Scanlan was recently featured in an online column on MoneyGeek.com.

In the article, Scanlan provides expert advice on how individuals can safely navigate and purchase auto insurance online.

To read the article, click here.

Creech, professor emeritus of agriculture and director of SFA Gardens, received the Southern Region of the International Plant Propagators’ Society Fellow Award during a virtual conference in October.

The award honors individuals for ongoing contributions to the nursery industry and plant propagation in the Southern region.

Creech has been a member of the International Plant Propagators’ Society for more than 30 years and previously received the Sidney B. Meadows Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the organization.

“While I’m a member of several societies, there is no doubt the International Plant Propagators’ Society is my favorite, simply because it is a blend of academics and industry,” Creech said.

Verhines, director of the SFA Press and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of English and Creative Writing, received the 2020 Mildred Bennett Award, which is given annually to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the fostering of Nebraska's literary tradition.

According to the Nebraska Center for the Book and the Nebraska Library Commission, which bestows the award, “its purpose is to remind us all of the literary and intellectual traditions that enrich our lives and mold our world.”

Verhines’s recognition puts her in the company of such individuals as Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner; William Kloefkorn, late State Poet of Nebraska; Helen Stauffer, the foremost scholar on Mari Sandoz; and Susan Rosowski, the foremost scholar on Willa Cather, among many others.

Sanders won the Poetry Honor from the 2020 Nebraska Book Award for his collection of poems "In a Good Time," published by Wayne State College Press in 2019.

This is Sanders' fourth Nebraska Book Award in a five-year period. His collection of poems titled "Landscapes with Horses," illustrated by Charles D. Jones, won the 2019 Poetry Honor and the 2019 Western Heritage Award. Other Nebraska Book Awards include "The Weight of the Weather: Regarding the Poetry of Ted Kooser" in the 2018 biography category, and "A Sandhills Reader: Thirty Years of Great Writing from the Great Plains" in the 2016 anthology category.

SFA's horticulture program will host an annual fall plant sale from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at the SFA Plantery, located at 1924 Wilson Drive.

Plants available for purchase include a variety of winter annuals, such as pansies, violas, wallflowers, sweet alyssum and snapdragons. All plants are winter hardy and grow well in East Texas. Plants are $2 per pot or $32 for a tray of 18 plants.

“The students are so excited to sell great plants to our community,” said Dr. Jared Barnes, associate professor of horticulture and steward of the Plantery. “More and more research has shown that people have turned to gardening this year to relieve stress and anxiety, and we are happy to provide plants that enrich people’s lives.”

The plant sale will be held outdoors and follow university protocols for physical distancing and safety. All attendees must wear masks and are encouraged to bring exact change or a check.

Attendees also may opt for in-car pick up. Those who wish to do so are encouraged to email the Plantery for a list of available plants. Pick-up orders will be accepted until 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.

For more information, contact Barnes at sfahorticulture@gmail.com. To learn more about SFA’s horticulture program, visit the Plantery website, and follow @sfahorticulture on Instagram.

SFA's Office of Student Engagement Programs and the Center for Career and Professional Development will host the 2020 Spark Leadership Conference from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, through Zoom.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to inform students about the event, especially those who may be interested in identifying their leadership style and learning about marketable skills used in a job search. Event registration can be accessed here. Faculty members who would like to keep track of student attendance may email rosters to derouenb@sfasu.edu.

For more information, contact Brandi Derouen, CCPD assistant director, at derouenb@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-3305.

SFA’s Academic Assistance and Resource Center would like faculty members to be aware of the following free virtual workshop and encourage their students to attend.

The workshop “Cite it! MLA and APA Citations” will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8. The session will review the basics of MLA and APA citations to help participants avoid plagiarism.

For more information, visit the AARC's Faculty Resources page. Email any questions to winfieldkl@sfasu.edu.

SFA's Office of Research and Graduate Studies is asking faculty and staff to encourage graduate students to participate in the 2021 Graduate Research Conference. The event allows graduate students to present their research and creative activities in a professional, virtual format.

The conference will be held April 13 via Zoom with a submission deadline of Feb. 26. The submission form and details may be found on the conference website under the "Apply to GRC" heading.

Two $300 awards will be given — one for top paper and the other for top poster.

Registration for spring 2021 at SFA will begin Monday, Nov. 9, as campus faculty, staff and administrators gear up to offer another safe and highly flexible academic semester.

The spring 2021 semester at SFA is expected to operate much like fall 2020, according to Dr. Scott Gordon, SFA president.

“If we continue to do the right things, we will be able to operate as close to normal as possible in the spring,” he said. “Our campus community has been very resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can’t let our guard down now. We will need to continue to pay attention to the three Ws — watching our distance, wearing our masks and washing our hands."

Safety measures implemented in the fall that will continue in the spring include:

• regular sanitizing of high-touch-point areas in all campus buildings

• reduced seating capacity in classrooms to help ensure proper physical distancing based on the room’s square footage

• available use of hand-sanitizing stations in buildings across campus

• touchless service in all dining halls

• and physically distanced workout equipment in the Student Recreation Center to help ensure Lumberjacks continue to have an outlet for mental and physical health.

For more information, visit our Spring 2021 Guide at sfasu.edu/spring2021.

SFA’s Percussion Ensemble will perform works by Nathan Daughtrey, Francisco Perez, Rüdiger Pawassar and other noted composers in a virtual concert at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6.

Directed by Dr. Brad Meyer, associate professor of percussion at SFA, the ensemble will perform Daughtrey’s “Shock Factor;” Perez’s “Nalu;” and “Study in 5/8” by Mitchell Peters, among others.

To access the live concert free of charge, click here. For more information, contact the School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

With Halloween now behind us, it's time to look at some of the best costumes 2020 had to offer.

We're not talking about any old boring human costume list, though. We're doubling the cuteness with this digital parade of pet costumes.

To view the fashionable floofers, click here.