NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents approved additional grant awards totaling more than $3.7 million allocable to fiscal years 2011 and 2012 at its quarterly meeting Tuesday.

Grant awards result from extensive faculty research and service engagement across many academic disciplines and include direct federal, federal pass through, state and private awards. To date, the university has received more than $19 million in grant funding for fiscal year 2011 and more than $13 million for fiscal year 2012.

The Board of Regents also established a fund for the College of Liberal and Applied Arts with an anonymous gift of $70,000. The fund will be used to support academic programs throughout the college, in accordance with the donor's wishes. A second fund was established with a $15,150 bequest from the late Norman H. Kiess, who served as an associate professor of physics in the 1960s. That fund will be used for faculty support in the physics department.

A one-time merit payment of $500 to qualifying full-time SFA employees was approved by the board upon a recommendation by SFA president Baker Pattillo. The president said the payments are intended to show appreciation for the faculty and staff and will be distributed in mid-December.

The Board of Regents also approved the following items at the meeting Tuesday:

  • a small class list for summer and fall 2011;
  • a European Studies Consortium led by SFA;
  • transfer of the Division of Biotechnology into the Department of Biology;
  • an antenna lease contract with New Cingular Wireless PCS;
  • a parking garage equipment replacement at a cost not to exceed $200,000;
  • policy revisions;
  • audit plan, audit charter and report;
  • and revisions to board rules and regulations.