NEW STAFF
Melissa Guerra -
Financial Aid STAFF LEAVING STAFF PROMOTIONS Birthdays
Cruz Lopez
Stephen Forrest – May 7th
Tony Tillman – May 11th
Walter Jimenez – May 16th
Patricia May – May 20th
Irma Herrera – May 21st
Braunshey Pertile – May 21st
Shereetta Robertson – May 22nd
Stephany Coleman – May 24th
Cheryl Swift – May 24th
Joann Martinez – May 26th
Jean Porter – May 27th
Rick Diaz – May 29th
Kimberly Wratislaw – May 31st
Anniversaries
Joe Papari –29 years – May 28th
Paula Anderson –11 years – May 18th
Monica Gomez –8 years – May 27th
Marcia Miller –6 years – May 27th
Consuela Mitchell –4 years – May 9th
Lori Atkinson –3 years – May 15th
Gretchen Voight –3 years – May 25th
Pavielle Chriss –2 years – May 7th
Kelly Milazzo –1 year – May 19th
Enrollment Services Highlights
SWAT - under the continuing directions of Assistant Provost Tony Tillman, staff from Enrollment Services, Dedman Advising, RLSH, and the Dean of Student Life Office reach out to students who have not enrolled for fall 2009. Initiatives have been developed for all students -- rising seniors, students with financial holds, and students who historically have not needed financial assistance. Students who must leave SMU for a period of time may request a Leave Of Absence (LOA) by contacting Tony Tillman in 100 Blanton or atillman@smu.edu. The LOA assists the student in returning to SMU and keeps SMU connected to the student through Tony Tillman's office.
Quick Reference Course Catalog
Check out the new Quick Reference Course Catalog and
Schedule of Classes on the Summer in The City web page
http://smu.edu/registrar/socl/summer2009_CSI.asp
This new tool combines the course catalog
information and the schedule of classes information into one handy reference
document.
This is ideal for Summer School where you want students to quickly and easily see, in one click, what and when it is being offered.
Many thanks to the Stephen Forrest, Darrah Rippy, Cheryl Moore, Paley Wu, Kathy Rowe, Sunsharae Thierry and Susan Evans for their work in developing this handy dandy publication.
Update on Katrina Students
In 2005, SMU was one of many colleges and universities in the nation to open its doors to college students from the flood ravaged Gulf coast. More than 200 students were welcomed, enrolled, and housed for the fall term. As the schools on the coast reopened, many of these students returned to their former institution but a few remained at SMU.
Stephen Forrest, Assistant Registrar, responded to a request from the Provost regarding any students graduating this May who came to SMU following the Katrina and Rita disasters. Four students graduated from SMU previously, three who came to SMU from Tulane and one from Loyola. Five students have applied for graduation this May and one in August. Four of the students graduating this spring will receive degrees from Dedman College, one from the Lyle School of Engineering, and one from the Meadows School of the Arts. We will have one Law student graduate in 2010.
Congratulation to all who assisted these students achieve
this milestone.
Congratulations to All -
Another wonderful
Commencement Weekend!
VIPs -
Very Important Ponies
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Rod Del Rio - Thank you for bringing to my attention the letters we send to students with none sufficient funds to cover a check written to the university. I appreciate you thinking that with all the new payment procedures and options, these letters need to be updated. Great job! Pat Woods
Summer School Office (SSO) - undergraduate summer enrollment is tracking slightly ahead of last year! The SSO continues to actively market summer courses on campus, at Taos, and Abroad. The friendlier financial policies and availability of aid and loans, combined with a wider variety of course selection and a great team effort between the schools, academic departments, Taos, Education Abroad, Visiting Student office, Enrollment Services and the SSO have lead to this success. John Hall I can't thank you and all your hard-working leaders and team members enough! This is good news and I know how long and hard the group has worked on this. Cheers to all! Tom Tunks
Paley Wu - thank you so much for ordering and installing my new printer. It is perfect and it works every time! Most importantly, however, thank you for all you do for DES and for your always professional and caring attitude. I am so please to have you as a colleague. Ron Moss
Student Financial Services - Pat, the thanks and appreciation [of this parent] go to you and your staff . . . I know the stress of these families ends up at your doorstep. Your help is greatly appreciated by all. Dr. Deanie Kepler - Director of Family Services - I wanted to pass on the kind words which are for all of you [SFS staff]. We appreciate Deanie and her support of our area. Pat Woods
Gretchen Voight and the Honors Day Team - Thank you for all your hard work and extra effort in helping SMU recognize our highest achieving students this evening. John Hall - Again, add my thanks and congratulations on a job well done. John is absolutely right -- the looks on the faces said as much as we need to know about how well it went over. Tom Tunks
Stanley Stubblefield, Melissa Stanford and Kathy Rowe - A special thank you to all of you for putting together such a fabulous [Honors Day] reception!! I know self-catering is quite a bit of work for us, but we saved a ton of money and had one of the best receptions turnouts I've seen! Gretchen Voight
Stephen Forrest - you
are amazing at what you do. Your work with tracking the revenue and
expenses for summer school is truly going to make a difference. The schools
will be able to maximize their efforts to attract students to summer programs
and insure the success of our efforts.
Dallas
One of the Best!
According to Forbes Magazine, the Dallas-Plano-Irving area is the #5 best big city to get a job.
"The Texas dominance of this list starts with Dallas. The city has actually experienced negative growth, by 0.1%, since 2007. The biggest gains [in employment] came from government - 3.4% and education and health services -4.6%". Forbes - April 13, 2009.
Marshalling the
troops,
Chief Marshal Tom Fomby
Even the new Marshal's Robes sparkle
The Hilltop emblazoned in Red and Blue
Important Dates
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer Recruit, Retain, Rejoice
As anyone
will tell you, we are not there yet and anything could happen, but for the
moment we are doing okay.
SMU's
new and continuing undergraduate enrollment is tracking closely to past years at
this time. Each area of Enrollment Services has its own barometer - new
student deposits, requests for extension on deposits, acceptance of financial
aid, registration for AARO, number of payment plans set up, and, of course,
actual enrollment for
fall 2009. Summer School enrollment is tracking closely to the summer of
2008 as well.
Rejoice
for the efforts of everyone at SMU. Our success is the culmination of the
work that all of us do -- in Enrollment Services, in the Schools, in the
administrative and student services areas and in our student support staff.
The beauty of the campus and the welcoming atmosphere make SMU a place that
students want to come and to stay.
Thank you - SMU community.
But . . . Recruit, Retain, and Rejoice, we still have a few more months to go. For the
graduates and their families, Commencement is memorable and 2009 is that and
more. Two particular noteworthy aspects were the introduction of the
custom regalia and the third member of a family to serve as the Commencement
Speaker. For
ninety-four years, SMU has celebrated the graduation of our students through a
formal commencement ceremony at the conclusion of the spring term. SMU is
unique in that it actually had graduates prior to opening its doors in 1915.
[a few students received degrees in medicine from a medical college affiliated
with SMU after its chartering in 1911]. Over these many years Commencement
has slowly evolved and has become one of the universities most cherished
traditions. Graduates dressed in traditional academic robes of black only
adorned at the masters and doctoral level. This year, through the work of
many, SMU adopted custom regalia which enhanced the beauty of our ceremonies.
Undergraduate in royal blue robes with red, crested stoles, filled the main quad
with color as they processed into McFarlin Auditorium for Baccalaureate. At the
Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, the graduates and their guest were treated to
the third member of a family to speak at Commencement as Laura Bush, former First
Lady, took the podium. Mrs. Bush follows her husband, George W. Bush who
spoke while he was governor of Texas, and George H. W. Bush who spoke while
president of the United States.
No Meeting in May
Division Meeting
May 25 - Memorial Day Holiday
May 31 - May Term Ends
June 1 - Full/Summer I begin
July 1 - AARO begins
July 2 - Summer I ends
July 3 - University
Holiday
July6 - Summer II begins
Aug. 4 - Full/Summer II end
Aug. 17 -
Int'l AARO begins
Aug 25 - Opening Convocation
Aug 26 - Fall Term begins
Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places
you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can.
As long as you can.
John Wesley
All were inducted into the SMU Athletic Hall of Fame this year.
Eric Dickerson ('83) - All-American and member of Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jim
Krebs ('57) - All-American Basketball player and LA Laker, Steve Lundquist -
All-American, 2 time Olympic gold medalist and International Swimming Hall of
Fame, Kyle O'Brien Stevens - All-American Women's Golfer and inductee into the
National Golf Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame.
Commencement
2009
Memorable in many ways!