SFA University
May 13, 2020 - A new concentration available through Stephen F. Austin State University’s Master of Education in educational leadership prepares students to become leaders in the field of public-school athletic administration.
Beginning this fall, the James I. Perkins College of Education at SFA is offering an athletic director concentration that provides the needed skills and knowledge to effectively supervise both coaches and student-athletes.
“The Master of Education in educational leadership program at SFA has a rich history of preparing effective and capable school leaders who influence the educational setting and focus on instruction for student success, but the addition of a program specifically for future athletic directors is a new one,” said Dr. Barbara Qualls, director of SFA’s educational leadership program.
“Students are already enrolling in a cohort for this new program,” she added.
Through this 30-hour, completely online program, students can earn an educational leadership master’s degree, develop athletic administration skills and meet many of the requirements for eventual principal certification, all while remaining fully employed.
“In each course, a field-based component connects the university coursework with transformative leadership experiences in the school setting,” Qualls said. “The students complete assigned and creative experiences that directly apply to each course and comply with the Texas core competencies for administrators and Educational Leadership Constituent Council standards.”
Scholarships are available for the program.
For more information, email Qualls at quallsba@sfasu.edu.
May 12, 2020 - COVID-19 has affected people in all aspects of their lives — socially, professionally and, for some, nutritionally. Thankfully, Nacogdoches Helping Other People Eat, the largest food pantry in East Texas, is receiving assistance from many community members in helping feed the hungry during this uncertain time, including Lizette Rojas, a Stephen F. Austin State University social work student and intern.
Following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s stay-at-home order and the closure of many businesses, HOPE has seen an 88% increase from this time last year in those asking for food assistance.
“The Nacogdoches community is extremely giving, particularly during times of a crisis,” said Wilma Cordova, SFA professor of social work and member of the HOPE pantry’s board of directors.
“Many people are in a situation where they need food or may need help in the near future. Social workers adhere to a code of ethics, and Lizette has demonstrated those values by mobilizing a community in a time of need. Her ability to coordinate services and donations has made a difference for the food pantry.”
Although Rojas returned to her home in Fort Worth when SFA’s campus closed in March due to the pandemic, she’s still helping the food pantry and its clients.
“I call clients to ensure they have food to tide them over,” Rojas said. “I also contact area grocers to organize the collection of boxes the pantry uses to package food for distribution. What others may see as simple tasks can be much more. A phone call or cardboard box can make a difference in how many people we can feed in a given week.”
Rojas also mobilizes volunteers to help ensure the pantry is stocked and remains open.
“Lizette’s ability to be extremely organized and create order in a chaotic situation has impressed me throughout this pandemic,” Cordova said. “Nacogdoches is a unique community in that you must be able to network and do it well. Lizette came into an agency that was already well-respected, and she has worked very hard to bring it to a level that is now even more visible and appreciated.
Rojas said she has spent the majority of her internship closely working with individuals and families in need of food or financial assistance. Some of the areas she’s helped to address include working to stop family violence, closing the health-care gap, harnessing technology for social good and ending economic inequality.
“Those who receive services from HOPE come from all walks of life, and their priority is the need for food, but sometimes they need more. Some clients may need referrals to housing, employment, medical or transportation services, and some may just want someone to listen and offer them the motivation to continue along their paths.”
As the pandemic’s effects continue, Rojas said she is determined to stay focused on making a difference — from SFA’s campus or elsewhere. “Although I’m not physically in Nacogdoches, I’m there in spirit,” Rojas said. “It’s important to me to continue my work helping my East Texas community.”
For more information about Nacogdoches HOPE, visit www.nacogdocheshope.com.
May 12, 2020 - Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Human Sciences is now offering a Bachelor of Science in construction management.
A partnership among SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, College of Sciences and Mathematics, James I. Perkins College of Education and Rusche College of Business, the construction management program began in fall 2019.
The degree’s courses focus on management and design skills, as well as the knowledge of business, sustainability, building construction and safety codes necessary to succeed in this field. They also prepare students to take the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate exam.
“This degree provides students with a broad-based knowledge of the construction industry combined with a solid general education and extensive training in business management,” said Sally Ann Swearingen, associate professor of construction management and interior design in SFA’s School of Human Sciences. “Students pursuing this degree also examine the regulations, planning, design, theory and methods used in the construction field.”
The 120-hour, four-year degree plan includes a six-hour internship and teaches students how to coordinate and supervise workers, handle unexpected issues and delays, work with customers, and select personnel and subcontractors for specific tasks to meet demanding deadlines.
Students also learn about the construction methods and technologies they need to interpret contracts and technical drawings and discuss them with architects, engineers and building owners. In addition, they study how to write proposals, budgets and plans and how to document progress.
Swearingen said the school is working to make 90% of the degree’s courses available online within two years along with creating on-campus minisessions for labs. SFA also is creating an external board for the program that will include representatives from major construction companies.
Salary estimates for this industry range from $60,000 to $90,000 based on residential to heavy construction.
“The job outlook for this field is good because of the growing population and the new residences, retail outlets, schools and office buildings that go along with that,” Swearingen said. “The need to improve the nation's infrastructure of roads, bridges and sewer pipe systems and to make buildings more energy efficient also makes this a great career choice.”
For more information, contact Swearingen at (936) 468-2048 or sswearingen@sfasu.edu.
May 12, 2020 - The Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders at Stephen F. Austin State University will provide speech and/or language teletherapy beginning June 1 for current clients of all ages and anyone receiving services through the school system or other clinics closed due to COVID-19.
It also will offer a limited number of online evaluations for potential clients.
SFA graduate students will provide the clients’ teletherapy with “100% supervision from a licensed speech-language pathologist,” said Deena Petersen, clinic director.
Like other health service providers, the Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We hope to open the clinic this summer to provide face-to-face services, but for now all services will be delivered via teletherapy,” Petersen said.
The clinic’s annual summer literacy camp will be offered during SFA’s Summer 1 session through teletherapy. This camp focuses on literacy instruction through small groups and is available to children who will be entering kindergarten this fall or who are in first or second grade and struggling with reading.
“It will be teletherapy that focuses on letters, letter sounds and decoding words,” Petersen said. “A limited number of groups will be available.”
The clinic also is offering speech therapy to those with Parkinson’s disease at no charge via teletherapy.
For more information about these teletherapy services and limited online evaluations, call (936) 468-7109.
Dr. Jamie Humphries, associate professor in the Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business, uses data visualization to convert complex data sets into usable business intelligence.
May 11, 2020 - This semester’s special-topics class in a business communication at Stephen F. Austin State University started out as a crash-course in data visualization, with students tracking financial and logistics information as well as the occurrence and location of wildfires, both nationally and in Texas, using Tableau software.
A data junkie who has made a career out of turning opaque statistics into usable business intelligence, Dr. Jamie Humphries, associate professor in the Rusche College of Business, is at his best when tracking something big, something arcane that can be polished, packaged and brought to the conference-room table.
So, it was no surprise that when COVID-19 emerged as an all-consuming pandemic generating a global avalanche of data, that Humphries would realize the opportunity for his students. Quickly plugging into the public Johns Hopkins University database, continually updated with correlated data from 30 global sources, Humphries asked his students to create custom, interactive COVID-19 dashboards.
Under the guidance of Dr. Jamie Humphries, associate professor in the Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business, students created interactive dashboards to track and interpret COVID-19 data.
Once the basics were in place, students were asked to be inventive, to start benchmarking and tracking adjacent data like Wall Street trading to see which stocks crash and those that sizzle during a pandemic, fever charts for hotel stays and, of course, the virus’ curve and its associated death and infection rates. The more granular the better.
Though the COVID-19 project was not on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, it’s going to be a graded assignment. And it’s also providing a golden opportunity for students to experience what it’s like in the private sector post-graduation.
“You have to pivot,” Humphries said. “You have to find something new.”
Creating customized dashboards to track a virus the size of COVID-19 has been great for the three business and two forestry students enrolled in this semester’s class. By the time it’s over, they should be qualified to take the Tableau software exam for desktop specialist and be halfway through their preparation to qualify as a certified associate, both sought-after credentials in multiple disciplines.
Humphries, in only his second semester at SFA, said the COVID-19 project has tapped into the best impulses of his students.
“These students are a lot smarter than what we give them credit for, and they can be creative,” Humphries said. “You don’t have to ask them to do it. They just do it.”
Once COVID-19 transitions into recovery and the data becomes historical, Humphries said it will still have a great deal of value for students learning the foundations of data visualization. He plans on returning to the pandemic issue, and introducing new topics, this fall.
Regardless of the topic – pandemic, the stock market, wildfires or the opioid crisis – the goal of data visualization is always the same.
“Take data and turn it into a story,” Humphries said. “No one wants to look at a spreadsheet.”
To see Humphries discuss his COVID-19 tracking process with business students, visit bit.ly/2Ll697W.
By Richard Massey, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.
May 8, 2020 - Classrooms at the Stephen F. Austin State University Charter School are frozen in time. Incomplete drawings and books with marked pages rest in students’ cubbies.
“When we said goodbye for spring break, my students and I didn’t get a chance to savor the moment because we thought we would be right back,” said Alyssa Landreneaux, a fifth-grade teacher at the school.
Since March 16, the Monday after spring break in Nacogdoches, SFA Charter School’s 250 students in kindergarten through fifth grade have been sheltering in place at home with their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a teacher, your instinct is to be in the classroom learning with students each and every day,” said Madison Taylor, a first-grade teacher at the school. “The loss of this time together is hard to grasp, not just for the loss of in-person academic learning but also for the time and relationships between students.”
Lysa Hagan, principal and chief executive officer of the charter school, said the empty hallways and classrooms in the Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center initially made her sad.
“Then it came to me that I knew exactly where to find everyone; the children and teachers were just in a different place,” she said. “I simply opened Seesaw, and there they all were laughing, talking and learning with one another.”
When schools around the state closed, the more than 30 SFA Charter School teachers sprang into action to provide high-quality online instruction through a remote learning platform called Seesaw.
Teachers use this platform to post videos of themselves teaching lessons and giving instructions for student work. In return, students can record themselves completing their work verbally or submit written answers. Then teachers assess student work and provide feedback to each student all within the same online area.
“Although all the teachers are using the Seesaw platform, each class is unique,” said Natalie Cardenas, SFA Charter School academic coordinator. “We are still able to assess each student’s needs, differentiate lessons for them and continue with the curriculum we have always used.”
Landreneaux said SFA Charter School teachers in the upper grade levels were already familiar with Seesaw and guided the other teachers in transitioning online. In the span of a few faculty meetings, expectations for learning were set, and a tentative curriculum calendar was established. In just days, many classrooms were up and running, and students were logging in and enjoying the lessons.
“Teacher instruction and learner response have been amazing!” Hagan said. “When everything else seemed uncertain in our world, school was the normal our students could count on.”
Following Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, the teachers prioritized math and reading lessons and integrated science, writing and social studies curriculum throughout those lessons. Also, just as they would in their physical classrooms, teachers responded to individual student needs by modifying lessons and providing extensions.
“Our exceptional teachers are so grounded in our constructivist philosophy of learning that the how and what to teach were not even a discussion,” Hagan said. “We simply had to support one another to make the curriculum fit into the online platforms we had available. The instruction teachers are providing online is exactly like what the children experience in the face-to-face classroom.”
SFA students working toward teaching certificates also have successfully participated in the charter school’s online instruction.
“Our teacher candidates are still providing TEKS-based lessons following the same structure as when they were live in the classroom. They teach, assess and reteach just like before,” Hagan said.
Physical education, art and music lessons are posted each week to promote physical and creative growth, and students can choose which day of the week they want to complete these.
“Some teachers post fun how-to videos, such as how to catch a mudbug at the creek or bake a coconut meringue pie,” Landreneaux added. “Our goal is to have 100% student participation schoolwide, so teachers are working hard to keep the learning engaging.”
Students have taken advantage of the online platform to respond to their lessons in new ways.
“The creativity students are able to express through the different modes of communication on Seesaw have allowed for their thoughts to shine,” Taylor said. “The option to type, write, voice record or even video themselves has opened up a line of communication for students to express their thoughts on the learning in an interactive and engaging way.”
Landreneaux believes teachers will continue to use Seesaw even after the school reopens to provide more opportunities for differentiation, small group learning and at-home enrichment now that families are familiar with the platform.
In addition to Seesaw, charter school teachers are using their workshop approach via Zoom to continue fostering classroom communities and help students maintain their relationships with each other through real-time instruction. Zoom activities include book groups, small-group specific skill instruction, whole-group community meetings and large blocks of independent work time during which teachers give individual students feedback.
“Seeing the joy that lights up students’ faces when they see a classmate on the screen or begin to understand something more clearly through a small group lesson is something that every teacher is living for in our time online,” Taylor said.
Without the leadership of SFA Charter School administrators and her fellow teachers, Taylor said her online lessons would not be as successful.
“Something that is so amazing about the SFA Charter School family is that we are just that, a family — a family who works together, supports each other and encourages each member,” Taylor said.
Students’ parents and caregivers are a big part of the charter school family, too. They have been the teachers’ biggest allies throughout the online learning transition, according to Taylor.
“They are truly a partner in this process. Their support and involvement in the online lessons and activities have played a huge role in the learning of their children,” she said. “Not only are they an outstanding component of at-home learning, but the support and words of encouragement they have expressed for their teachers are appreciated more than they know.”
Landreneaux said the parents are working just as hard as the teachers. “They’re asking questions and making suggestions for improvement.”
Hagan added, “Our parents had to be the information technology department for a while. As students became more fluent with the learning technology, I think parent anxiety tremendously decreased.”
She said a grandmother of two charter school students shares her home-schooling experiences through Instagram posts.
“When we said goodbye for spring break, my students and I didn’t get a chance to savor the moment because we thought we would be right back,” said Alyssa Landreneaux, a fifth-grade teacher at the school.
Since March 16, the Monday after spring break in Nacogdoches, SFA Charter School’s 250 students in kindergarten through fifth grade have been sheltering in place at home with their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a teacher, your instinct is to be in the classroom learning with students each and every day,” said Madison Taylor, a first-grade teacher at the school. “The loss of this time together is hard to grasp, not just for the loss of in-person academic learning but also for the time and relationships between students.”
Lysa Hagan, principal and chief executive officer of the charter school, said the empty hallways and classrooms in the Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center initially made her sad.
“Then it came to me that I knew exactly where to find everyone; the children and teachers were just in a different place,” she said. “I simply opened Seesaw, and there they all were laughing, talking and learning with one another.”
When schools around the state closed, the more than 30 SFA Charter School teachers sprang into action to provide high-quality online instruction through a remote learning platform called Seesaw.
Teachers use this platform to post videos of themselves teaching lessons and giving instructions for student work. In return, students can record themselves completing their work verbally or submit written answers. Then teachers assess student work and provide feedback to each student all within the same online area.
“Although all the teachers are using the Seesaw platform, each class is unique,” said Natalie Cardenas, SFA Charter School academic coordinator. “We are still able to assess each student’s needs, differentiate lessons for them and continue with the curriculum we have always used.”
Landreneaux said SFA Charter School teachers in the upper grade levels were already familiar with Seesaw and guided the other teachers in transitioning online. In the span of a few faculty meetings, expectations for learning were set, and a tentative curriculum calendar was established. In just days, many classrooms were up and running, and students were logging in and enjoying the lessons.
“Teacher instruction and learner response have been amazing!” Hagan said. “When everything else seemed uncertain in our world, school was the normal our students could count on.”
Following Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills standards, the teachers prioritized math and reading lessons and integrated science, writing and social studies curriculum throughout those lessons. Also, just as they would in their physical classrooms, teachers responded to individual student needs by modifying lessons and providing extensions.
“Our exceptional teachers are so grounded in our constructivist philosophy of learning that the how and what to teach were not even a discussion,” Hagan said. “We simply had to support one another to make the curriculum fit into the online platforms we had available. The instruction teachers are providing online is exactly like what the children experience in the face-to-face classroom.”
SFA students working toward teaching certificates also have successfully participated in the charter school’s online instruction.
“Our teacher candidates are still providing TEKS-based lessons following the same structure as when they were live in the classroom. They teach, assess and reteach just like before,” Hagan said.
Physical education, art and music lessons are posted each week to promote physical and creative growth, and students can choose which day of the week they want to complete these.
“Some teachers post fun how-to videos, such as how to catch a mudbug at the creek or bake a coconut meringue pie,” Landreneaux added. “Our goal is to have 100% student participation schoolwide, so teachers are working hard to keep the learning engaging.”
Students have taken advantage of the online platform to respond to their lessons in new ways.
“The creativity students are able to express through the different modes of communication on Seesaw have allowed for their thoughts to shine,” Taylor said. “The option to type, write, voice record or even video themselves has opened up a line of communication for students to express their thoughts on the learning in an interactive and engaging way.”
Landreneaux believes teachers will continue to use Seesaw even after the school reopens to provide more opportunities for differentiation, small group learning and at-home enrichment now that families are familiar with the platform.
In addition to Seesaw, charter school teachers are using their workshop approach via Zoom to continue fostering classroom communities and help students maintain their relationships with each other through real-time instruction. Zoom activities include book groups, small-group specific skill instruction, whole-group community meetings and large blocks of independent work time during which teachers give individual students feedback.
“Seeing the joy that lights up students’ faces when they see a classmate on the screen or begin to understand something more clearly through a small group lesson is something that every teacher is living for in our time online,” Taylor said.
Without the leadership of SFA Charter School administrators and her fellow teachers, Taylor said her online lessons would not be as successful.
“Something that is so amazing about the SFA Charter School family is that we are just that, a family — a family who works together, supports each other and encourages each member,” Taylor said.
Students’ parents and caregivers are a big part of the charter school family, too. They have been the teachers’ biggest allies throughout the online learning transition, according to Taylor.
“They are truly a partner in this process. Their support and involvement in the online lessons and activities have played a huge role in the learning of their children,” she said. “Not only are they an outstanding component of at-home learning, but the support and words of encouragement they have expressed for their teachers are appreciated more than they know.”
Landreneaux said the parents are working just as hard as the teachers. “They’re asking questions and making suggestions for improvement.”
Hagan added, “Our parents had to be the information technology department for a while. As students became more fluent with the learning technology, I think parent anxiety tremendously decreased.”
She said a grandmother of two charter school students shares her home-schooling experiences through Instagram posts.
“The learning appears to be exceptional under her watch,” Hagan said. “I am certain this is going on in many homes.”
Though this new online teaching and learning format has been successful in many ways, it still presents challenges, Cardenas said.
Some SFA Charter School families do not have internet access, so they must pick up a packet of materials every Monday when they return the student’s work from the previous week.
“Determining which children have access to technology and which need a paper packet for the week has been one obstacle,” Cardenas said.
So far, less than 5% of the students have needed or chosen the packets, and they receive real-time feedback from their teachers through phone calls.
Accountability also has been a challenge.
“Holding students and families accountable in a time like this is difficult,” Cardenas said. “Every family has a different situation, and expecting them to fulfill their own everyday needs and assist with their child’s lessons can be tough. Parents are doing their best.”
Despite these challenges, charter school teachers have been able to gather the data needed to provide progress reports for each child.
As the end of the school year draws closer, Landreneaux’s biggest concern is that her fifth-grade students won’t get to experience the customary charter school send-offs before they head into middle school.
“There will be no fifth-grade talent show or celebratory pool party,” she said. “I won’t get the chance to read one more book to them on the rug or hug them as they walk across the stage in our traditional graduation ceremony. Virtual learning just can’t replace these personal moments.”
The charter school is hoping to provide some closure to the 2019-20 academic school year by holding two graduation vehicle parades — one for the kindergarteners and one for the fifth graders — featuring mortarboards and tassels. These parades will celebrate students’ achievements on the last day of school in the ECRC parking lot.
Taylor also feels the loss of in-person moments, but she, Cardenas, Hagan, Landreneaux and the rest of the SFA Charter School family are making the best of the current situation and looking toward the future.
“Children are resilient, and they are learners,” Taylor said. “I know with the hard work of our teachers, the support from families and the love of learning from Junior Jacks, we will start out next year just as positively as we leave this one.”
Though this new online teaching and learning format has been successful in many ways, it still presents challenges, Cardenas said.
Some SFA Charter School families do not have internet access, so they must pick up a packet of materials every Monday when they return the student’s work from the previous week.
“Determining which children have access to technology and which need a paper packet for the week has been one obstacle,” Cardenas said.
So far, less than 5% of the students have needed or chosen the packets, and they receive real-time feedback from their teachers through phone calls.
Accountability also has been a challenge.
“Holding students and families accountable in a time like this is difficult,” Cardenas said. “Every family has a different situation, and expecting them to fulfill their own everyday needs and assist with their child’s lessons can be tough. Parents are doing their best.”
Despite these challenges, charter school teachers have been able to gather the data needed to provide progress reports for each child.
As the end of the school year draws closer, Landreneaux’s biggest concern is that her fifth-grade students won’t get to experience the customary charter school send-offs before they head into middle school.
“There will be no fifth-grade talent show or celebratory pool party,” she said. “I won’t get the chance to read one more book to them on the rug or hug them as they walk across the stage in our traditional graduation ceremony. Virtual learning just can’t replace these personal moments.”
The charter school is hoping to provide some closure to the 2019-20 academic school year by holding two graduation vehicle parades — one for the kindergarteners and one for the fifth graders — featuring mortarboards and tassels. These parades will celebrate students’ achievements on the last day of school in the ECRC parking lot.
Taylor also feels the loss of in-person moments, but she, Cardenas, Hagan, Landreneaux and the rest of the SFA Charter School family are making the best of the current situation and looking toward the future.
“Children are resilient, and they are learners,” Taylor said. “I know with the hard work of our teachers, the support from families and the love of learning from Junior Jacks, we will start out next year just as positively as we leave this one.”
May 7, 2020 - For East Texas students who look forward to participating in the Art Academy each summer at Stephen F. Austin State University, news that the current COVID-19 pandemic had forced the academy’s cancellation this year was disappointing.
But, to fill that void, SFA art education students put their talents to work creating art instruction videos that highlight art and cultural and historical art traditions.
Several videos were created immediately following spring break to launch the series of tutorials, and new ones are continuously being added as an alternative to the School of Art’s summer academy. Many of the tutorials require materials that can commonly be found around the house or easily obtained.
To access the art lessons, visit the YouTube channel: SFA Art Education Home Art Lessons.
April 27, 2020 - Each day for the past few weeks, Dr. Christina Guenther, professor of flute at Stephen F. Austin State University, accompanied by her husband, Dr. Ron Petti, director of collaborative piano at SFA, have recorded a video of themselves performing works that Guenther’s students are working on. The videos are posted to her flute studio’s Facebook page for students’ enjoyment and to help them learn the music.
“I hope it keeps everyone feeling like we’re still getting to be together … at least a little,” she said.
This is just one of many innovative ideas that fine arts professors at SFA have come up with to teach their students in the virtual world that COVID-19 has created.
While some college courses translate fairly easily to online content, teaching the fine arts – art, music and theatre – which have been traditionally face-to-face, hands-on instruction, takes extra creativity to make remote learning and interaction work.
Normally in the SFA flute studio, students periodically perform impromptu duets to work on sight reading, intonation, ensemble performance and adjusting. Because that was no longer possible after spring break this year, Guenther recorded duo videos – a Mozart duo, a Brazilian choro, a tango by Piazzolla – and provided corresponding sheet music for the students.
“They were to pick at least one duo to play along with – I always play the bottom line – and then comment about their experience,” Guenther said. “While it is not the same as in person, it gave them a chance to have some quasi-duo interaction with me, and, because it was pre-recorded, they couldn’t stop to fix things like we can in person; they had to keep going. Some of their comments were about not being able to stop and realizing they need to work to be able to play along without a metronome and just feel the beat. Because they have access to these videos, they can ‘duo’ with me anytime they want.”
A particular challenge for art, music or theatre education majors has been trying to fulfill student teaching requirements when public and private schools are closed. According to Claire Murphy, assistant professor of music education, SFA music education majors who are clinical (student) teaching this semester have continued to work to grow and develop, despite the closing of schools.
“Our clinical teachers are working closely with their cooperating teachers to provide online instruction and learning opportunities for K-12 students in Texas,” Murphy said. “They have participated in Zoom sessions led by faculty and music educators across the state, in order to discuss teaching strategies, resources, concepts, etc. that would be discussed in a face-to-face teaching and learning environment. Our students are rolling up their sleeves to continue to grow and learn and work to help their cooperating teachers and students in every way possible. Our Lumberjacks are adaptable and resilient.”
With teachers across the nation no longer in classrooms, it has provided Dr. David Campo, director of bands at SFA, an opportunity “bring in” guest speakers online to share their knowledge with his music students.
“High school and middle school band directors from across the state have spoken to my band administration class,” Campo said.“ Last week, we had a visit with composer Quincy Hilliard. The biggest challenge for us is that there is no way to have ensemble rehearsals, and that is a critical component of the music education degree, not to mention that ensembles develop an important camaraderie that enhances the experience for all of us.”
Not all SFA music majors had the ability to shelter in place with quality instruments, according to Dr. Andrew Parr, professor of piano. “Our situations have run the gamut from beautiful pianos to none at all,” he said. “I found that any former complaints about the quality of SFA’s practice room facilities have disappeared completely! I also discovered that online lessons could still feel personal and productive, and that we were always glad to see each other again each week.”
Graduate and undergraduate students in the choral/voice area are taking advantage of the sudden and dramatic shift to music making by scheduling Zoom sessions with world-famous conductors, composers, authors and pedagogues, said Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities at SFA. During normal times, the schedules and fees of getting notable music heavyweights for speaking engagements would be prohibitive, he said.
“This disruptive event has reminded me how much we need and should value community in the act of music making,” he said. “Music is made more powerful when shared, whether it is with each other or for an audience. Our students miss authentic connection and community with their professors and with each other. To help diminish this sense of loss of community, our alumni in the voice area have been writing encouraging letters to our current voice students.”
While the SFA theatre faculty is doing “an incredible job” adapting, School of Theatre Director Cleo House Jr. said these are not ideal circumstances for teaching theatre. “Our art form is rooted in human-to-human, real-world interaction, so there is a struggle,” he said. “But what this situation has done is forced a different kind of creativity and innovation that we probably would never have approached without the pandemic. While we miss the face-to-face time with our students dearly, I’m certain there will be takeaways from this time that we will all use moving forward.”
The School of Theatre has not only adjusted the way classes are delivered, but also how it conducts auditions and interviews with new, incoming students. House said. A new approach was taken for the spring Theatre Day, which traditionally brings high school students from across East Texas to the SFA campus to talk with theatre professors, tour facilities and attend plays. “Our most recent Theatre Day on April 20 was a series of Zoom meetings with the different areas as well as creating YouTube videos that we used to give tours of the facilities,” House said.
As a professor of movement and acting in the School of Theatre, Dr. Slade Billew said it is a struggle to teach certain performance stills that “are best learned through direct interaction, and often with physical contact, in a context where people must maintain social distancing.
“I know many of the students have struggled to learn fight choreography and other movement practices via video and without a practice partner,” Billew said. “Theatre is intrinsically about liveness and humans together in a space. It is quite challenging to practice and teach this art remotely.”
One of hardest transitions from theatre classroom to online has been for Billew’s students who are learning clown performance. “Clowning is a skill that is all about relationship to the live audience,” he said. “We decided to try clowning by Zoom, and the students have been incredibly innovative with using the camera as a scene partner, and finding ways to build a direct connection to an on camera audience in a way that will continue to benefit them in this increasingly mediatized culture.”
Teaching hands-on studio art classes online inspired associate art professor Neal Cox, who teaches printmaking and alternative processes photography, to send hand-built supply kits to his students. The students emailed Cox files of images they wanted to print, and he printed them on transparent film.
“Neal spent over two weeks hand building supplies and preparing and shipping packages to students so that they could keep working,” School of Art Director Christopher Talbot said. “He prepared videos of his demonstrations from his own home to show students how to use things they might have around their house to complete the projects instead of using the facilities here at SFA.”
“I show my students how to expose their screens to sunlight and develop in their sinks,” Cox posted on one of the YouTube video examples he created for screen exposure development. “It's obviously better to have a nice vacuum frame exposure unit and an industrial developing sink, but when COVID-19 sends all of your students home, and you still have to teach them, you send them the basics and show them how to work from home.”
To view an example of one of Cox’s videos, visit https://youtu.be/xMsUbfUz8Ps. School of Art faculty and students have also posted teaching videos they created of various art techniques at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtbqUvPzKL16lvAFzR788Zw/featured.
While the pandemic has created teaching challenges worldwide, SFA professors say the forced distance learning has reinforced how committed and adaptable students can be.
“I said to students at the beginning of this that we would need to ‘improvise, adapt, and overcome,’” Billew said, “and I have been profoundly affected by how hard they have worked to do just that.”
“Not that we needed a global pandemic to reinforce this idea, but we have some very strong, adaptable and resilient students in our School of Music,” said Jacob Walburn, professor of trumpet. “Many of my own students are working part time, and in several cases, full-time jobs, to try and bring in extra income for their families. Many of my students are at home with both parents and several siblings, trying to manage computer/WiFi time. They are being forced to adapt to a situation none of us has ever been in, yet despite these difficulties, they are showing up, doing their work, and getting the job done. I hope our colleagues in other disciplines across campus are as lucky as we are to be able to teach such dedicated students.”
April 22, 2020 - From course content and format to internship availability, students and faculty members in Stephen F. Austin State University’s health science program are experiencing huge changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students in this field are preparing for a variety of careers in public health education and health promotion in settings such as hospitals, governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations and work-site health promotion programs.
In their careers, they will be responsible for educating the public and raising awareness about local health issues. They also will address the needs of communities by assessing statistical data and using their findings to create health programs that tackle challenges such as flattening the curve during pandemics like COVID-19.
This academic degree provides a solid foundation for students pursuing health care careers requiring additional education: chiropractors, medical doctors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, physician assistants, professors and psychologists.
But before they can graduate, SFA’s health science students need to gain valuable experience through an internship that requires working at one of the many types of health care and medical sites drastically affected by COVID-19.
“That internship has been impacted the most out of all our courses,” said Dr. DawnElla Rust, professor in SFA’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Science.
“Of the 28 students enrolled in this course this semester, eight of them were able to complete all the requirements at their original sites,” she said. “However, 20 of them were asked to leave their sites — hospitals, clinics and other, nonessential sites — before their required hours and assignments were completed.”
Rust worked with Victoria Wagner-Greene, an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, to create alternative assignments for those 20 students, including writing a paper on COVID-19 and their personal experiences as health science interns.
Obtaining internship sites for the summer and fall 2020 sessions is also problematic, Rust said.
“Sites are not committing to internships, so we’re creating a range of solutions to accommodate individual students and ensure they can graduate on time,” she said.
Those solutions include writing papers, developing TED Talks and completing 50 hours of health science webinars.
Students and faculty members involved in other health science courses are adjusting to learning and teaching via online platforms like Zoom.
“I have never developed an online course, so it was all new to me,” Rust said.
But transitioning her face-to-face courses to online instruction also gave Rust the opportunity to tweak her course content.
“I tried to make each course COVID-19 relevant for the specific course and for the students.”
For example, the Core Concepts in Health course examines physical, intellectual, career/financial, sociocultural, environmental, emotional and spiritual health. In this course’s first online exam, Rust asked students how COVID-19 has impacted each of those health dimensions.
“Their responses were from the heart and amazing to read,” Rust said. “I have made a point to include stress-coping activities like ‘take a nature sit’ and ‘write a gratitude journal entry’ in this course.”
Rust’s Social and Emotional Health course focuses on how other people and our own emotions influence our health outcomes.
“Everything about this course has been tested,” Rust said. “The question raised is, ‘Can people and our connection with them influence our health from 6 feet away?’”
Dr. John Stewart, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, added an online exercise to his Epidemiology and Core Concepts in Health courses in which students explored the global geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases, examined COVID-19 etiology and risk factors, and learned COVID-19 preventive measures.
For his Environmental Health and Ecology course, Stewart’s students explored the association between COVID-19 “lockdown” orders and lower air pollution levels.
“This learning exercise also identified COVID-19 as one of many infectious disease agents potentially present in health care facilities and other workplace environments,” Stewart said.
Rust is encouraging her students sheltering in place with their families to be “health ambassadors” by sharing what they’re learning in these and other health science classes with their families.
“Many of my students have indicated that they have family members on the front line, so they are well-versed in the safety procedures,” Rust added.
Students also are equipped with strategies to teach their family members how to tell the difference between fake news and real news. Rust has instructed her students to use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at cdc.gov/coronavirus as their news source for COVID-19.
As a “fix it before it’s broke” public health educator, Rust believes in primary prevention to help avoid disease and disability, such as getting enough exercise and eating healthy.
Secondary prevention focuses on detecting a disease early and preventing it from worsening, for example, controlling hypertension with prescription medication. Tertiary prevention reduces the negative impact of an already-established disease by restoring function, such as a heart attack patient participating in cardiac rehabilitation.
“I believe COVID-19 fast-tracked primary prevention and skipped to secondary and tertiary prevention,” Rust said.
She’s worried about a minority of the general public dismissing COVID-19 risks by not washing their hands, practicing social distancing and wearing masks.
“Some of the general public is obtaining their medical information from fake sources and not taking the risk seriously,” she added. “Tertiary prevention was not prepared for the need for medical equipment to restore health and reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
Rust, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 10 years ago, also is concerned for people with chronic diseases who have been working hard to control those conditions but, with the tightening of medical resources, are now unable or unwilling to seek treatment.
“These chronic diseases are progressing in people, which, in turn, makes those people even more vulnerable to COVID-19,” she said. “A patient with Parkinson’s disease is not categorized as part of the population vulnerable to COVID-19, but the anxiety generated by the spread of the disease doesn’t help the immune systems in those with conditions like Parkinson’s.”
Rust hopes that the general public adheres to the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and uses the pandemic as an opportunity to assess their own health and make improvements.
“This is the time for the general public to address health disparities and begin or continue healthy behaviors. Fix it before it’s broke!”
Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business graduating senior Annemarie Price is finishing out her college career from home in Katy. Photo Courtesy: Robert Breitenstein of Allthingsrnb
April 22, 2020 Nacogdoches - Graduating senior Annemarie Price is at home in Katy with her parents. She’s safe and sound. The coffee is good. And when she’s on the couch studying or taking online classes, she enjoys the company of her two dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Astro and a Golden Retriever named Travis.
Price, a Stephen F. Austin State University Rusche College of Business senior majoring in marketing and minoring in graphic design with a 3.8 GPA, is in the running for a national scholarship through the Washington Media Scholars Foundation. Having made it through two qualifying rounds to the finals, Price and her teammate, Wichita State University-based Tyler Heizelman, are vying for a share of the $18,500 award. Winners will be announced in June. Landing the scholarship would be momentous, but even if Price doesn’t take the top prize, she’ll consider it a win. Making the invite to Washington, D.C., was the original goal, and that’s already been accomplished.
All should be good in Price’s world. But it’s not.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated disruptions, Price is uncertain of the future, even if plenty is already known. Employers are taking a wait-and-see approach to hiring. Her walk across the commencement stage at Johnson Coliseum will have to wait until a date that’s yet to be determined. She may not get to say a proper goodbye to her classmates and professors. The virus dashed all that.
With her coursework all but done, she’s looking forward to SFA’s virtual graduation ceremony on May 30, which for her will include commencement-style robes for her pets. Not quite what she had in mind at the beginning of the year, but it’ll be fun.
And then there’s her family. Both of Price’s parents have underlying health issues, making them susceptible to the virus. And her sister, a ’17 graduate from SFA’s DeWitt School of Nursing, is in hazard’s way working at Memorial Hermann in Houston.
Indeed, COVID-19 has arrived at Price’s front door, and it’s knocking quite loudly.
Price hasn’t been on campus since March, when she posed for her senior photos and collected a few personal belongings from her residence hall. She didn’t want to leave. But during spring break, as SFA and universities across the country shifted to online and remote learning, she knew she had no choice.
“I respect the decision, and I support doing what we can to make people safe,” she said. “I get it.”
While the transition to full-blown distance learning has been successful for Price, it’s not all together satisfying. Price is a people person. She’s an intern for the College of Business’ social media team, an officer with the Community Assistant Honors Council with Residence Life and an officer with SFA’s interdepartmental Advertising Club. As a senior, she was accustomed to seeing a lot of familiar faces in class and in the halls. The unceremonious separation has been acute.
“For me, one of the reasons I love SFA is that you can make close connections with professors and the people in your classes,” she said. “The years I have spent on campus were the best years of my life. I am deeply saddened that I won’t be returning to classes and spending my final days as a student in Nacogdoches.”
Even though the virus has upended the culmination of her college career, and even though her family remains under threat from the virus, she’s been able to keep everything in perspective. She’s adaptable and resilient. And though the job market could be tight, at some point an employer will recognize her passion and give her a chance.
For the broader public, a valuable lesson – one that could make the world a better place – can be learned.
“People are going to hug friends a little harder, spend time with the people they care for more often, and be thankful for the things we took for granted – like walking through a grocery store with fully stocked shelves,” Price said. “The coronavirus has made it difficult to predict what the future will look like, or determine how to prepare for it; even so, we have to keep moving forward and face things as they come, and do it to the best of our ability.”
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