,” Walker said. “With the addition of a new facility in 2010, the nursing school now has a facility that also is recognized as a national leader in simulation as a teaching/learning strategy for students.”

The Ed and Gwen Cole Simulation Lab has been named a Laerdal Center of Excellence, and more 16,000 hours of simulation clinical experiences are conducted in the facility each year.