Staff News from DES

NEW STAFF

Leslie Day - Information Systems in Registrar's Office

VIPs - Very Important Ponies 

Some of our VIPs this month are:

Lorinda Lamb - I needed some information in a jiffy to take to Taos.  Lorinda turned it around immediately and very professionally done.  AB Aston

Consuela Mitchell - Kudo's to Consuela!  After presenting a session at the Texas Association of Financial Aid Advisors, two state Auditors said (at different times), "Your information was spot on!"

Walter Jimenez - congratulations to Walter on his first big collection.  On the 1st of September, Walter collected an old past due balance of almost $10,000. 

Cheryl Moore, Susan Evans, and Joe Papari - I just wanted to thank you all for a very informative and productive R&R meeting this afternoon.  I like the new format and am enjoying the renewed collaboration among the offices.  Jennifer Haden

Nancy Skochodopole - what a trooper.  Thanks for presenting information about the new transfer student initiatives to the SFS staff under trying circumstances.  You were great to do your presenting in the 2nd floor lobby (amid noise) because of the mix up in room reservations.  We got a lot out of the information.  Pat Woods

Mt4bwmc,R
Annual Security Briefing

Enrollment Services uses the OIT Security month to hold our annual Security Briefing.  The October Division meeting updates and refreshes the staff's knowledge of security rules and regulations as well as best practices for protecting data security.

Mt4bwmc,R is a mnemonic device suggested by Cynthia Stanfield to create a unique, strong password.  Mt4bwmc,R stands for "May the force be with my cat, Ranger."  It is easy to remember by the mnemonic and uses all four elements of a strong password - upper and low case letters, numbers, and symbols.  This was one of the many tips offered for data security and managing the many negative devices that can be linked to e-mails.

In addition to the OIT presentation, Enrollment Services staff heard updates on FERPA and Gramm, Leach, Bliley laws related to education and financial records.  We also engaged in a contest to see how well the staff knows the Statement of Principles for Financial Aid professionals.  The Red Flag Rules were reviewed to remind staff what is required as identification before releasing any personally identifiable information.

Mandatory Health Insurance (MHI) – Enrollment Services is testing the MHI enhancement to Access.SMU which will allow students to elect Student Health Insurance, or waive the insurance if they have private insurance. The system will allow the Memorial Health Center to monitor the MHI requirement, elect insurance or waive insurance for the student. The insurance cost will be charged to the student’s account through SF in Access.SMU. The system will be in production mid-October and students will be able to use the system after they enroll for Spring 2010 classes in November.

Astra Room scheduling – John Hall and Randy Phillips have been charged with implementation of a new room scheduling software called Astra room scheduling is underway. Astra will eventually be used to schedule classrooms and other facilities. We are in testing stages of Astra and plan to have it in production mid-October. It will be in production mode for Summer/Fall 2010 scheduling. More information and training will follow.

 BLANTON HOLIDAY LUNCHEON
Mark your calendar
December 8th

Important Dates
Nov. 2 - Spring Enrollment Begins
Nov. 10 - Last Day to Drop
Nov. 26-27 - Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec. 1 - Last Day to Withdraw
Dec. 9 - Last Day of Instruction
Dec. 10 - Reading Day
Dec. 11-17 - Examinations
Dec. 18 - Residence Halls Close
Dec. 19 - Graduation
Dec. 21-25 - University Holiday
Jan. 1 - New Years Holiday

Ethnic Reporting Changes - New requirements for collecting and reporting ethnicity data will be in place by Fall 2010. Applicants for Summer/Fall 2010 are following the new collection standards. For questions or further information contact Stephen Forrest (sforrest@smu.edu ).