The SFA Today faculty and staff newsletter will try out new looks over the next few weeks to improve readability and ease of use to maximize reach and engagement. Watch for the following:

Today-Oct. 26 — Editions during this time will include linked headlines at the top for the main SFA Today sections only, for example, “Accomplishments” and “News and Announcements.”

Oct. 31-Nov. 9 — Editions during this period will revert back to the old-school SFA Today design with all the article headlines listed and linked at the top of the newsletter. You’ll be able to skip down to the articles you’d like to read.

We’ll run a link to an anonymous survey in the Nov. 14 and 16 editions of SFA Today so you can tell us what you like and don't like. Thanks for your help with making SFA Today a useful communication tool for our faculty and staff.

The Department of Kinesiology and Health Science will host an open house for the graduate athletic training program from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. today in the Norton HPE Complex, Room 203. Light snacks will be provided and guests will have the opportunity to explore resources for graduate athletic training students such as the anatomage clinical table for gross anatomy and high fidelity simulation labs.

For the first time in its 40 years, the largest annual event focused on the civic engagement of college students will take place in Texas, and SFA is hosting it.

Scheduled for Feb. 22-23 the IMPACT conference will seek to strengthen student involvement in community service, service learning, community-based research, advocacy and social justice. According to its website, IMPACT works to broaden student experiences and expertise by connecting them with administrators, faculty, AmeriCorps members and nonprofit professionals to learn and share effective practices.

As part of its host duties, SFA is seeking workshop proposals for the event with a deadline of Oct. 23. Organizers are also looking for local sponsors for the event.

The Center for Career and Professional Development is hosting an all majors career fair 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom. The all majors career fair is free and open to all students and alumni seeking to network with recruiters looking to hire for internships and full-time job opportunities. Faculty and staff are encouraged to inform students about the event. For more information, visit the CCPD website or contact the CCPD at ccpd@sfasu.edu.

The Professional Academic Advising Council has established the PAAC Executive Committee to provide feedback and input regarding advising administrative decisions, policy and procedures as well as work on initiatives to improve the advising community at SFA. Approved by the provost, the committee will be an extension of PAAC with advising representation from each college and the Student Success Center.

The committee has selected Kara Predmore, academic advisor in the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, to serve as its chair. In this new role, Predmore will facilitate the PAAC meetings and serve as the primary contact for the council.

If you wish to add items to meeting agendas, contact Predmore at kara.predmore@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-1062.

PAAC meetings are held at 2 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month in the Wyatt Room of the Steen Library. Those who prefer to attend virtually can join the meetings via Zoom. To learn more, visit the Academic Affairs Committees webpage.

Join their Zoom meeting via this link, with meeting ID: 923 8732 8316 and passcode: 035558.

The SFA Languages, Cultures, and Philosophy International Arts Series will present a concert of Latin American string instruments and vocal harmonies by two Colombian women, Katie James and Karin Stein.

The free and open-to-the-public concert is at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 in Dugas Liberal Arts North, Room 142. Designed for all ages and cultures, the concert will be filled with rich harmonies and string sounds, as James and Stein blend their sound with uncanny vocal and instrumental affinity.

To celebrate with current students and past alumni returning for the Homecoming weekend, the construction management program will host an open house for its new laboratory facility from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 at 514 E. Austin St.

Since beginning in 2019, SFA’s Bachelor of Science in construction management program has seen exceptional progress, having tripled its enrollment in the last four years. It has additionally formed partnerships with industry professionals and has partnered with local entities to offer such service projects as the construction of tiny homes at Village Nac, a community for those battling homelessness and chronic mental health issues.

Friday, Oct. 20

• “Back in Nac” Social, 4 to 7 p.m., The Fredonia Hotel’s Nine Flags Bar

• Bonfire and Drone Show, 8 p.m., Intramural Fields

• Concert featuring Pat Green and Hailey Whitters, 9 p.m., Intramural Fields

Saturday, Oct. 21

• Flap “Jack” Breakfast, 7:30 to 10 a.m., The Fredonia Hotel’s Convention Center

• Homecoming parade, 10 a.m., downtown Nacogdoches

• Alumni Corner and Fall Festival, 1 to 4 p.m., corner of Raguet and Hayter streets

• Football game, 4 p.m., Homer Bryce Stadium

Sunday, Oct. 22

• Alumni brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., The Fredonia Hotel’s 1st City Café

Every fall semester, Campus Recreation hosts a 5K race during Homecoming week with a route that winds through campus and includes a combination of road and paved trails. This race is the main source of fundraising for the Dr. Raymond Lee Worsham Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to current Campus Rec student employees.

The timed 5K will begin at 5:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, at the Alumni Drive roundabout. Participants who register will receive a T-shirt, and top category winners will receive medals. Participants in the mile option, which will not be timed, can purchase a T-shirt if they wish.

The virtual runner option allows participants to show support for SFA and the Worsham scholarship even if they can’t attend the event in Nacogdoches. They receive their T-shirts in the mail and complete their 5Ks wherever they are during Homecoming week.

To register for the 5K, visit the event's webpage. Those wishing to volunteer should fill out the volunteer form.

Football

SFA - 21 vs. University of Central Arkansas - 24

Bowling

SFA placed sixth out of sixteen teams in the Colonial Lanes Classic in Harahan, Louisiana.

Soccer

SFA - 1 vs. California Baptist University - 4

SFA - 0 vs. Grand Canyon University - 8

Volleyball

SFA - 3 vs. Tarleton State University - 0

SFA - 3 vs. Abilene Christian University - 0

To view more SFA Athletics news and a schedule of upcoming events, visit sfajacks.com.

Numerous SFA administrators attended the University Series’ Ruthie Foster concert, the first event of the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts’ Centennial Season and the first University Series performance since 2019-20 when the pandemic, followed by three years of Griffith Fine Arts Building construction, halted the series. Welcoming singer-songwriter Foster to the university campus are SFA Interim President Gina Oglesbee, right, and Dr. Gary Wurtz, dean of the Elliott College of Fine Arts.

Dr. Christina Guenther, professor of flute, will join music faculty colleagues in presenting the concert “Controversy and Hope: Music for Flute and …” at 6 p.m. tomorrow, in Cole Concert Hall.

Performing with Guenther will be Dr. Brad Meyer, percussion; Dr. Deb Scott, trombone; Dr. Samantha Inman, flute; and Davidson Reyes, piano.

Works by Gareth Farr, Zachery S. Meier, Angela Oh, Gary Schocker and Valerie Coleman will be performed.

The Kantorei Choir and Singin’ Axes at SFA will present the program “Let Me Listen” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, in Cole Concert Hall.

“Let Me Listen” is the title of one of the Kantorei Choir’s selections written by American composer Dan Forrest with poetry by Charles Anthony Silvestri, according to Dr. Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities at SFA and the choirs’ director.

Refined, a biennial exhibition of contemporary jewelry and metalwork hosted by the jewelry and metalworking program in the School of Art, will open with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Reavley Gallery at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

The juror for the Refined Art Metals/Jewelry Competition and Exhibition is Frankie Flood, a professor and area head of the metalsmithing and jewelry design area at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. Flood will give a brief introduction at 5:15 p.m. prior to the reception.

The Chamber Singers at SFA have rescheduled their concert “Ode to Music” to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Cole Concert Hall.

It was originally scheduled for Oct. 15 but had to be canceled due to performer illness.

The concert will showcase the graduate conducting studio and includes student conductors Joe Alvear of Brownsville, Tate Ashby of Lufkin, Katie Bulen of San Antonio, Desteni Granston of Cypress and Ryan Herriage of Sulphur Springs. Piano collaborator is Jina Jeong.

The Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band will perform “The Music of Omar Thomas,” part of a two-concert series featuring the music of lauded composer in residence Omar Thomas, assistant professor of composition and jazz studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building.

Dr. Misha Galaganov, professor of viola and chair of strings at Texas Christian University, will perform the Telemann Fantasies for Viola da Gamba in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in the Music Recital Hall, Wright Music Building.

The School of Music will present Cello Day Sunday, Oct. 29.

The day’s activities will feature cellist Angelika Machnik-Jones, founder and director of the Oklahoma Conservatory of Music, presenting a lecture, master class and concert.

Another first will take place in the Flex Theatre Nov. 2 through 5 when the musical “Once Upon a Mattress” is presented in the new intimate space.

The School of Theatre and Dance and the School of Music will combine their talents to present Concord Theatricals’ musical version of “The Princess and the Pea” in this Mainstage Series event. With music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barer, “Once Upon a Mattress” is the first large-scale musical SFA has produced since before the Covid pandemic, according to Angela Bacarisse, professor of theatre and the show’s director.

Ten-month-old Madison Mendoza is the newest Gerber Baby. To celebrate the nearly 100 years since Gerber was founded, judges asked parents to submit a photo of themselves when they were babies. Judges say the similarities between Maddie and her mom “brought a smile" to their faces.

Read more at simplemost.com.