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.
