NEW STAFF
Minerva Chihauhau - Financial Aid Advisor STAFF LEAVING
Consuela Mitchell - Financial Aid
Cara Hendricks - Financial Aid STAFF MOVING Birthdays
Byron Lewis
- April 1
Anna Gomez - April 2
Meredith Dawson - April 2
Cindy Castro - April 3
Myriah Garcia - April 13
Paola Sotomayor - April 15
Sheryl Winston - April 26
Claudia Favela - April 27
Lorinda Lamb - April 29
Ron Moss
- 17 years
Sylvia Wiseman - 12
years
Ginger Oravsky - 10 years
Rod Del Rio - 10 years
Stephanie Nonnemacker - 9
years
Stephen Forrest - 8 years
Cheryl Swift - 5 years
Abbi Pfister - 3 years
Joanne Martinez - 2 years
Chante Chatman - 2 years
Monica Juneau - 2 years
Melissa Guerra - 1 year
Enrollment Services Highlights
Financial Counseling Sessions
Staff in Enrollment Services, like
everyone at SMU, see the difficulties our students and their families have in
managing the cost of higher education during the economic downturn. The
Bursar's Office and Undergraduate Financial Aid have partnered to offer
financial counseling to students as they enroll for the next academic term.
Sessions are held each Tuesday in April and the first week in May from 3-4pm in
110 Blanton. The sessions will cover budgeting for a term, deciding how
much to borrow, and managing educational debt after graduation.
For more information contact:
Stephany Coleman stephany@smu.edu .
VA Brown Bags
One hundred veterans currently
enrolled at SMU were invited to a VA Brown Bag luncheon with staff from the
Registrar's Office, Transfer and Transition Services, and Financial Aid.
Although attendance was not large, the small group meeting in the Varsity,
agreed that Veterans want to meet other vets on campus. Mitzie Goff, VA
administrator in the Registrar's Office and Nancy Skochdopole, Director of
Transfer and Transition Services hope to make the VA Brown Bag a monthly
gathering to assist Veterans and to facilitate interaction.
For more information contact:
Mitzie Goff mgoff@smu.edu
Financial Aid Gears Up
In an attempt to provide more federal
money for financial aid, the government has added new regulations to the plate
of the Financial Aid staff. Students may receive a PELL grant for summer
school, which has not been available in the past. Student dependent upon
federal and state aid programs for their tuition and fees, often, were unable to
attend summer school because little aid was available. Over the past four
years, SMU has continually expanded financial assistance for student attending
summer school.
Also taking effect for the new aid
year, all federal loans will be handled through direct lending. The
recognizable "Stafford" designation will be dropped. Direct Loans will be
either Subsidized or Unsubsidized. Financial Aid staff have been in
training throughout the spring term, preparing for the change to direct lending.
Speaking of Summer School
April 5th students began to enroll in
summer school. All three summer school programs report a high level of
interest for 2010. SMU-in-Taos has filled all slots for May term.
SMU Abroad has filled all 15 SMU sponsored courses in May and summer with 350
students studying outside the U.S. Although enrollment for summer I and II
continues, numbers are looking good with over 200 undergraduate courses offered
on the Dallas campus for Summer I and 162 for Summer II.
More information on SMU Summer School
at www.smu.edu/summer .
Mid-Term Grading
Academic Records sent 1,201 class
rosters requesting information on academic progress of first year students in
order to notify students with deficiencies. Eight-hundred forty-nine
rosters were returned, reporting 1,513 grade deficiencies. Students with
deficiencies were notified by letter and encourage to seek assistance from the
academic support resources provided by SMU.
Student's Recognized at Honors
Convocations
April 19th is designated as SMU
Honor's Day. At 5:30pm in McFarlin Auditorium, academic honors will be
presented. Students tapped into 10 honor societies will be recognized as
well as 150 student participating in the university Honor's Program. In
addition to naming the 175 departmental award recipients and 10 students
receiving fellowships, Dr. David Meltzer will offer remarks. All students
participating in the Academic Honors Convocation are presented with a medallion,
a recognition pin, and certificate.
In the evening, student leadership
will be recognized at the Awards Extravaganza held in the Hughes-Trigg Theatre
at 7:30pm.
Both programs are open to anyone who
wishes to attend.
More information is available at
www.smu.edu/ceremonies.
Anniversaries
VIPs -
Very Important Ponies
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Damon Wilkins and Shahnaz Khaja - I wanted to write a short email to say thank you for your help yesterday when Randy injured his finger. I appreciate your helpfulness and the prompt attention you gave Randy. Specifically, Shahnaz, thank you for finding the necessary form to complete and Damon, thank you for helping to address Randy's pain as well as offering to take him over to the Health Center for treatment. We appreciate you and thank you for being great colleagues.
Stephanie Nonnemacher - has finished the Robots to re-package (Auto Package) everyone whose status was set at "Review" from yesterday's Live Mass Packaging Batch [in Financial Aid]. A special THANK YOU to Stephanie Nonnemacher for staying up half the night getting these two robots finished!
Mary Compian - This is wonderful. I do appreciate your quick and immediate response to address our need/request. This shows how efficiently and effectively SMU works and we all should be proud of this. Again, we sincerely appreciate your help. If we can assist you/your Mustang team in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me any time. Chief Health Director - Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
Angie Flores - Finally! The check arrived this morning. We wanted to thank you for all of the great help you provided with Lauren attend SMU. Lauren's scholarship, the Texas Tomorrow Fund, and the prepaid account were not easy to manage, but you did a great job of taking care of us and we appreciate it. Happy Parents
Consuela Mitchell - Thank you so much for keeping us updated and informed. It makes such a difference as we [Enrollment Resources] speak to families to have our facts straight.
Veronica Decena - Thank you for the great support this past semester. The process has been completely seamless for me, and I couldn't be happier with your help in coordinating my benefits with the VA, so that I could attend SMU. Happy Veteran
Financial Aid -
Financial Aid colleagues, Ginger notified us today that mass packaging for first
years for fall 2010 is progressing well with anticipated mailing of award
letters by week's end. Although you are already aware of the critical
importance you play in our enrollment success, I wanted to state it directly to
you with our huge thanks for your partnership and professionalism.
Ninety-fifth May Commencement
2010 marks the 95th Commencement ceremony for Southern
Methodist University. May graduates number 2,163, triple the total
enrollment of SMU in 1915. Gretchen Voight, Academic Ceremonies Director,
reports 1,985 graduates have ordered regalia. This represents almost 90% of the
students, indicating participation in some aspect of commencement weekend. The weekend begins with the Baccalaureate Service on Friday,
May 14th in McFarlin Auditorium at 8:00pm followed by the traditional Rotunda
Recessional in which undergraduate students process through the Rotunda of
Dallas Hall. Saturday, May 15th at 9:30am in Moody Coliseum, the
Commencement Ceremony will be held, followed by diploma ceremonies throughout the rest of the
day. Ambassador Ron Kirk will address the graduates at the
Commencement Ceremony. Mr. Kirk, former Dallas mayor, is serving as the United
States Trade Representative. “As Commencement speaker, Ambassador Kirk brings
the perspective of one whose leadership has been local, national and now
international,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “As Dallas mayor he helped
to establish the city as a gateway to the global community. Now, as Trade
Representative, he is shaping U.S. policy and international relationships to
open new world markets and broaden economic opportunities for the United States.
Our graduates will be inspired by his words and the example of leadership he has
set.” Congratulations to all graduates and those who have helped
them achieve this milestone.
Leave of Absence
The Leave of Absence policy allows a
student to officially take a “leave of absence” from school for a specified
length of time (6 months to 2 years) for a variety of different reasons such as financial, personal, studying abroad at a non-SMU affiliated
program, and medical. A student requesting the Leave of Absence, obtains
the form from his or her academic advisor who must sign the form. The form
must also be signed by a member of the University Bursar's staff and the
Assistant Provost/the Director of Retention, Anthony Tillman.
Other signatures may be required, such as Financial Aid (if receiving
federal, state or SMU financial assistance), the International Center (if a
non-US citizen), Residential Life and Student Housing (if residing on campus), and
the Dean of Students (if there is a current conduct violation or one pending).
The Registrar’s Office then processes the form and the student is placed in a
“Leave of Absence." At the end of the leave and prior to the student’s
return, the student's status will be changed from Leave of Absence to an
“Active.”
More
information can be found at
http://smu.edu/registrar/leave_of_absence.asp
The purpose of the Leave of Absence policy is so that SMU may assist the student
when on leave. Staff is able to know why the student is taking leaving,
how long he or she will be away from SMU, and when he or she is planning to return. Additionally, the
Leave of Absence allows the student to return without reapplication
for admission.
Important Dates
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer
Show
After spring break, the SMU campus has been adorned with red
and blue with faculty and staff showing their SMU colors. This
initiative is a partnership of Enrollment Services and Auxiliary Services to
bring together the SMU community in support of the university's student
recruitment efforts. "Show Your SMU Colors" wristbands were distributed to
faculty and staff who were encouraged to wear their SMU nametag and red and blue
from the end of March through May 1st, the height of the campus visitation season.
The campus visitation numbers are terrific.
Scholarship weekend - 163 students interviewing for the Presidential and
Hunt Scholarships and 250 family members on campus. Springfest for
high school sophomores and juniors - 800 students and family members.
Mustang Days I (admitted students) - 211 students and 200 family members.
Mustang Days II - 350 students and 300 family members. Daily
visitation which includes prospective and admitted students - 257 students
and 576 family members - average 30 students and 64 family members with some
days having 65 students and 100 family members. Undergraduate admission
has hosted approximately 1,500 students and 2,000 guests this past month.
And on April 16th, 2,000 DISD student will come to Moody Coliseum for the
National Hispanic College Fair sponsored in conjunction with SMU Enrollment Services. Thank you SMU for your support of the recruitment process.
Students in 2010 are looking for not only a fine education but a comfortable
community. You are showing that! Keep up the great work and
Mark your calendar
May 14-15, 2010
April 19 - Honors Convocation
April 26 - last day to withdraw
May 4 - last day of instruction
May 5-11 - Final Examinations
May 14 - Baccalaureate
May 15 - Commencement
Not all those who wander
are lost.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Five years.
With the dedication of the
new Caruth Building on April 16th, Engineering has been transformed from the
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences with one aging building, two
temporary laboratory structures, and the infamous red tank . . . to the Bobby B.
Lyle School of Engineering composed of three beautiful, eco-friendly buildings -
Junkins, Embry, and Caruth, set in a magnificent quadrangle around the Hillcrest
Foundation Amphatheatre.
Degree Awarded Posthumously
The University Registrar is responsible for interpreting university policy with regard to academic records. When no policy exists, he recommends a course of action consistent with the university's mission, traditions, and practices. John Hall, University Registrar, received a request to award a Doctor of Engineering degree to Justin Matthew Kendall. Mr. Kendall died suddenly in July 2009 before completing all requirements for the degree. His wife asked for the posthumous conferring of the degree.
Mr. Hall, after investigation, reported that although SMU has awarded posthumous baccalaureate and masters degrees for student who completed the requirements for degree, there is no university policy "specifically addressing the posthumous awarding of a degree when all requirements have not been met." Mr. Hall recommended to the Provost that a similar protocol be used in this case. The department could recommend to the dean that the remaining requirements for the degree by waived and the degree awarded. The dean's endorsement forwarded to the University Registrar, and the University Registrar, after conducting a "reasonableness" test, forward the recommendation to the Provost. This was done for the request from the Kendalls.
After compiling the necessary endorsements and recommendations, the Provost approved the request for the awarding of posthumous degree. Mr. Kendall will be awarded the Doctor of Engineering degree in May 2010. His wife will represent her husband at the Commencement ceremony on May 15th.