SFA faculty, staff and students along with members of the Gandy family and the Nacogdoches community celebrated the unveiling of the Dr. Bill and Barbara Gandy Makerspace in SFA’s College of Sciences and Mathematics at the Cole STEM Building July 16.

The Office of Compliance launched the Youth Protection website. As part of SFA's ongoing commitment to providing a safe, supportive and secure environment for minors participating in activities on campus, the website will serve as a central resource for faculty and staff involved in youth programs.

The site provides easy access to youth program requirements, resources for program directors, information about required training and background checks and answers to frequently asked questions. By bringing these resources together in one location, the website will help employees better understand their responsibilities and ensure compliance with youth protection program requirements.

Faculty and staff who work with or support youth programs are encouraged to visit the site and make it a regular resource for program planning and compliance needs.

A new process has been installed to reserve space in the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

To request a reservation, visit the event and guest services webpage. Once the request has been submitted, an email will be sent to acknowledge the request and a member of the reservations team will review. Once details are confirmed, a representative will reach out to discuss details.

Faculty and staff are invited to make changes to their insurance benefits without a qualifying life event. This year’s annual enrollment period is through July 31. Employees enrolled in UT Flex and/or a dependent daycare spending account must re-enroll contribution amounts for fiscal year 2027 or their account will be closed. Those who do not wish to make changes to benefits require no action and their current elections will remain the same. The new benefits year begins Sept. 1.

To access enrollment through mySFA, follow the steps below:

1. Select the drop-down arrow next to "Employment."

2. Click "Benefits."

3. Select "My UT Benefits."

Enrollment support will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through July 31 in Steen Library, Lumberjack Learning Lab 3.

In addition, note these upcoming retirement and benefits sessions, which will all be held in Steen Library, Wyatt Room.

"New Lifestyle Benefits and Upcoming Plan Changes"

2 to 3:30 p.m. July 28

"5-4-3 to TRS Retirement"

10 to 11:30 a.m. July 28

"5-4-3 to ORP Retirement"

10 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 3:30 p.m. July 23

2 to 3:30 p.m. July 30

For more information, contact Barbara Hunter, benefits manager, at ext. 3978 or Flor Elizondo, benefits coordinator, at ext. 1098, or email benefits@sfasu.edu.

Fall 2026 LEAP applications for eligible participants — SFA employees, their spouses and dependents — will be available Monday, July 27, in mySFA.

The application form can be accessed in the “Benefits” section of the "Employment" tab. Approved LEAP exemptions will be applied to eBills starting Aug. 14. Financial aid may affect your LEAP benefits. Refer to the LEAP procedures for further explanation.

For more information about LEAP, contact Student Business Services at sbs@sfasu.edu. For more information about financial aid, contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at finaid@sfasu.edu.

Stewart wrote three poems that appear in the summer 2026 issue of The Midwest Quarterly. Stewart has developed and implemented student health promotion projects exploring poetry, music and visual arts as motivators of healthy behavior change in several public health courses.

Bruck co-authored a new paper in Cell Press: Trends in Cognitive Sciences that establishes criteria for defining when non-human animals have names.

In 2022, Bruck helped establish that individually distinct dolphin signature whistles were representations of the dolphins who owned them, similar to how a human name can represent the individual who owns that moniker linguistically. With other animals starting to be tested for name-like calls, Bruck and his co-authors established criteria for all animal scientists to use when confirming if an animal has names as humans do.