The first meeting of the Faculty Senate for the 2019-20 academic year is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the Forestry Building, Room 117. Please take note of the new location.

Attend in person, or view the meeting live online.

Dr. Steve Westbrook, interim president or Dr. Scott Gordon, president is expected to provide an update. Dr. Steve Bullard, provost and vice president for academic affairs, also is expected to present.

The senate will hold a special election to fill a vacancy from the James I. Perkins College of Education.

Proposals to amend the constitution relating to nontenure track faculty members will be discussed. The following considerations are at the center of this effort:

• Changing the word ‘adjunct’ to ‘nontenure track’ in all instances in section 6 of the constitution. Given that nontenure track faculty members represent approximately 47% of faculty members at SFA, are two seats sufficient?

• Should the election procedures for nontenure track faculty member representatives be revised to three-year terms, the same as all other senators?

For more information, contact your senator or Jeremy Stovall, senate chair, at stovalljp@sfasu.edu. To view the senator list, click here.

SFA faculty members and professional advisors are invited to the Professional Academic Advisors Council meeting from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the Steen Library Wyatt Room.

If you’d like to be included in the PAAC email list, contact Raquel Skidmore at skidmorerr@sfasu.edu.

SFA alumnus George Bedar, chief information officer for LA Fitness International, will share practical lessons learned working in the STEM industry at 1:30 p.m.Sept. 20 in the Cole STEM Building, Room 401.

Bedar will describe many personal experiences and observations he has made during the course of his career.

“The goal of the presentation is to encourage the audience to consider these lessons now and in the future to help them apply them in their own way to be better leaders,” Bedar said.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Area elementary students explored fire trucks and ambulances, interacted with snakes and tarantulas, and built gliders out of straws and notecards during SFA’s Little STEM Jacks.

Hosted by the STEM Research and Learning Center, the program provided an immersive learning experience for students entering kindergarten through fifth grade. Students rotated between classrooms, learning physics, biology and nursing concepts.

“With its hands-on learning approach, each student who attends Little STEM Jacks is able to interact with STEM professionals to learn more about different disciplines within STEM and potential career options,” said Adrienne Aul, STEM Research and Learning Center programs coordinator.

To learn more about the STEM Research and Learning Center, visit sfasu.edu/stem.

A meeting is scheduled to discuss the possibility of creating an organization for women faculty members that would advocate for women's professional career advancement and well-being.

The meeting will include discussion concerning whether or not such an organization is needed, what form(s) the organization might take, the purposes of the organization and how to go about establishing it.

A meeting is scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. tomorrow and from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the Steen Library, Room 220 A.

To ask questions, or if you cannot attend a meeting, but are interested, email Dr. Heather Olson Beal at olsonbehk@sfasu.edu.

Nicaraguan folk singer and artist Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy will present a book of art presses, the product of a collaboration among SFA Spanish students, Juan Carlos Ureña, Charles D. Jones and the LaNana Creek Press. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. tomorrow at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Mejía Godoy will talk about the collaboration on this project and perform songs. He also will present a music concert with his trio at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the Cole Concert Hall.

The free events are sponsored by the Department of Languages, Cultures and Communication International Art Series.

Football:

SFA - 26 vs. Tarleton State University - 37

Soccer:

SFA - 1 vs. The University of Texas at Austin - 1

SFA - 4 vs. Texas Southern University - 0

Volleyball:

SFA - 3 vs. Texas Tech University - 0

SFA - 3 vs. Austin Peay State University - 0

SFA - 3 vs. Northwestern University - 1

SFA’s Friends of Music Concert Series will present guest artist Dennis Jesse performing a voice recital at 7:30 p.m.tonight in Cole Concert Hall. Jesse will be accompanied by Dr. Ron Petti, professor and director of collaborative piano for SFA’s School of Music.

Jesse, who is now associate professor of voice at Louisiana State University, and Petti were classmates in the opera program at Bowling Green State University in the early 1990s. Jesse sang the well-known aria “Largo al factotum” from Gioachino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” on Petti’s master’s degree recital.

Jesse and Petti will perform a recital of treasured songs and arias by Johannes Brahms, Henri Duparc, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Georges Bizet, Samuel Barber and Giuseppe Verdi.

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 finearts.sfasu.edu.

Italian startup Beeing’s modern beehive design is creating a buzz.

Its B-box not only makes beekeeping easy, but it allows people to reap the sweet benefits of keeping bees, while simultaneously helping the ecosystem.

To read more, click here.