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Pictured with SHSU President Jim Gaertner are the recipients of the 2008 Staff Excellence Award. From left are Debra McCall, Reyna Ayala and Elfreda D'Cunha. Details.

Regents Approve Degrees, Promotions/Tenure

The Texas State University System Board of Regents Friday approved a number of business items for Sam Houston State University, including new degrees, a new building, new standards for transfer students, a new intercollegiate sport for women, and promotions and tenure. Click for promotions/tenure and other business.

Police Urge Caution After Campus Incident Reports

Sam Houston State University and Huntsville police are looking for individuals involved in a number of incidents in the city and on campus, including a reported aggravated robbery April 29 and a reported aggravated sexual assault Wednesday night. Details.

Ten Commissioned As Army Leaders

Ten SHSU seniors earned the rank of second lieutenant in the U.S. Army on Friday afternoon during the Bearkat Battalion Commissioning Ceremony in the Olson Auditorium. Details.

Program Encourages New Bearkats To 'Read To Succeed'

SHSU's First Year Experience office will begin giving incoming freshmen their first college academic experience before they even set foot in a classroom with its new "Bearkats Read to Succeed" program. Through the program, students will be given a copy of a book to read over the summer, which will be integrated into some of the classes they take. Details.

SHSU Offers Summer Reading Tutorials For Kids

Classroom teachers enrolled in Sam Houston State University's College of Education master's program in reading this summer will be working with students who need help with reading skills. Students from grades one through seven are invited to participate. Sessions will be scheduled three times per week from June 9 - July 3. Details.

SHSU Provost Is Winner Of 2008 NACADA Pacesetter Award

David E. Payne, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Sam Houston State University, has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Pacesetter Award from the National ACademic ADvising Association (NACADA). Payne is credited as the "driving force" behind the creation of SHSU's nationally recognized SAM Center, which in 2006 was recognized by NACADA as one of the top such centers in the United States. Details.

New Sam Houston Statue Honors World War II Hero M. B. Etheredge

A new statue of General Sam Houston has been erected at Sam Houston State University. It is a smaller replica of the 67-foot "Tribute to Courage" on I45 south of Huntsville. SHSU donor Ron Mafrige provided funding for the statue and said it honors M. B. Etheredge of Huntsville, the United States' most highly decorated surviving soldier of World War II. Details.

Report Addresses Student Concerns About Textbook Costs

A report by the SHSU Office of the Vice President for Student Services and members of the Student Government Association confirms what students have been saying for years about the skyrocketing costs of textbooks. And now, some students are taking chances on whether or not they should even buy books for their courses. Details.

SHSU Recognizes Faculty Excellence

Two business professors, who join an elite group of multiple honorees, and a physicist have been recognized for their teaching, service and research skills as the 2008 Faculty Excellence Award winners. Details.

Trip Teaches Class To Sing Geography Blues

Assistant professor of geography John Strait mixes geography and the blues for his "Race, Blues, Rock 'N Roll and the Georgraphy of the Mississippi Delta" course, a five-day field trip on which students get to visit a number of blues-influenced and blues-influencing locations in Tennessee and Mississippi. The course, considered a first summer session class, will begin May 18. Details.

Senior Tenured Faculty Member Is Turned On To Research

When Jim Tiller went to a family reunion six years ago, he had no idea that a conversation he had with a relative about writing a family history would lead him to the re-invigoration of his professional career. Since then he has written one book, has another planned, has done numerous articles and presentations, and is enjoying his job as professor of geography like never before. Details.

Spring Commencement To Have Record Number Of Grads

Ceremonies for a record number of graduates are scheduled at 6 p.m. May 16 for the College of Arts and Sciences, 10 a.m. May 17 for the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences and Business Administration and 2 p.m. May 17 for the Colleges of Education and Criminal Justice. Dirk Van Tuerenhout, anthropology curator at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and current member of the board of regents Trisha S. Pollard are the speakers. Details.

SHSU Update

SHSU 'In the News'

Trevor Thorn, director of admissions, was quoted in a Houston Chronicle story about students who enroll in private schools or move out of state to avoid having to take Texas public schools TAKS exit exams.

The 2008 "Texas Teachers, Moonlighting and Morale" study by Daphne Johnson, Marilyn Rice, Samuel Sullivan and Abigail Beard was cited in an editorial on National Teacher Week in the San Angelo Standard-Times.