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The Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business recently secured a corporate partnership with Mustang Machinery Company, Ltd., a company that sells and rents construction equipment and engines and operates under the name Mustang Cat.

The partnership allows Mustang Cat the opportunity for exclusive access to branding and recruiting possibilities within the College of Business. It also provides students within the college a platform to increase their network while pursuing job and internship opportunities. Details of the partnership include corporate branding, signage, class visits, student prospecting for jobs and internships, and more. Dr. Timothy Bisping, dean of the College of Business, said partnerships like the one with Mustang Cat provide another avenue for students to succeed.

“Partnering with Mustang Cat allows more opportunities for our students to expand their professional skills and explore career options,” Bisping said. “Our goal is to provide a real-world business environment for our students, grow programs, and continue to offer as many opportunities for our students as possible. Corporate partnerships, like the one we have with Mustang Cat, allow us to do this.”

Austin Propes, parts manager of Mustang Cat, feels confident in the partnership.

“Mustang Cat employs many talented alumni from SFA and being involved with the university helps with our ongoing recruiting efforts,” Propes said. “As a family owned local company, supporting a local university like SFA is something Mustang Cat is happy to do and very proud of.”

Mustang Cat joins Hajoca, Kohl’s and Fastenal on the list of College of Business corporate partners. For more information, contact Bisping at (936) 468-3101 or bispingto@sfasu.edu.

By Richard Massey, marketing communications specialist at Stephen. F. Austin State University.

Winners of Stephen F. Austin State University’s 2020 Graduate Research Conference were recently announced after organizers restructured the annual event as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

“COVID-19 brought an immediate halt to our university’s classes on campus as well as all events, including our annual Graduate Research Conference,” said Dr. Pauline Sampson, dean of the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. “Our great committee jumped into action to change the format from a face-to-face to virtual conference.

“Because one of the conference’s main purposes is to prepare graduate students to present at other professional conferences after they graduate, we did not want them to lose the chance to showcase their work and also be able to include it on their résumés.”

Nineteen research posters and 15 research papers were selected for virtual presentation. They were chosen by members of the Graduate Research Committee, which comprised Dr. Sarah Savoy, associate professor of psychology; Dr. Linda Levitt, professor of communication; Dr. Perky Beisel, professor of history; Dr. Frantisek Majs, assistant professor of agriculture; Dr. Todd Whitehead, associate professor of kinesiology and health science; Dr. Alexandra Van Kley, professor of biology; Amanda Breitbach, assistant professor or art; Dr. Robyn Whitehead, assistant professor of kinesiology and health science; Dr. Leslie Cecil, professor of anthropology; Brooke Ashley, graduate student representative; and Sampson.

Best Poster was awarded to Liam Wolff for his research titled “Assessing Occupancy and Detection of Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) in East Texas.” Wolff is a graduate student in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, and his advisor is Dr. Christopher M. Schalk, assistant professor of forestry.

Best Paper was awarded to Sarah Whitfield for her research titled “Synthesis and Characterization of CO Releasing Bipyridine Palladium Flavonolate Complexes: Potential Anticancer Agents.” She was a graduate student in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, and Dr. Xiaozhen Han, assistant professor of chemistry, was her advisor.

By Christine Broussard, editorial marketing communications coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University.

A Stephen F. Austin State University art student and a recipient of the Ed and Gwen Cole Dean’s Award in Art has been accepted into a highly competitive Master of Fine Arts program at Texas Tech University, where she has also been awarded several scholarships.

Madeline Castillo, art major from League City who recently earned a B.F.A. with a concentration in metals-jewelry and a second concentration in sculpture, will pursue an M.F.A. in metalsmithing with a second emphasis in sculpture at Texas Tech, from which she received the Diversity Graduate Recruitment Fellowship, Helen Jones Foundation Scholarship, TTU School of Art scholarship and a teaching assistantship.

“I am extremely excited and grateful to have received such a great scholarship from TTU,” Castillo said.

“Madeline was our top candidate in jewelry design and metalsmithing at Texas Tech University,” said Robly A. Glover, professor of jewelry design and metalsmithing at TTU. “Based on her portfolio and interview, we were able to put together a significant fellowship and assistantship package of support for her.”

Through the TTU Graduate School, Castillo was one of the first students to receive a travel and research scholarship, Glover added. “This will help Madeline expand her research efforts and support her development of a nationally competitive M.F.A. portfolio,” he said. “Madeline is an intelligent and personable student who impressed everyone who met her. We look forward to working with her in the fall of 2020.”

Castillo said her time studying art at SFA helped prepare her for this next chapter of her education.

“I am immensely grateful to the wonderful professors at SFA,” she said. “Their guidance, patience and enthusiasm for teaching have allowed me to develop the skills I need to feel confident as an artist going forward after graduation. The bonds I made with my mentors and peers led me to grow, not just as an artist, but as a person. I want to thank my professors at SFA for all that they have done for me. Their constant support and belief in me always inspired me to do my best. I will always remember their lessons and continue doing my very best at TTU.”

In the future, Castillo hopes to apply to artist residencies to further develop her concepts and learn from new environments.

“Ultimately, I want to be in a position where I can teach others,” she said.