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SHSU Update For Week Of June 17
- Museum Sponsors Annual Photo Contest
- Exhibit Highlights Texas’s ‘Working Hands’
- College Seeks Nominees For Wall Of Honor
- Planetarium Series Continues Through Summer
- OneCard Services Receives ‘Marketing Excellence’ Award
- Professors Elected To Statewide Educator Board
- Irby Gives NSF Lecture On Longitudinal Studies
- LEMIT Officials Teach Leadership To Overseas Women
- Today@Sam Seeks Summer, Fall Calendar Info
- Submit Update Items Here
Museum Sponsors Annual Photo Contest
Avid amateur photographers can get exposure for their work and compete for cash prizes during the Sam Houston Memorial Museum’s third annual amateur photography contest.
The contest will recognize non-professional photographers in eight different categories, including “Huntsville,” “Sam Houston Museum,” “Landscape” “Floral,” “People,” “Architecture,” “Animals,” and a “Youth” category for photographers 16 years old and younger whose work can be on any subject matter.
Prizes will include $200 for “Best in Show,” $100 for “Curator’s Choice,” and $20 for first, $15 for second, and $10 for third place in each of the categories.
Submissions will be accepted until Sept. 14 and will be judged in a private session by a panel of judges. Winners will be contacted by phone.
There are no residency requirements to enter the contest.
All entries and the winners will be featured in an exhibit Oct. 15 through Dec. 14 in the Katy and E. Don Walker, Sr., Education Center Exhibition Gallery.
The cost per entry is $5 and only cash will be accepted as payment.
Photographs must be submitted as full 8-by-10-inch glossy prints, unmounted, unframed, and with no border, without exceptions.
Photographers may enter as many categories as they like, but no more than two photographs will be accepted per contestant per category.
Each photo entry must have its own entry form, which can be found, along with more information and rules for the contest, at www.samhouston.memorial.museum/News/.
Application forms can be picked up at the museum any time during museum hours, or downloaded directly from the museum website.
For more information, contact exhibits curator Casey Roon at 936.294.3292 or cmr022@shsu.edu or marketing coordinator Megan Buro at 936.294.3839 or mlb044@shsu.edu.
Exhibit Highlights Texas’s ‘Working Hands’
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| This image is among those that are currently on display in the Walker Education Center as part of Rick Williams's "Working Hands" exhibit. |
In “Working Hands,” the photographic exhibit currently on display in the Katy and E. Don Walker, Sr., Education Center, Rick Williams pays homage to manual labor, an industry, he says, that reshaped the Texas landscape from boundless prairies to ranches, farms, towns, and cities.
“Human hands produced the goods and income that kept the economy going,” he said. “Work formed, and continues to form, communities of people who come together to get a job done.”
The images of workers and work places in three diverse industries that constitute the three pillars of the Texas economy: ranching, oil and technology.
The 40 black-and-white images will hang in the Education Center through July 15.
Williams’s images strive to evoke a powerful sense of what it must feel like to engage in the work depicted, as well as the unique character each industry brings to the Texas landscape, he said.
These images suggest fascinating stories about work and workers, highlighting such topics as equipment, starting the day, workplaces, occupational signals, consultations, trouble-shooting, teamwork, working alone, and relaxation.
“Working Hands” is an exhibition organized by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Humanities Texas develops and supports diverse programs across the state, including lectures, oral history projects, teacher institutes, traveling exhibitions and documentary films.
For more information, contact Megan Buro, Sam Houston Memorial Museum marketing coordinator, at 936.294.3839 or mlb044@shsu.edu.
College Seeks Nominees For Wall Of Honor
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is seeking outstanding alumni and faculty to be recognized as part of its third annual Wall of Honor.
Nominations are being accepted for “individuals who have distinguished themselves throughout their careers through personal and professional achievements and who have made significant contributions to SHSU, the students, and to society, and thus have brought honor and distinction to our college and university,” according to John de Castro, CHSS dean.
“They must be graduates from one of the departments or programs of the college, but can be from any era in the history of SHSU including the present,” he said.
Faculty who have made significant contributions to SHSU and the CHSS, thereby distinguishing themselves throughout their careers and bringing distinction to SHSU, can also be nominated.
Nominations can be made online through the CHSS website at http://www.shsu.edu/~hss001/honor/.
Recipients are selected by the CHSS alumni advisory board.
Since the establishment of the wall of honor, eight alumni and faculty have been recognized. They include Walter Bennett, Joseph Clark, John Hannah, Ferol Robinson, Robert Gammage, Ron Koska, John Holcombe and James Olson.
The deadline for nominations is Oct. 1. Recipients are recognized during a ceremony with plaques and a video presentation.
For more information, contact Toni Abshire, in the dean’s office, at abshire@shsu.edu or 936.294.2205.
Planetarium Series Continues Through Summer
As summer heats up, the SHSU physics department is inviting the community to cool down with its indoor journey through outer space during its planetarium series program.
“Astronomyths” will be presented on Wednesday (June 20), at 3:30 p.m. in the Planetarium, in Farrington Building Room 201.
The stories of the night sky told from the perspective of a young boy on a camping trip with his grandfather will kick off the program, followed by an explanation of which constellations can best be viewed during the summer time, during which physics department staff laboratory assistant Michael Prokosch will point out Leo, Bootes, Lyra, Cygnus, Aquila, Scorpius and Sagittarius.
“‘Astronmyths’ deals a lot with constellations associated with fall; however, you can see all those constellations start to rise in the morning hours during the summer months,” Prokosch said.
The summer planetarium series program is designed to show audiences “what is currently up in the night sky” and highlight “recent events in astronomy and space science,” Prokosch said.
“Astronomyths” also will be presented July 3, July 18 and Aug. 1, in the Planetarium.
In addition, the summer series will include presentations of “The Colors of Summer,” which highlights “the summer constellations and all their splendor: more colors than you can imagine,” according to Prokosch. It will be presented June 27, July 11, July 25 and Aug. 8.
For more information on any of the planetarium shows, contact Prokosch at mwp007@shsu.edu or 936.294.3664 or visit the Planetarium Wikipage at http://shsu-planetarium.wikispaces.com/.
OneCard Services Receives ‘Marketing Excellence’ Award
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| Bearkat OneCard program coordinator Kari Zella (right) accepted the office's "Marketing Excellence" award, presented b NuVision Networks' Brian Adoff for SHSU's initial "Sammy Says It's the Only Card You Need" campaign. |
Sam Houston State University’s Bearkat OneCard Services’ “brand awareness” campaign has been named the 2012 NACCU Marketing Excellence Award winner by the National Association of Campus Card Users.
NuVision Networks’ Brian Adoff presented the award to program coordinator Kari Zella during the 19th Annual NACCU Conference in Seattle in April, recognizing the department’s initial campaign implemented several years ago.
The campaign included the creation of the Bearkat OneCard logo and the slogan “Sammy Says It’s the Only Card You Need.”
“The goal was, and remains, to educate students and parents on the OneCard program through campus involvement,” said Kristy L. Vienne, assistant vice president for Student Services. “The card office participates in numerous events throughout the year, allowing them to interact with the campus community.”
In addition to its involvement with New Student Orientation, during which team members speak to hundreds of students and parents about the card’s advantages each week throughout the summer, the office also provides customized informational sessions to large, specialized groups of students that focus on card privileges associated with their specific program. They also use a program that tracks student participation in campus activities, such as sporting events and seminars.
Currently, the office is gearing up for their newest promotion: “Activate your Bearkat OneCard and you could be winning too!”
“This promotion will target students who have a first-time OneCard that has not yet been activated,” Vienne said. “These students will receive a free T-shirt simply by activating their OneCard and selecting a refund preference. Students will be contacted through an e-mail campaign.”
OneCard staff are also developing a program designed to encourage the campus community to post photos using their Bearkat OneCard around the campus, the country and even the world.
Promoting their Facebook account, Bearkat OneCard Services is encouraging “Likes” to the Facebook page by posting scavenger hunts and games where students who post back the correct answers or post a photo of the activity will be entered into a prize drawing for free textbooks.
“As the trend grows for students to rely on Facebook and other social media outlets for news, current events, culture and entertainment, the Bearkat OneCard Services social media campaign will continue to develop and reach more students,” Vienne said.
The NACCU Marketing Excellence Award, sponsored by NuVision Networks, is presented each year to an institution that demonstrates “excellence in executing an integrated marketing plan with measurable results” in improved financial performance, enhanced service, or achievement of a defined goal.
Nominations must include demonstrated use and integration of three or more marketing efforts to promote the visibility and value of an institution’s campus card program; they also must include demonstrated return on investment.
The Marketing Excellence Award selection committee scored each submission based on a common scoring method, with the nomination that received the top score being the winner.
Professors Elected To Statewide Educator Board
Two professors in Sam Houston State University’s College of Education, have been elected to leadership positions within the Texas Association of College Teachers.
Cynthia Simpson, associate professor of special education, was elected as TACT’s president-elect, and Chad Rose, assistant professor of special education, was elected vice-president of membership for the 2012-2013 year.
These officers will take their place among the leading minds of an organization that has advocated for the rights of college teachers in Texas since its inception more than 60 years ago, according to TACT executive director Chuck Hempstead.
TACT’s newest officers will assist in the creation and advocacy of a legislative agenda that benefits Texas college faculty, staff, and students.
“Our leadership is driven; our members are passionate about improving the quality of life of faculty,” Hempstead said. “We’ve got a pivotal session at the Capitol coming up, and the volunteer board has outlined its aims for the legislative calendar. We’ll be making our policy goals known, just as we’ve done for the past 60 years.”
Since 1948, TACT has been at the forefront of the fight for teacher salaries and retirement benefits, academic freedom in the classroom, and tenure protection.
Credit for the success of the association goes to the thousands of academic leaders who spent their time, talents, energy and emotion to guide TACT through its six decades of service to the profession, Hempstead said.
Irby Gives NSF Lecture On Longitudinal Studies
Beverly J. Irby, Texas State University System Regents' Professor and associate dean for the College of Education’s graduate programs, was one of the major presenters on June 14 at the National Science Foundation's Annual Discovery Research K-12 Principal Investigator Meeting in Washington, D.C.
She—along with colleagues, Rafael Lara-Alecio, from Texas A&M University; Jeff Barrett, from Illinois State University; and Doug Clements, from New York University—was asked to provide information regarding challenges and benefits related to longitudinal randomized control trial studies.
Irby is the principle investigator for a longitudinal study funded by the National Science Foundation, called Project Middle School Science for English Language Learners.
In addition, she has several forthcoming papers that report the findings of the research; one such paper will appear soon in the Journal for Research in Science Teaching.
LEMIT Officials Teach Leadership To Overseas Women
Rita Watkins, executive director of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, and SHSU graduate student Angela Warner recently traveled halfway around the world to provide leadership training to women in law enforcement in Southeast Asia.
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| During graduation ceremonies, women were given the option to wear their police uniforms or native dress. —Submitted photos |
“Leadership for Women in Law Enforcement,” sponsored by the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok, provided leadership training and networking opportunities for 46 female law enforcement executives from eight countries in the region.
Participants included senior law enforcement officers, attorneys, immigration and human trafficking specialists, investigators, intelligence officers, finance and budget specialists, and U.S. Embassy security from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
“To be attached to this project is such an honor and privilege,” Watkins said. “I learned so much from these women. Together, they had 752 years of experience, and anywhere from two to 34 years of service. They were able to develop friendships, networks of support, and skills they learned from each other.”
During the five-day program leadership trends and challenges facing women in law enforcement were discussed, and participants identified five common themes in their profession in an effort to develop strategies to address them. The women put on plays and skits, did interviews with role models and role-playing exercises, and made videos to demonstrate problems and the solutions they used.
Among the issues common to law enforcement women in those areas include women supporting or not supporting each other; generational gaps; occupational safety and health issues in an operational environment; how to deal with unethical behavior in the office; overcoming the challenges of physical characteristics; male-dominated gender equality and how females think differently than male counterparts; how to support other women for success and achievement; and how subordinates respond and react to female and male counterparts.
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| A total of 46 female police executives from Southeast Asia were trained in leadership skills at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok. |
Warner, a supervisory special agent/pilot for the Aviation Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Houston who participated as an instructor and panelist, said many of the Asian women were in the same place that American women were 30 years ago, relegated to administrative, legal or witness interviewing positions, but yearning for a chance for operational leadership roles as undercover, tactical, patrol, or trainers.
“I was truly amazed and truly humbled by the level of education and experience sitting in the audience,” she said. “I probably learned as much from them as they did from me. Gender issues are still alive in law enforcement and a lot of women are looking for operational experience.”
Watkins said the training provided an opportunity for women in Asia to network and to depend on one another not only in times of crisis, but for general support and inspiration.
This is the third time ILEA has provided this training to women across the globe.
Other presenters included Jenny Lau, superintendent of police in Hong Kong, and John Limbach and Janet Lanham, from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
Today@Sam Seeks Summer, Fall 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.
To see a full list of the Today@Sam submission guidelines, or to access submission forms for news or feature stories, calendar submissions, or hometown releases, visit /guidelines.html.
For more information, call 936.294.1836.
Submit Update Items Here
In order to assist members of the Sam Houston State University community in publicizing events, the SHSU Communications Office (Today@Sam) is now requesting that students, faculty and staff submit information about events, accomplishments or ideas for feature stories online.
Submission criteria and guidelines, including deadlines, have now been placed online, at /guidelines.html. This information is also accessible through the “Submissions” link in the right-hand navigation on Today@Sam.
From there, those submitting ideas can access forms that will allow them to provide detailed information about their idea, as well as attach event calendars, vitas/resumes or photos, depending on the type of submission.
Ideas submitted to the SHSU Communications Office are directly utilized in several ways: as news stories, “slider” or SHSU home page stories, hometown releases, and on the Today@Sam calendar.
If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information, or we will edit the information using SHSU/journalistic style and forward the final release to the appropriate media.
All information is verified before release, so please provide complete, accurate and timely information. Please type all responses in appropriate upper and lower cases.
For more information, contact the Communications Office at 936.294.1836 or today@sam.edu.
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SHSU Media Contacts: Julia May, Jennifer Gauntt
June 15, 2012
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office
Associate Director: Julia May
Manager: 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.
