NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The College of Sciences and Mathematics at Stephen F. Austin State University has received a $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant to develop Master Teaching Fellows within five East Texas school districts.

Dr. Mel E. Finkenberg

Dr. Mel E. Finkenberg, professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science at Stephen F. Austin State University, has been named interim dean of the James I. Perkins College of Education effective July 1.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Local middle and high school band students still have time to register for Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music's summer band camps held on the SFA campus.

Students entering seventh and eighth grades are eligible for the middle school camp to be held Sunday, June 7, through Friday, June 12, and students entering ninth through twelfth grades can register for the high school camp to be held Sunday, June 14, through Friday, June 19.

Roger Hughes' ceramic vase won "Best in Show" in the 2008 Nacogdoches Art League Juried Art Exhibition. The 2009 show will open Friday, May 29, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Nacogdoches Art League will open its 39th annual juried exhibition at 6 p.m. Friday, May 29, in the Reavley Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. in Nacogdoches.

Cornel Rubino's untitled watercolor and ink on paper is one of the pieces to be included in "SFA Art Faculty Collections" which will open at 6 p.m. Friday, May 29, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts, School of Art and SFA Friends of the Visual Arts will open "SFA Art Faculty Collections" at 6 p.m.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas-Stephen F. Austin State University's Pineywoods Native Plant Center has received a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife for "Nacogdoches Naturally," a program that offers outdoor education and recreational programming for underserved youth in the Nacogdoches area.

The $35,000 grant will support after-school and summer activities for at-risk youth, as well as weekend activities for the students and their families.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University will negotiate with an energy services company to conduct a detailed energy audit identifying opportunities for greater environmental sustainability, energy conservation and savings. This establishes SFA as one of the leading Texas universities in creating a "green" campus.

Bob Garrett of Tyler, chairman of the building and grounds committee of the SFA Board of Regents, noted that, according to The Princeton Review, 60 percent of students consider campuses' environmental initiatives when deciding which college to attend.

Retiring Faculty

Retiring faculty members were recently honored at Stephen F. Austin State University. Pictured are, from left, Tomy Matthys, theatre; Ann Doyle-Anderson, modern languages; and Gail Leslie and Craig Wood, computer science. Retirees not pictured are Scott Beasley, forestry; Barbara Carr, English; Joyce Hoffman, management; Thomas Houston, music; Michael Legg, forestry; and Thomas Wheeler, graduate studies.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - Private music lessons for children and adults, a music discovery camp for second through sixth graders, Kindermusik camps for newborns through 7-year-olds and an adult piano class are all part of the summer program offered by the Music Preparatory Division at Stephen F. Austin State University.