Join President Neal Weaver in one of the following town hall meetings to discuss SFA's strategic plan. Both meetings will be held in the Baker Pattillo Student Center, Tiered Meeting Room 2.201, and via Zoom.

3:30 p.m. today

Join Zoom meeting.

Meeting ID: 973 8767 2111

Passcode: 968964

11 a.m. tomorrow

Join Zoom meeting.

Meeting ID: 988 9526 9113

Passcode: 261070

SFA’s new digital purchasing platform, JacksBuy, is now available. The platform brings purchasing, receiving, invoicing and contracting together in one streamlined system. All employees can shop from preapproved catalogs directly in JacksBuy.

What’s new?

• Purchasing now happens in JacksBuy, not Banner.

• Contract summary forms are completed in the platform.

• Catalog and noncatalog shopping options are available.

• Approval tracking offers real-time visibility.

Requisitions or purchase orders entered prior to March 17 will continue to be approved, processed and received in Banner.

Guides for navigating the new platform, including articles and videos, are available in the JacksBuy Knowledge Base. You can post questions for direct answers and review FAQs on the finance questions site. For more information, email JacksBuy@sfasu.edu.

The 2026 Faculty Awards ceremony will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 14 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

The annual event recognizes faculty members who are completing 10, 20, 30 or 40 years of service at SFA, as well as faculty members who have announced their retirement. It also recognizes teaching, scholarly and service excellence award recipients, as well as SFASU Foundation award recipients.

Formal invitations will be sent later this month.

To view the service and retirement honorees, see this list. If there are any errors or omissions, email Megan Weatherly at msweatherly@sfasu.edu.

The 2026 Staff Service Awards ceremony will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. April 22 in the Cole STEM Building Atrium.

Staff Council will be honoring years of service, retirees and President’s Achievement Award recipients.

Rick Buckland from Corebridge Financial Retirement Services will be on campus April 7, May 6 and June 3 to assist with questions like the following:

• How do Teachers Retirement System retirement benefits work?

• How do I enroll to save more for retirement?

• Should I increase my contributions?

• What is a 403(b) and why do I need one?

• How do I calculate my contributions to meet my retirement income goals?

• How do I learn more about TRS and why should I save more for retirement?

• What is the optional retirement plan?

• If I plan to retire soon, how do I get help navigating that process?

To schedule your appointment, visit the Corebridge Financial website.

The Office of Strategic Analytics and Institutional Research encourages faculty and staff to remind students about the 2026 National Survey of Student Engagement, which launched yesterday.

If you teach seniors or first-year students, note that the 15 minutes they take to complete the NSSE can make a big impact on the future of SFA.

The first 400 students to complete the survey will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. Prizes will be distributed weekly until all 400 gift cards are claimed.

Students should check their SFA email for the link to the survey and their chance to improve SFA.

Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to the Office of International Programs’ global gateway presentation on the United Kingdom at 3:30 p.m. today in Steen Library, Room 103. The event will include a presentation led by an SFA international student from the U.K. who will introduce attendees to their country, traditions and lifestyle.

For more information, contact Enrique Venegas at enrique.venegas@sfasu.edu or ext. 6604.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will interview acclaimed actor and Texas native Dennis Quaid for the fifth installment of SFA's Nelson Rusche Distinguished Lecture Series at 7:30 p.m. April 9 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom on campus. The event, sponsored by SFA’s Rusche College of Business, is free and open to the public. Tickets are required for entry.

The Center for Teaching and Learning invites you to their spring lineup of sessions focused on accessibility and artificial intelligence. You can register for these via NEOED Learn under “Training” in mySFA.

2 to 3 p.m. today, livestreamed: Laura Osborne presents “Brightspace Media Library: Tips and Tricks.” Learn how to upload and record audio and video files in your media library; how to upload, generate and edit closed captions for accessibility; how to create chapters; tips for using the embedded media player; and ideas for how and where media library files can be used in your courses.

1 to 2 p.m. March 24, livestreamed: Emily Dodson hosts “Using AI as an Accessibility Assistant" (rescheduled from March 3). Discover how AI can help with accessibility without changing your pedagogy. Explore captions, alt text, summaries and clarity, and discuss how inclusive design improves engagement and student success for all students.

1 to 2 p.m. March 27, livestreamed: Join Javier Vega for his presentation “Teaching Tips: Making Course Materials Accessible” to learn practical techniques for maximizing accessibility in course design within your D2L shell, regardless of the modality of the course itself. Also hear some quick and effective strategies to ensure learning materials can be accessed by students with a variety of learning needs.

1 to 2 p.m. March 31, livestreamed: Theunis Oliphant presents “AI Assignments for the Classroom.” Explore actionable strategies for designing engaging, future-oriented assignments that leverage AI tools ethically and effectively, focusing on critical thinking and complex problem-solving rather than rote prohibition. By sharing examples and concrete ideas, this session aims to increase comfort levels and provide the tools necessary to prepare students for an AI-driven world.

Applications for the 2026 Open Educational Resources Advancement Awards are due tomorrow. The awards support instructors with adopting and adapting OER into a course or with exploring OER within a particular discipline.

To apply, visit the application page. For more information, contact CTL's Cynthia Kilpatrick at cynthia.kilpatrick@sfasu.edu or Steen Library's Jonathan Helmke at helmkej@sfasu.edu.

SFA and SFA Gardens are hosting the annual Royal Tea Party Saturday, March 21, in the backyard of the Tucker House in the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St.

This year’s event, sponsored by the Nacogdoches Junior Forum, is centered around the theme “Forest Friends and Fairy Godmothers.” Children and their accompanying adult(s) are invited to step into the woodland where tiny friends gather and fairy magic fills the air. Attendees will sip tea, eat lunch, sprinkle fairy dust, make crafts, interact with live butterflies and watch dancers from the Gobel School of Dance.

Two party sessions are available, 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased online from the SFA Gardens store.

Join SFA Gardens for its second annual Early Edible Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to noon March 28. This sale features a selection of vegetable and herb plants, including several great varieties of tomatoes and peppers. Limited parking will be available at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center or at Raguet Elementary School.

This Early Edible Plant Sale is not to be confused with the annual Spring Garden Gala Day Plant Sale scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 11 that features ornamental plants.

Proceeds from the plant sales support the planting and maintenance of the gardens under SFA Gardens' care, as well as the educational programs offered by SFA Gardens.

For more information, call ext. 4404 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

SFA students, staff, faculty and alumni along with anyone who supports SFA can join the SFA section at SFA Night at the Nacogdoches County Pro Rodeo March 26. Don't forget to wear purple and white!

President Neal Weaver and First Lady Kristi Weaver will be in attendance. Also, the SFA ROTC will present the colors, and an SFA student will sing the national anthem.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the rodeo starts at 7:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets through the rodeo website.

Calderon-Gutierrez participated in the annual National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's dive safety training exercise for the NOAA-Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This year, the training was conducted at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory with two Japanese astronauts who were training for space walks.

Calderon-Gutierrez and his students dive in caves as part of their research. He plans to teach a scientific diving course soon.