NEW STAFF
Randy Trevino -
Admission Counselor STAFF LEAVING
STAFF MOVES Cate Hamilton - moves to Coordinator of Administration in Registrar's
area Nancy Skochdopole - moves to Director of Transfer and Articulation
Services in Registrar's area Birthdays
Nancy Skochdopole - March 8 Deveron Ellison - 7 years Summer Kokic - 7 years Hilary
McIlvain - 3 years Gordon Brannon - 3 years Fernando Del Rio
- 2 years Paley Wu - 2 years Chante Chatman - 1 year
Joann Martinez - 1 year
Transfer Student Initiatives
In an effort to attract
more students
who
attend
community
colleges
before transferring to a four-year institution, SMU is
strengthening its
initiatives
to work with students
who
wish to transfer to SMU. The process of transferring academic
credits after admission involves touch-points throughout
the University.
Nancy Skockdopole agreed to take on the task of coordinating
the
matriculation
and transition
of transfer students. She has moved from the position of
Assistant Registrar for Special Projects to Director of Transfer and
Articulation Services.
In her new role,
Nancy will work with all of the offices that touch transfer students. She will
serve as an advocate for transfers beginning with generating initial interest,
through their admission, retention and graduation, to their ultimate involvement
as alumni. Nancy also will coordinate with other colleges to facilitate a
seamless transfer process.
With regard to
articulation*, Nancy will work with the staff in the schools and
other institutions of higher education to
facilitate the
evaluation
of transfer
courses and what credit will be
assigned
to a transferred course.
Part of Nancy’s
assignment will be to oversee the development of articulation guides and
articulation agreements with local community colleges so that students have a
clearer understanding of which of their courses will transfer and can be applied
to an SMU degree.
The University
policy regarding transfer of
credit for existing
SMU students has been revised as follows: "Once students have matriculated at SMU, they may transfer no
more than 30 hours to SMU from accredited colleges and universities. To ensure
that a course taken at another college or university will transfer and that
proper credit will be awarded, the student taking the course should obtain prior
approval from the following people: the chair of the department and dean of the
school at SMU that normally offers the course, the adviser, and the student’s
dean. Petitions for pre-approval of transfer work are available in the schools’
records offices. Students who fail to get prior approval for transfer work can
petition later for transfer credit, but they have no assurance that it will be
awarded. In either case, permission may be denied for educational reasons."
*Articulation - A joint between two separable parts. Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary. In this case
articulation means the connection between institutions with regard
to course credit.
Anniversaries
VIPs -
Very Important Ponies
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Cheryl Moore - I would like to ask if a special thank you could go to Cheryl Moore. She was very, very helpful in expediting a correction on a transcript in order for a copy to be received by a medical school in a SHORT timeframe. Per a student request, the school allowed only a few hours for the correction. I have been grateful for her help over the years in different situations and I know the student was really happy that the complications were handled so graciously and efficiently. Karen de Olivares
Cindy Castro - has been an outstanding student as I have taught her the process for calculating tuition costs through ACCESS.SMU. She picked up the information quickly and can apply it. She is wonderful to have on the SFS Technical Team. Patricia May
Steve Boykin - I want to recognize Steve Boykin for continually going the extra two miles to assist students with enrollment issues. His good customer service sometimes means extra trips across campus for him to help the student out. Thanks for the exceptional service to our students, Steve.
The Implementation Team for Online Registration for AARO and MC - Wow! What a neat success story this will be. I think fireworks are in order. John Hall - DITTO that! Joe (Papari), Anel (Reyna), Monica (Cordero), and Pam (Fincher) have been great and deserve all the kudos! Missy Bryant
Stephany Coleman -
Talk about extra effort, you have tackled a very challenging task of organizing
all of the policies and procedures for the Student Financial Operation Unit.
This will be invaluable as we review and update these important documents.
YOU ARE GREAT.
Summer School 2009 As Spring Break ends, the Summer School Office (SSO) swings
into their marketing of SMU's summer school offerings. Education Abroad
and SMU-in-Taos are closing out their summer enrollment but SMU-in-Dallas
enrollment begins at the end of March. SMU Abroad, SMU-in-Taos, and SMU-in-Dallas conducted their
third annual Summer School Kick Off at the flag pole on March 2. Students
were met with all kinds of information on the three summer offerings as well as
free food and give-aways. Many students had made plans to attend summer
school or were waiting to discuss the option with their advisors during their
enrollment appointment. The SSO is working with staff in the Dedman Center for
Lifetime Sports, the Office of Residence Life and Student Housing, and the
Hughes-Trigg Student Center planning events to bring a sense of community to the
Dallas campus. This sense of community is a hallmark of SMU Abroad and
SMU-in-Taos. Programming will include Sand Volleyball, Films in the
Student Center, Video Gaming events in the Hughes-Trigg and at the Dedman
Center, cook-outs, outdoor adventures and much more. Payment Options are expanding for summer school students.
Check out all of the information about Summer School 09 at the Summer School
website - www.smu.edu/summer/
Important Dates
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer Enrollment Services Highlights More payment options - The Student Financial Services
office continues to develop options to assist families in paying the cost of
their student's education beyond awarded financial aid and scholarships.
Pat Woods, University Bursar is sending a letter to all new and continuing
undergraduate students explaining the many payment options that SMU offers.
Go to the Bursar website for more details -
www.smu.edu/bursar/
Enrollment Services Full Court Press - the UG Admission staff, using the
new software package Recruitment Plus, are able to communicate effectively and
efficiently with our newly admitted students. The other areas of
Enrollment Services -- Financial Aid, Student Financial Services, and the
Registrar are enhancing the communication with newly admitted students to
provide information on financial aid, other payment options, and a look inside ACCESS.SMU and the wealth of educational opportunities
at SMU.
Red Flag Committee - As reported in last month's DES Newsletter,
protecting the SMU community from Identity Theft is a priority for the
University. The Red Flag Committee unveiled its protocol to investigate
concerns regarding suspected security breaches. Any member of the SMU
community can report concerns with data tampering to
privacy@smu.edu or by calling 214-SMU-MyID
(214-768-6943). AARO and Mustang Corral
Joe Papari, project lead, announced on March 10th, "Anel (Reyna), Monica
(Cordero), and I just reviewed the project status and we are happy with the
testing results and ready to move the project to production during the regular
maintenance on Thursday, March 12th." Papari stated that the self-service
function will be available for students on March 16th, including instructions
for the user. The new online process allows students to register for AARO
and Mustang Corral and assists in assigning students to Advisors, residence hall
rooms for AARO, and to register parents and guests. Students may request a
vegetarian meal and special accommodations as they are on the sight. The Project Team has arranged for two local new
students to use the system after it is put into production. This will
allow the Team to observe the process in real time and to gain feedback on the
instructions and use of the sight.
Congratulations to the Team. . . and on to phase II of the
project. Phase II of the project will create the infrastructure for
Mustang Corral. It will assign students to groups, buses, cabins, collect
medical information, and special dietary needs or accommodations.
April 1st
Division Meeting
Mar 21 - Spring Fest
Mar 26-27 - Mustang Days
Apr 3-4 - Mustang Days
April 10 - Good Friday Holiday
Apr 8
- Last day to drop
May 4 - Last day of instruction
May 5 -
Reading Day
May 6-12 - Final Examinations
May 15 - Baccalaureate
May
16 - Commencement
May 25 - Memorial Day Holiday
To commiserate is sometimes
more than to give, for money is external to a man's self, but he who bestows
compassion communicates his own soul.
William Mountford
The correct translation of the SMU moto is 3. The truth
will make you free. This is according to SMU Historian and Professor Marsh
Terry in A Brief History of SMU.
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