STAFF MOVING

Joe Papari - 30 years

Monica Gomez - 9 years

Marcia Miller - 7 years

Gretchen Voight - 4 years

Lori Atkinson - 4 years

Pavielle Chriss - 3 years

Kelly Milazzo - 2 years

On April 22, 2010, the Gamma Beta Chapter of Tau Sigma received its charter at an induction ceremony in the Laura Lee Blanton Student Services Building.  Forty-four members were inducted.

Tau Sigma National Honor Society's purpose is "Recognizing and Promoting the Academic Excellence and Involvement of Transfer Students."  Tau Sigma was incorporated in 1999 with Auburn University being the home of the first chapter. Today, over 75 other universities have established or are currently establishing Tau Sigma chapters in their efforts to improve the services that they provide to their transfer student population. Although Tau Sigma is a relatively young organization, many members in all parts of the country have become active at their universities, participating in such activities as on-campus recruiting events for prospective transfer students, transfer student orientation, community service projects, assisting the admissions office with the recruitment of prospective transfers at community colleges, and participating in intramural sports and socials that allow them opportunities for fellowship with one another and make new friends.

To join Tau Sigma, transfer students must be enrolled full time, they must transfer to the university with at least one full year's worth of academic credits, and they must finish their first term after transferring with a 3.5 GPA.

President Turner accepted the charter on behalf of SMU.  The charter, signed by the charter members, will be hung in the Laura Lee Blanton Building.

Inductees invited family and friends to attend the ceremony.  Also present were SMU faculty and staff who support transfer student transition to SMU.  These guests included Ashley Stone and Missy Bryant from New Student Orientation, Hilary McIlvain and Randy Trevino from Admission, Mary Beard and Marc Peterson from Financial Aid, Tony Tillman from the Provost's Office, Pat Feldman from the A-LEC, Christine Buchanan from the Admission Council, and Kevin Hofeditz from Meadows.

The ceremony included a keynote address from Dr. Wayne Shaw, Helmut Sohman Distinguished Professor of Corporate Governance in the Edwin L. Cox School of Business.  His remarks included advise of involvement and persistence.

After Dr. Tom Tunks, Associate Provost, presented the charter to President Gerald Turner,  Dr. Kathy Rowe, Enrollment Services, inducted Dr. Turner as the first honorary member of the Gamma Beta Chapter.  Dr. Rowe shared that President Turner is a transfer student, beginning his education at Lubbock Christian University receiving an Associated degree before transferring to Abilene Christian University for his bachelor of arts degree.

After the formal induction of members, the students, families, and guests were invited to a reception on the terrace of the Blanton Building.

Question
What is the plastic matting which covers the topsoil under the sod in the landscaping for the Caruth Building?

Answer
Kevin Dillard, Director of Landscape Management for SMU, explains "the material you [John Hall] saw was for the fire lane.  It is put down to hold the weight of the fire trucks and not have the bare concrete.  SMU has used this in several other places and you cannot tell where it is."  
No wonder our campus is so beautiful.

Advisor Council Appointed

The Strategic Enrollment Management Committee (SEM) announced the appointment of the Transfer and Transition Advisory Council (TTAC) with the primary objective of making SMU "transfer friendly."  In the appointment letter, Tom Tunks, SEM Chair, noted that "transfer students represent about 20% of the new undergraduate students entering SMU each year.  As such, transfer students are critical to SMU's academic, extracurricular and financial vitality."

The nineteen member committee is chaired by Nancy Skochdopole, Director of Transfer and Transition Services.  It includes representation from the undergraduate schools, key administrative areas in Enrollment Services and Student Affairs as well as the CUL, A-LEC, Honors Program, and the Admission Council.

The charge to the Council is: 

Addressing opportunities to strengthen the recruitment and matriculation of transfer students

Advancing articulation and co-admission agreements between SMU and partner schools

Addressing financial issues and financial aid opportunities for transfer students

Facilitating the articulation of transfer course work into SMU programs

Addressing honors opportunities for the best prepared transfer students

Facilitating the integration of transfer students into the overall student body

Creating a robust out-of-classroom experience for transfer students

Providing academic support that might be unique to the situations of transfer students

TTAC will build on the work begun by a committee chaired by Robb Pocklington and Christine Buchanan that initiated the Office of Transfer and Transition Services.

95th Commencement

Light rain caused a slight change in the Baccalaureate service on Friday night, but the will of the graduates provided a break in the weather so that the lighted sidewalk to Dallas Hall illuminated Rotunda Recessional to the joy of graduates and their guests.  To spare the students wet regalia, the processional was limited to the faculty and Platform Party.  Returning to a past tradition, Stephen Rankin, Chaplain to the University, preached at the service.  Dr. Rankin joined the university at his formal installation in the fall.

Commencement on Saturday morning was "one of the largest," remarked Director of Academic Ceremonies, Gretchen Voight.  The weather provided an overcast but rain free day that encouraged graduates and their guests to assemble in Moody Coliseum.  Former Mayor and Federal Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk was the guest speaker.

Also honored at the 95th Commencement Ceremony were honorary degree recipients.  Jorie Graham, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and MacArthur Award winner, currently is Boylston Professor of Rhetoric at Harvard University.   She received a Doctor of Humane Letters.  Karinna Akopovna Moskalenko, Russia’s leading human rights lawyer, studied law at Leningrad State University and later specialized in human rights at the University of Birmingham in England. She is respected worldwide for her advocacy on behalf of clients rich and poor, voiceless casualties of war and vocal critics of the Kremlin. Dr. Moskalenko received a Doctor of Laws.  Saul Perlmutter is professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his Ph.D., and is head of the Supernova Cosmology Project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He leads an international team that studies distant exploding stars to measure how fast the universe was expanding at different times in its history.  Dr. Perlmutter received a Doctor of Science degree.