NEW STAFF
Bryon W. Lewis - Associate Director, Undergraduate Admission - starting in the summer
STAFF LEAVING
Felicia Davis - Information Processing
Zenda Cox - Information Processing
STAFF PROMOTIONS
Marcia Miller - Associate Director
Cindy Luetzow - Associate Director
Consuela Mitchell - Assistant Director
Birthdays
Nancy Skochdopole - March 8th
Marilyn Prokup - March 13th Epi Ramirez - 18 years! Summer Kokic - 6 years Deveron Ellison - 6 years Hilary Bowman - 2 years Gordon Brannon - 2 years
Fernando Del Rio - 1 year Paley Wu - 1 year Peggy Park's Retirement Party
As was reported in the January 08 issue of the DES
Newsletter, Peggy Park is retiring from her full-time job as Associate
Director of Financial Aid. She will continue assisting SMU Financial Aid in
an ad hoc position as the need arises. This will allow her to spend
more time with her family and to travel. On February 15, 2008, the Division of Enrollment Services
honored Peggy for her years of service to SMU with a reception in the Laura Lee
Blanton Student Services Building. Here are some pictures of the
highlights of the celebration.
Anniversaries
The Family
Peggy and Marc Peterson
Peggy and Tom Tunks
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Colleen Franklin -
Colleen Rocks! Anytime, I ask her for anything she gets it to me and
fast!!! She is a HUGE part of why the EFT recon now works so smoothly and
I just wanted to give her props. I am sure ya'll already know this, but I
want to say it anyway. Colleen . . . THANK YOU!!!! You make me look good.
Lori Hollingsworth Kick Off for Summer School 2008 The second annual Summer School Kick Off was held on the west
bridge of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on March 5th. The location,
pizza, give-aways, enthusiastic staff and student workers made the event a big
success. Fifteen pizzas were handed out (one piece to a customer) and 300
bottles of water. The purpose of the event is to remind students, as they
prepare for enrollment after spring break, of the programs offered in the summer
. Representatives of the SMU Study Abroad Program, SMU-in-Taos and SMU in
Dallas were on hand to distribute information and to answer questions. The
Summer School staff encourages students to make summer school part of their four
plan for their education at SMU. Many students use the summer as a way to
add a major, a minor, and even a second degree. Other use it as a way to
expand their knowledge outside of their major area of interest through Study
Abroad and Taos programs. Initiatives for SMU in Dallas this summer are to add more
classes particularly targeted at General Education Curriculum and to provide
more financial assistance to students wishing to enroll for the summer.
Both the SMU Study Abroad program and SMU-in-Taos have new offerings as well.
All of this information can be accessed from the Summer School website at
www.smu.edu/summer. We hope to have many students (faculty and staff, too) to
spend Summer in the City with SMU Summer School. It is Degrees Above the
Rest.
for 30 years of Service
Patricia F. Woods began her work at SMU as a temporary staff member assisting with registration for what is now Student Financial Services. She became a full-time, permanent employee in February of 1978 (she was very young at the time). Over the past 30 years, Pat has served in many positions and was promoted to head of Student Financial Services upon the retirement of Frances Campbell.
Now the Bursar and Executive Director of Enrollment Services, Pat has been an innovator. She was instrumental in the re-engineering of Enrollment Services and worked on the plans for the construction of the Blanton Building. In Student Financial Services, Pat has been a pioneer in technical applications to improve service and to make work more efficient.
Pat is a founder of a
state-wide association for student account professionals - Texas Bursars and
University Cashiers Association - TxBUC$. She also has been asked by several Texas
colleges to conduct an audit of their office operation and offer recommendations
to improve efficiency.
Important Dates
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer
The
Southern Association of College Registrars and Admission Officers (SACRAO) held
its 2008 conference in Williamsburg, Virginia under the leadership of John Hall,
SMU Registrar and Executive Director of Enrollment Services and President of
SACRAO. Staff from SMU welcomed conference participants in traditional
colonial dress. The theme
was "Virginia Hospitality" using the familiar logo of the pineapple. The Pineapple in Colonial Williamsburg So, what IS up with using a pineapple for
the SACRAO ’08 logo? This conference is in Williamsburg, Virginia, not Hawaii,
right? Right, however, the pineapple was used as
a decoration throughout not only Williamsburg, but all of the American colonies.
As you wander through the colonial capital during the conference you will notice
it represented in the form of carvings, sculpture, and seasonal decorations of
all kinds such as door knockers, wrought ironwork, and center pieces throughout
the town. The pineapple came from the Caribbean
during colonial times and was an expensive luxury. The sweetness and unusual
appearance of the pineapple and its association with fertility and agriculture
made it a sought-after delicacy. When it was served to guests, they were
naturally flattered at the honor, and thus may have evolved the idea that the
pineapple was considered a sign of the highest form of hospitality. And so because the pineapple evolved
into a symbol of hospitality in colonial times it was adopted for the SACRAO ’08
conference logo as a representation of our sincere desire to offer Virginia
hospitality to you as a SACRAO member. The
conference programs took on a Williamsburg flavor with a session on Colonial
Basket Weaving and ample time to explore colonial Williamsburg. Other
offering of the conference focused on working with diverse population including
the generation gap between staff and students. Sessions were offered for
new professionals to learn more about the Registrar and Admissions business and
the organization of SACRAO.
April Division Meeting
April 2nd
March 21 - Good Friday Holiday
April 4 - Last day to drop a course
April
7 - Enrollment begins for Fall and
summer 2008
April 22 -Last day to
withdraw from the University
April 30 - Last day of instruction
May 1&2 - Reading days
May 3-9 - Examinations
May 10 - Residence Halls close
May 16 - Baccalaureate
May 17 - Commencement
May 26 - Memorial Day
Holiday
Perseverance:
Sticking to something you're
not stuck on.
Author Unknown
