NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Treasured objects and artifacts held by the Stone Fort Museum at Stephen F. Austin State University will be preserved for future generations with help from the Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a core set of conservation books and online resources donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The institute is the primary source of federal funding of the nation's museums and libraries. IMLS, in cooperation with the American Association for State and Local History, has now awarded almost 3,000 free sets of the Bookshelf.

Corpus Christi sophomore Jt Hearn (left) and Round Rock senior Waldron Archer rehearse an intense scene from SFA School of Theatre's upcoming production of Athol Fugard's "'Master Harold' . . . and the boys." The drama opens the three-play summer repertory season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27, in the Downstage Theatre.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - East Texans interested in responding to music through art can still make reservations for "Musica Bella" from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednedsay, June 24, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St.

Participants will be joining over 30 art educators enrolled in the 2009 Art Educators' Retreat offered by the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art to create paintings as they listen to music provided by SFA music faculty members Scott Harris and Mark Turner.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Enrollment in the first summer session at Stephen F. Austin State University grew slightly from 2008, increasing for the fifth consecutive reporting period.

SFA's Summer I enrollment reached 4,654, a 3.6-percent increase from the same semester in 2008 when 4,494 students attended classes. The Summer I head count includes 927 students who enrolled in May-mester, a condensed semester that allows students to earn up to four hours of credit during 12 days in May. May-mester attendance in 2008 was 892.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Mast Arboretum at Stephen F. Austin State University will host its monthly Les Reeves Garden Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 18, in the Agriculture Building Room 110 on Wilson Drive. Dr. Matthew Chappell, extension horticulturist and assistant professor at the University of Georgia, is the featured speaker and will discuss his research involving new plants and gardening needs for "marginal" and non-gardeners.

Scholarships are available at Stephen F. Austin State University for bilingual students pursuing a Master of Social Work degree and seeking a career in mental health in Texas after graduation.

"Two scholarships were awarded in the fall semester, and a third is available through competition for a student beginning the MSW program at SFA in the fall 2009 semester," said Sharon Templeman, SFA associate professor of social work and director of the master's degree program.

Stephen F. Austin State University theatre students rehearse one of the songs from "Schoolhouse Rock Live! Too," one of three shows included in the School of Theatre's summer repertory season. Pictured, from left, are Austin Chason, Spring junior; Jt Hearn, Emory freshman; Emma Palizza, Houston junior; and David Hathway, El Campo senior.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Tickets are now on sale for the Stephen F.

DeWitt School of Nursing clinical instructors Michelle Klein, left, and Cally Claussen demonstrate a new, life-like human simulator designed to give nursing students more realistic patient experiences.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas-December graduates of Stephen F.

Anna Kathryn Holbrook, 92, sits near a photograph of herself wearing her great-grandmother Anna Raguet Irion's wedding gown during the 1936 Centennial celebration.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas-The Stone Fort Museum at Stephen F. Austin State University has received an American Heritage Preservation Grant to help restore two deteriorating wedding dresses worn by historic Nacogdoches figures.

Dr. James Standley

Long-time academic dean Dr. James Standley has been named dean of graduate studies at Stephen F. Austin State University.