NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - In a world where visionaries in most professions are trying to figure out how to do more with less, the School of Theatre is tapping into one of its most valuable resources - the students - to help underclassmen understand the level of commitment necessary for a successful collegiate career.

The School of Theatre has initiated a peer mentoring program in which junior and senior theatre majors are guiding freshmen and new students - appropriately called "understudies"- through what can be an overwhelming immersion in university-level dramatic arts.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Students at Stephen F. Austin State University and other state institutions will soon begin noticing changes in curriculum that were mandated by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. As directed by the Texas Legislature, the coordinating board issued rules in 2011 requiring a complete overhaul in all Texas public higher education institutions of the core curriculum - 42 semester credit hours of coursework that students must take and that must be transferable from one higher education institution to another.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Dr. Andrew Parr, professor of piano in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music, has performed in countries across the globe.

But he recently had the opportunity to perform and conduct a master class in piano for the first time before audiences in China, and some of those audience members have expressed an interest in coming to the United States, specifically SFA, to study with Parr.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Registration has begun for the annual Summer Art Academy offered by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art for the two-week camp that will meet June 9 through 20 on the SFA campus.

Students in kindergarten through sixth grade may enroll in classes that include drawing, painting and sculpture.

"The academy offers an exciting introduction to the visual arts and an immersion into specific media," said Gary Parker, SFA art instructor and director of the academy.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Stephen F. Austin State University's Faculty Senate chair, Dr. Dana Cooper, are scheduled to offer the commencement addresses during spring graduation ceremonies Saturday, May 10, in William R. Johnson Coliseum.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University alumna ElaRuth McCullough of Nacogdoches is the recipient of the 2014 Edna Wilkin Teagarden Award for Exemplary Service in Human Sciences.

The award is given annually by the SFA School of Human Sciences and recognizes extraordinary professional achievements by graduates, including development and implementation of human sciences concepts and principles in the field. McCullough accepted the award at the School of Human Sciences convocation in April.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Dr. Mitzi Perritt, professor of interior design at Stephen F. Austin State University, was named a Fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council at the recent National Conference in New Orleans, La.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches. Alabama Extension Horticulturist Hayes Jackson will present "I've Come All the Way from Alabama to Tell You That Everything's Not Bigger in Texas So Get Over It."

NACOGDOCHES, Texas -Jack Heifner, Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre's playwright-in-residence, has been selected as a new member of the Texas Playwriting Hall of Fame.

It is an honor that reflects the caliber of the SFA theatre faculty, according to Scott Shattuck, director of the School of Theatre.

"Jack's latest accolade is another reminder of the tremendous asset he has always been to SFA," said Shattuck. "The School of Theatre is a center of excellence because we have teacher-artists of this stature on our faculty."