Everything Nac

Four Stephen F. Austin State University students in the Rusche College of Business’ Career Success Passport program were each awarded $2,500 in scholarship funds as the top point earners. A total of $50,000 in scholarships is awarded to business students in the program each year.

During the semester, students compete for scholarship points by attending workshops and completing professional development activities, such as mock interviews and résumé critiques.

Pictured, from left, senior Kayla Benefield, human resources management major from Rowlett; junior Jose Gamez, accounting major from Houston; sophomore Stephanie Velez, sports business major from Houston; and freshman Aiyana Johnson, general business major from Kansas City, Missouri.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

More than 1,500 candidates will cross the stage during Stephen F. Austin State University commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18, in Johnson Coliseum.

Steve Stagner, a 1991 SFA alumnus and former Mattress Firm CEO, will deliver the commencement address.

Just five years after his SFA graduation, Stagner became a Mattress Firm franchise owner. He eventually became the chief executive of the company, the nation’s largest mattress retailer, overseeing strategic planning as well as core functions such as sales, marketing, merchandising, finance and operations.

Stagner manages a number of private investments and serves as director of SFA’s Rusche College of Business Advisory Council. He serves on the advisory board for the Translational Genomics Research Institute, a non-profit medical research institute dedicated to unraveling the genetic components of both common and complex diseases.

Candidates from SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education and the College of Fine Arts will participate in a 9:30 a.m. ceremony. Candidates from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, the Rusche College of Business, the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, and the College of Sciences and Mathematics will participate in a 2 p.m. ceremony.

Degrees to be awarded include 1,178 bachelor’s, 318 master’s and nine doctoral degrees. Approximately 370 students will graduate with honors, including 139 cum laude, 120 magna cum laude and 111 summa cum laude. Eighty-one students will graduate with the university scholar designation.

Special guests expected to attend the afternoon ceremony include Ed Cole of Nacogdoches, who will be awarded an honorary doctoral degree, and former SFA president William R. Johnson, who will confer a diploma to his grandson, Taylor Ash.

To view the ceremony online, visit the SFA Facebook page, www.facebook.com/sfasu.

Stephen F. Austin State University students in the community responsiveness and engaged advocacy in teacher education program recently celebrated the program’s first year by hosting a meet and greet with community partners and students.

Continuing its theme of collaboration with various departments and organizations, C.R.E.A.T.E. program participants partnered with students in a management in meal production course in the School of Human Sciences to serve food and beverages during the celebration.

The C.R.E.A.T.E. program is designed to provide a meaningful connection among SFA students who are teacher candidates, the community, school districts, and students and their families. It serves as a collaborative effort between the elementary education and secondary education departments.

During the fall and spring semesters, the 21 students in the first program cohort worked with the Nacogdoches Independent School District and community organizations to restore Zion Baptist Church and at the Nacogdoches Public Library.

“The program is life changing. We’ve been challenged in a lot of ways I feel like wouldn’t have happened in a normal education track,” said senior elementary education major Caitlyn Denning. “Instead of doing all of our field hours in a school, we went into the community to do volunteer work and visited with mentor families. We were able to be a presence in the community and make connections between the district and community.”

Unlike typical education tracks, students spend a full year in the same school district and classroom for their clinical teaching.

“Students who have chosen C.R.E.A.T.E. have the opportunity to see a school from the day it opens until the day it closes for summer. That’s something they are choosing to commit to along with community hours,” said Dr. Lauren Burrow, assistant professor of elementary education.

Because of the collaboration between elementary and secondary education, SFA students experience vertical alignment, meaning they receive a well-rounded understanding of a child’s education and development through elementary, middle and high school.

The program will continue in the fall semester. Students interested in joining can email Burrow at burrowle@sfasu.edu.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.