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SHSU Update For Week Of June 7
- Association Surpasses Life Member Goal
- Raven Nest Offers Summer Rates, Clinics
- Summer Graduation Applications Due June 11
- Workshops To Focus On Study Skills During Summer
- SHSU Reaches Out As Foster Conference Sponsor
- Center Recognized During Annual Luncheon
- Prof Works With Puerto Rican Students On Campaign
- Chemistry Awards Scholarships, Recognizes Graduates
- Today@Sam Seeks Summer Calendar Info
- Send Update Items Here
Association Surpasses Life Member Goal
One hundred and seven alumni and friends became Life Members of the SHSU Alumni Association, helping a group of volunteers to exceed its goal during the association’s first Life Member campaign.
The Life Membership Drive sought to collect 100 new members and push the Life Member Endowment over the $1 million mark during the six-week period between April 1 and May 15. Both goals were reached, according to Charlie Vienne, director of Alumni Relations.
SHSU now has a total of 1,320 Life Memberships, up from 350 four years ago, and the Life Member Endowment is well over $1 million.
"Many volunteers, primarily consisting of current Life Members, dedicated their time, energy, and resources to ensure a successful campaign, and we could not have reached our goal without their support," Vienne said.
Volunteers from all over the state assisted by reaching out to alumni to solicit their support in becoming Life Members, he said.
Life Members receive a number of benefits, including reduced rates for both campus-related activities, such as the use of Raven Nest Golf Club, as well as off-campus entities such as Hertz car rental; invitations to university events; access to the Sam Houston credit card and an insurance program for both car and home owners insurance.
Memberships, which are $1,000, or $400 for senior citizens and recent graduates, can be paid for in installments and can also be counted as a tax credit. Joint Life Memberships are also available at a special rate.
For more information on becoming a Life Member, or purchase a Life Membership, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 800.283.7478 or visit http://alumni.shsu.edu.
Raven Nest Offers Summer Rates, Clinics
Avid golfers can spend less green this summer while those who want to learn the sport can get lessons from the pros with special rates and clinics being offered at the Raven Nest Golf Club.
Junior golf clinics, taught by PGA professionals, will begin June 9 for children ages 5 to 14.
Clinics will be held in five sessions: the first, June 9-11; the second, June 23-25; the third, July 7-9; the fourth July 14-16; and finally, July 28-30.
Clubs are provided, and the cost is $40. Family discounts will also be available for those with more than one child, for $70.
In addition, Saturday junior golf clinics, for those 14 years old and younger, will be held on five days throughout the summer for $5. The 30-minute sessions will begin at 9 a.m.
Player development clinics will also be held two Saturdays per month for all golfers for $10.
Summer weekday special rates are $23, plus tax, which includes a cart, and juniors ages 15 and under play free with a paying adult. Discounts for 16- and 17-years are also offered ($5 off the general public rate).
For more information, or for specific dates for clinics, call Raven Golf Club at 936.438.8588 or visit www.ravennestgolf.com.
Summer Graduation Applications Due June 11
Students who anticipate graduating this summer are to file degree applications by Friday (June 11) with the Registrar’s Office.
Those who fail to apply by the deadline will be assessed a $25 late application fee in addition to the $25 graduation fee.
Students can apply online through SamWeb by going to “student records” and selecting “application for degree” from the drop down menu. Online payments can be made with Mastercard, Visa or American Express.
Summer commencement is scheduled for Aug. 7 in the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum.
The Registrar’s Office is located on the third floor of the Estill Building.
For more information, call 936.294.1040.
Workshops To Focus On Study Skills During Summer
With the different, and sometimes more challenging, atmosphere classes take on during the summer, the Student Advising and Mentoring Center is tailoring its study skills workshops to help students with the four-week sessions.
The first Study Skills Summer Workshop Series will begin Tuesday (June 8).
The four, one-hour sessions will introduce study skills, as well as discuss procrastination, time management, reading textbooks, test taking and stress management.
“Our summer sessions are four weeks and include vital information on study skills which are proven to improve study habits as well as GPA,” said Chelsea Maxwell, SAM Center student assistant.
The workshop series for the first summer session will be held through July 2.
Workshops will be held at a variety of times to accommodate student schedules and will be held in the SAM Center, located in College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building Room 170.
A second workshop series, which will cover the same topics, will be held for the second summer session and will begin July 12.
Workshops will be held in the SAM Center, located in College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building Room 170.
For more information, or to register, call 936.294.4444.
SHSU Reaches Out As Foster Conference Sponsor
Sam Houston State University was one of the many sponsors of the Texas Reach Convening, a conference joining community agencies, social workers and institutes of higher education to explore ways of better serving the college needs of foster care youth, May 26-27.
The Texas Reach Convening brought together decision makers and program developers from across the state to share information and best practices, in order to increase the number of former foster youth entering and succeeding in college, according to Keri Rogers, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, who, along with First Year Experience director Kay Angrove was on the conference planning committee.
SHSU took nine participants to the event, held at Texas State University—San Marcos.
“The goal is to improve interaction between youth service agencies, colleges and universities to increase access to higher education for this group,” she said.
There were 28,462 Texas children in out-of-home care in 2007 with 15,920 having entered care that year, according to Casey Family Programs.
Nationally, only 2 percent of youth from foster care attain a bachelor’s degree, compared to 24 percent of the general population.
The conference aims to incrementally improve degree attainment to rates beyond 2 percent, according to Rogers.
Other sponsors included Austin Community College, Austin Community Foundation, Casey Family Programs, Foster
Care Alumni of America, Rodenfels Family Foundation, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas Pioneer Foundation, Texas State Division of Student Affairs and the Texas State School of Social Work.
Center Recognized During Annual Luncheon
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| Small Business Development Center director Bob Barragan accepted a congressional commendation on behalf of the center for its "continued support of entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout Southeast Texas." |
SHSU Small Business Development Center director Robert “Bob” Barragan received a commendation presented by Brandon Reese on behalf of U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady during its annual Small Business Appreciation Luncheon on May 18, which was also proclaimed “Small Business Appreciation Day” in Huntsville by Mayor J. Turner.
Kicking off National Small Business Week, which began May 23, a national celebration of small business’s contribution to the U.S. economy, the commendation recognized “the Sam Houston State University Small Business Development Center for its continued support of entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout Southeast Texas.”
Approximately 150 small business owners and community leaders attended the luncheon and heard Suzanne Penley of Customer Focused Systems of Houston speak, according to Ce Schlicher, SBDC consultant/training coordinator.
Her topic, “Don’t Take the Cheese Off of Your Pizza!” addressed the need for small businesses to retain current customers and generate “word of mouth” by letting customers tell great stories about small businesses, Schlicher said.
The Huntsville Item also presented their 2010 “Reader’s Choice Awards” for area small businesses.
Co-sponsors for the event included SHSU College of Business, Houston-Galveston Area Council, City of Huntsville, Walker County, Huntsville-Walker County Chamber of Commerce, The Huntsville Item, The Rotary Club of Huntsville, First National Bank of Huntsville and the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The SHSU Small Business Development Center is a business consulting and training center of the University of Houston Small Business Development Center Network.
Prof Works With Puerto Rican Students On Campaign
Mass communication department assistant professor Wanda Reyes participated in a bilingual teleconference on May 3 with students at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico to discuss her research in health communication and mass media.
Reyes was invited to discuss a case study she had written about a type 2 diabetes campaign, published in an international public relations textbook, by José Lucas Rodríguez, professor of international public relations at Pontifical Catholic University.
She answered questions about the case study and lectured on how to shorten the gap between academic research and the public relations practice by explaining the research projects she is working on.
“I wanted not only to explain the transition between academic research and designing a campaign, but also to encourage a discussion between my students and Rodríguez’s students,” Reyes said.
Kenneth Mays and Elizabeth Alper, SHSU mass communication department students, also discussed their experiences working on this research project and exchanged ideas with the students from Puerto Rico.
“This teleconference was a beneficial experience, and working on this project has given me a chance to apply course content to a real-life situation,” Mays said.
During the teleconference, the conversation alternated between English and Spanish to accommodate participants that were more comfortable in either language.
“The language barrier was not an issue for the students, and this event helped to demonstrate that technology can be an effective teaching tool to shorten geographic distances and allow students to interact with people from other cultures in a classroom setting,” Reyes said.
The teleconference took place in the SHSU PACE Center and was made possible with the support of the Distance Education and Learning Technologies for Academics Center.
Reyes’s research interests lie in investigating health communication in mass media, specifically in message design, the uses of social media as communication and educational tools and cultural aspects that must be taken into consideration when designing health messages for different cultural groups.
Chemistry Awards Scholarships, Recognizes Graduates
The SHSU chemistry department recently recognized its scholarship recipients and graduates during its annual awards ceremony in the Chemistry and Forensic Science Building.
Scholarship recipients included Mark Amann, the James C. Stallings Scholarship; Callie Kobayashi, the Ray E. Humphrey Scholarship; Brittany Winner, the Jeffrey E. Zagone Scholarship; Stephanie Belt, Anna Duke and Maelani Negrito, the Chemistry Alumni Scholarship; and Marla Shifflet, the Jason L. Moore Scholarship.
Receiving chemistry academic scholarships were Kristen Araghchi, Charli Baker, Stephanie Basiliere, Jorgan Bouchum, Jacob Broadway, Asheley Coriz, Brittany Disiere, Nicholas Gachie, Matthew Garrow, Madison Hausinger, Jesse Hellums, Tiffany Herbelin, William Hoch, Kathryn Hoogendoorn, Casey Jaynes, Christopher John, Megan Konarik, Stephen Lee, Heather Linder, Stephanie Matson, Elizabeth Nesselrode, Kristen Pelo, Ashley Pike, Rebeca Reyna, Irving Rodriguez, Elizabeth Rudolph, Katelyn Stafford, Champale Thomas and Sara Townsend.
Receiving Robert A. Welch Fellowships for research to be conducted during the summer were Mark Amann, Kristen Araghchi, Jacob Broadway, Shirangi Fernando, Paul Guidry, Naleen Jayaratna, Callie Kobayashi, Desire Lopez, Adam Meyers, Rebecca Montes, Elizabeth Nesselrode, Phong Ngo, Dustin Palm, Suchithra Senevirathne and Sara Townsend.
Jessica Nasr and Tsemr-Dengil Tessema received Department of Defense Research Fellowships for research to be conducted in the summer.
Also recognized were students graduating at the end of the spring or summer semesters, including Jermaine Behl, Aisha Bello, Joseph Cox, Bryan Crom, Erica Delano, Shirangi Fernando, Bruce Hamby, Sara Henk, Blake Howard, Naleen Jayaratna, Ashley Konarik, Kristen Mack, Sarah Martin, Kenneth Mature, Jeremy Mitchell, Rebecca Montes, Phong Ngo, Trisha O’Bryon, Ashley Pipkin, Emilie Rascher, Meghan Riley, Robyn Ruiz, Nelson Sheppard, Katelyn Slayter, Angelica Villa-Real and Somiyeh Zalekian.
Today@Sam Seeks Summer Calendar Info
The University Communications Office is now collecting information on campus events for its summer and fall calendar pages.
Departmental calendars or events can be sent to today@sam.edu or jenniferg@shsu.edu or faxed to 294.1834. Please include the date, location and time of the event, as well as a brief description and a contact person.
Information collected for the Today@Sam calendar pages, at /calendars/, is used by various media outlets, as well as the Communications Office for news stories and releases.
All information, including story ideas and update items for Today@Sam, should be sent a minimum of a week in advance of the event in order to make necessary contacts and write a story.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
Send Update Items Here
Information for the SHSU Update can be sent to the Office of Communications 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 staff ample time to make necessary contacts and write the story.
For electronic access to SHSU news see the Communications Web page Today@Sam.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Bruce Erickson, Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
June 4, 2010
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.
