"The measure of a Life is its Service."
As many as 500 incoming freshmen are expected to receive their official welcome to Sam Houston State University on Saturday (Aug. 23) during the First Year Experience’s fourth annual New Student Convocation.
The ceremony, for students and their families, will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
“The New Student Convocation is a celebration that welcomes new students to campus with just the right balance of formality and entertainment,” said Keri Rogers, director for the First Year Experience. “It’s our opportunity to help them get started on the right foot for college.”
Byron V. Garrett, a motivational speaker and chief executive officer of the National Parent-Teacher’s Association, will encourage students to make the most of their college experience during his keynote address.
Garrett, the first male CEO of the PTA in 100 years, has worked in both the non-profit and governmental sectors, most recently serving as the chief of staff for the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The ceremony, which will last approximately an hour, has a graduation-like atmosphere, with faculty, staff and administration members dressed in caps and gowns and the traditional processions, but students and their families are not required to dress up for the event, according to Rogers.
After the convocation, an ARAMARK-sponsored dinner will be held on the Coliseum grounds, followed by the Recreational Sports department’s Block Party after party at 7 p.m. at Intramural Field No. 1.
Students should bring their Sam ID cards in order to participate in the activities.
In addition, shuttles will be available to and from Sam Houston Village and King Hall.
For more information, contact Rogers at krogers@shsu.edu or visit the First Year Experience Web site at http://www.shsu.edu/fye.
Thousands of SHSU students are expected begin returning to Huntsville this week for the fall semester, which will begin on Aug. 25.
Residence halls will open at 10 a.m. on Thursday (Aug. 21), and for those needing a hand with heavy boxes or furniture, members of various student organizations and athletics teams will be offering their services during “New Student Move-In,” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Late registration will be held on Aug. 25, the first class day for both daytime and nighttime on- and off-campus classes.
The following Monday (Sept. 1), students and employees will get a break when the university closes for Labor Day.
The last day students can register or make schedule changes is Sept. 2.
Faculty and staff members are encouraged to get their 2008-2009 parking permits before the back-to-school rush.
Permits are currently on sale for $75 and can be purchased at the University Police Department by credit card (in the lobby) or by payroll deduction only; in the Cashier’s Office by cash, check or credit card; or online though the “financial systems” link on SamWeb.
This year, faculty and staff members will have the choice of either a hanging tag or a sticker.
Remote parking permits will still be available for $25 but are only valid at the Sam South Center, Agriculture Mechanical Complex and Bowers Stadium.
In addition, contract spaces in the parking garage will go on sale for the general public on Tuesday (Aug. 19).
Reserved parking garage spaces are $250 for each of the fall and spring semesters and $75 for both summer sessions.
The work of two curriculum and instruction graduate students has been accepted for the 2008 Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education Conference.
Julie Mackie and Hilary Yeager will present their research papers October 19-21 in Austin.
Mackie will discuss her work on “The Role of Advanced Placement Programs in Preparation for College Classes,” as a round table topic, while Yeager will discuss her work on “Teacher Characteristics of Importance to School Principals.”
CSOTTE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the continued support and refinement of preparation and development programs for certified school personnel in Texas.
The organization “serves as a coordinating organization of organizations for teacher education” and “functions as an umbrella organization for the promotion of quality programs,” according to its Web site.
The physics department will give its last glimpses of the summer ‘colors’ as the season begins to make way for fall during its final showing of the planetarium series programs “The Colors of Summer” and feature presentation “The Cowboy Astronomer” on Friday (Aug. 29).
The program, which shows attendees which constellations, stars and planets they can expect to see in the upcoming weeks, will be held at 2 p.m. in the planetarium, located in Farrington Building Room 102.
The tour will point out and discuss the colors of the stars in such constellations as Cygnus, Lyra, Scorpio and Sagittarius, according to Michael Prokosch, staff aide for the physics department.
In addition, cowboy humorist and poet Baxter Black will give colorful commentary on the Big Dipper, Orion and Pegasus, helping “the viewer explore the stars from a cowboy's point of view,” as the narrator for “The Cowboy Astronomer” presentation, Prokosch said.
The planetarium seats up to 29 visitors and includes a dome that is approximately 18 feet in diameter and more than 20 feet high in the center.
“Essentially a time machine, the planetarium's projector can show how the night sky appears to an observer at any point in time from any place on the earth, from 100,000 years in the past, to 100,000 years into the future,” he said.
The entire program will last approximately an hour and fifteen minutes.
Admission is free, and a visitor's parking pass can be obtained at the Visitor and Alumni Center for the parking lot near the Farrington Building.
For more information on current show times for the planetarium or the observatory, call 936.294.3664 or e-mail Prokosch at mwp007@shsu.edu.
The Public Relations Office is currently accepting information to be used in its calendar pages for the fall semester.
Departmental or organization calendars or events may be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu.
Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
These calendars, located at /calendars/, are continuously updated throughout the year and are used by various media outlets, as well as PR itself, for news stories and releases.
All information for news stories should be sent to the office at least a week in advance to give the PR staff ample time to make necessary contacts and write the story. Items sent with less than a week’s notice may not be used.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
Information for the SHSU Update can be sent to the Office of Public Relations electronically at Today@Sam.edu or to any of the media contacts listed below.
Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
All information for news stories should be sent to the office at least a week in advance to give the PR staff ample time to make necessary contacts and write the story.
For electronic access to SHSU news see the Public Relations Web page Today@Sam.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Frank Krystyniak, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
July 25, 2008
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Director: Bruce Erickson
Assistant Director: Julia May
Writer: Jennifer Gauntt
Located in the 115 Administration Building
Telephone: 936.294.1836; Fax: 936.294.1834
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu.
Brian Domitrovic, assistant professor of history, appeared on Book TV (C-SPAN) May 1-2, speaking about his recent book "Econoclasts: The Rebels Sparked the Supply Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" (www.econoclasts.net).
Houston Chronicle education writer Jeannie Kever recently turned to Regents Professor of English Paul Ruffin for his views on university presses moving toward "digital books" as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper."We're fulfilling the ancient role of the university press, and that is to produce books," said Paul Ruffin, the Texas poet laureate for 2009 and director of the Texas Review Press at Sam Houston State University. "I don't want to give up the book because it is an art."
Monday, May 3
Tuesday, May 4
"The measure of a Life is its Service."