Sam Houston State highlights research centers, community engagement and training institutes in campus update

Dr. Michael Stevenson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), gave a campus update Feb. 14 highlighting the university’s research centers, community partnerships and professional training programs.

Stevenson said SHSU hosts more than 35 research centers and institutes that support community engagement and applied research. “These centers are more than just places of learning. They are hubs of innovation and change,” he said.

The presentation described several units: a College of Business Center for Innovation in Technology and Entrepreneurship that provides 3-D printing and RFID technology for students and partners; the Jack Stoggs counseling clinics (graduate-run clinics providing free mental-health services); the College of Education Center for Assessment, Research and Educational Safety, which focuses on threat assessment and behavioral health; and an Institute for Homeland Security that partners with public and private sectors on transportation, energy and health-care challenges.

Stevenson noted SHSU’s national recognition from the Carnegie Foundation for community engagement and described the Center for Law Engagement and Politics’ LEAP program, which provides civic leadership opportunities and paid city-fellow internships. He also described the Eleanor and Charles Garrett Center on Transition and Disability Studies’ partnerships with regional educational service centers and school districts to support students with disabilities.

The provost concluded by offering to take questions and by quipping, “I’m happy to answer questions about everything but the alarm.”