NEW STAFF STAFF LEAVING
Nicole Cotton - Enrollment Resources STAFF PROMOTIONS Birthdays
Kathy Rowe
Charmissa Ajakaije - Dec. 10
Mitzie Goff - Dec. 16
Courtney Barrett - Dec. 18
Kelly Milazzo - Dec. 18
Laura Del Rio - Dec. 19
Cheryl Moore - Dec. 20
Pam Fincher - Dec. 22
Stanley Stubblefield - Dec. 25
Shannon Grandberry - Dec. 26
Charles Harper
Anna Gomez - 12 years
Cate Hamilton - 2 years
Braunshay Pertile - 1 year
Enrollment Services Highlights
Early Action
December Graduation - The 2009
December Graduation Ceremony has a new twist. Like the May
Commencement, the December event will be held on December 19, 2009 in Moody
Coliseum at 10am in the morning. Since moving to Moody, the single
December Graduation Ceremony has been held in the evening. But, because
the winter break begins on Monday, December 21st, the ceremony was moved to 10am
to allow participants to get "on the road" by early afternoon. Response to
the morning ceremony have been positive.
Nine hundred fourteen students are
scheduled to receive degrees in December. Five hundred thirty-eight will
receive graduate/professional degrees and three hundred seventy-six will receive
undergraduate degrees. So far 60% of those submitting application for
graduation have ordered academic regalia. This is a good indicator of a
wonderful turn out for the ceremony.
Blanton Holiday Luncheon - The
tradition of holding a holiday luncheon for the staff housed in the Laura Lee
Blanton Student Services Building continued this year. One hundred eighty
staff from OIT, SMU in Taos, the International Center, and Enrollment Services
were treated to turkey with all the trimmings. Joining the staff were guests
from Provost's Office and Student Affairs.
Continuing a long standing tradition,
Dr. Lori White, Vice President for Student Affairs, offered the invocation.
She followed the student group Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir who sang for
the staff assembled.
This was a joyous time for all who
celebrate the various holidays of this season.
Anniversaries
VIPs -
Very Important Ponies
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Elves You Can Count On - head Elf Kelly Milazzo and her team of Cate Hamilton, Gretchen Voight, Adrienne Montgomery, Nancy Skochdopole, and Damon Wilkins added that extra touch to the Blanton Holiday Luncheon. A table activity was introduced for staff to make cards to include with items begin collected for the USO and our service members. Cards expressed gratitude and holiday wishes for the safe return of our troops.
Cheryl Swift - Well, Cheryl, after all these years, I finally got it right! Yippeee!! I cannot believe graduation is that close - the years have flown by, that 's for sure . . . Again, thanks for your always cheerful and great help!
Shahnaz Khaja - Thank you very much, especially Shahnaz who did the work [to find out the last time Social Sciences was offered as a major]. Beth Newman, Faculty English Department
Walter Jimenez - When
times are hard, collecting past due balances is challenging. I would like to thank Walter for a great month in November
[collecting old student account balances]. So far for the month of
November he has collected $22,792.53. This is outstanding and really helps
SMU's cashflow in these hard times. Financial Aid Staff Go to Nashville Although Nashville is the home of Country Music, members of
the Financial Aid staff were in town for more than entertainment. The 2009
Federal Student Aid conference was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel the first
of December. "The best conference I have attended," was the comment from
Sharla Coursey, Associate Director and Module Lead for Financial Aid. The
United States Congress has been busy this year, in acting legislation related to
several federal financial aid programs. "This conference will help us
[Financial Aid staff] to do a better job for our students." Billed as a "conference [that]
offers you critical financial aid training," SMU sent staff from the
technical, loan, and advising staff. Session were offered on the Federal Direct Student Loan
Program, Federal Family Education Loan Program, and Pell Grants. There
were sessions on the enhancements to the Title IV systems and ones covering
technology and ways to improve financial aid practices. More than just the usual conference presentations, this
conference offers hands on training and a PC lab open to answer specific
question and offer technology assistance. Astra Room Scheduling Project John Hall and Randy Phillips, co-chairs of the University
Committee to implement a classroom scheduling software, provided a
progress report on the Astra Scheduling Software. The SMU version of Astra
is named Schedule.SMU. Demonstrations are offered over the
next eight to ten weeks. Production and test versions of Schedule.SMU are loaded with
classroom facilities/spaces for Fall 2009, January, Spring , and summer
2010 classroom assignments. Committee members and building managers have
access to Schedule.SMU for testing and uploading of non-classroom information. In late January 2010, the Fall 2010 Schedule of Classes will
be created in Access.SMU and room assignments will be uploaded into Schedule.SMU
in February. Training will be offered in February for room
schedulers/managers with the Schedule.SMU go live date of March 15th.
Management of classroom space will be through Schedule.SMU after go live. Classroom assignments for Spring 2011 will use
Schedule.SMU in
conjunction with Access.SMU. At that time a pilot program using the
Optimizer tool will be conducted for a few areas.
Important Dates
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer Lowe to Speak at Graduation Director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and
Museum, Alan C. Lowe will speak at December Graduation. Lowe graduated
from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor and Master of Arts in history.
Lowe brings a long association with Presidential Libraries.
He first served as an archivist for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and
then went on to Washington D. C. to work in the Office of Presidential Libraries
at the National Archives. During his time in Washington, Lowe served as
the interim Director of the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library. Lowe also brings six years of experience as the Executive
Director of the Howard H. Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University
of Tennessee. The Baker Center's focus is public policy to increase civic
engagement and understanding of public policy. Lowe oversaw the completion
of the facility on the UTN campus. Appointed as Director of the Bush Library in April 2009, puts
Lowe at the forefront of implementing the mission and construction of the
Library and Museum. The Library will preserve and provide access to
Presidential records and other collections, host public programs, create
educational initiatives, and produce innovative museum exhibits. The Library materials are held temporarily in Lewisville
pending the opening of the Library and Museum in 2013. A native of Kentucky, Lowe, his wife and daughter reside in
Lewisville, Texas.
Mark your calendar
See you in the New Year.
Dec. 11-17 - Examinations
Dec. 18 - Residence Halls Close
Dec. 19 -
Graduation
Dec. 21-25 - University Holiday
Jan. 1 - New Years Holiday
Education is what survives
when what has been learned has been forgotten.
B. F. Skinner
Twelve including this year's Hawaii Bowl. First Bowl
appearance was 1924, Dixie Classic (L to West Virginia Wesleyan), 1 Rose Bowl
appearance in 1935 (L to
Stanford), 4 Cotton Bowl appearances (T with Penn State, W over Oregon, W over Georgia, W
over Pittsburg). Last Bowl appearance Aloha Bowl (W over Notre Dame in 1984).
W/L Record 4, 6, 1.