NEW STAFF
Gina Kelbert - Financial Aid
STAFF LEAVING
Kim Wartislaw - UG Admission
Alan Ramirez - UG Admission
Pavielle Chriss - UG Admission
Ginger Oravsky - UG Admission
Sheryl Winston - Enrollment Resources
Summer Kokic -
Financial Aid STAFF PROMOTIONS Stephanie Nonnemacher
Birthdays
Ginger Oravsky - July 1
Cindy Luetzow - July 7
Paulette Caraway - July 8
Mirjan Laci - July 12
Tali Koerner - July 14
Fernando Del Rio - July 15
Penny Griffin - July 20
Bill Chandler - July 20
Yaw Bonsu - July 30
Deveron Ellison - August 12
Marcia Miller - August 13
Sunsharae Thierry - August 17
Ron Moss - August 18
Adrienne Hawa - August 19
Sherry Reinwald - August 24
Mary Compian - August 26
Cate Hamilton - August 30
Kim Scott - August 30
July
John Hall
- 39 years
Sharla Coursey - 11 years
Eartha Walls - 11 years
Angie Flores - 7 years
August
Susan Evans
- 36 years
Carol Morris - 20 years
Rick Diaz - 19 years
Cheryl Moore - 15 years
Damon Wilkins - 8 years
Stephany Coleman - 5 years
Mirjam Laci - 4 years
Paola Sotomayor - 4 years
Charmissa Ajakaiye - 4 years
Veronica Decena - 3 years
Enrollment Services Highlights
Gradebook debuts
- ACCESS.SMU adds Gradebook to the tools offered to faculty for class
management. During the end of May and June, thirty-one faculty members
were trained to use Gradebook. Seven faculty used it for grading in Summer
II and another 18 will use it beginning this fall. Once faculty see the
features of Gradebook, we expect 100 faculty to use it in another year.
Not only does it assist faculty, it provides a quick, safe and efficient way for
students to view their grades privately within hours after they are posted.
If you are interested in learning more about Gradebook, contact Mitzie Goff or
Sylvia Wiseman in the Registrar's office. Thanks to Mitzie, Sylvia, and
Sunsharae Thierry for the implementation of Gradebook.
TOAD - second successful year
- the Transfer Open Advising Day
drew enthusiastic students to SMU the last week in May. John Hall,
expressed "Congratulations on a fine event. I found it particularly
gratifying to see how excited these future students (and, so many with parents)
were about coming to SMU." One such parent stated, "Thanks for being so
helpful to Jamie. I think she has decided as of today to attend SMU and a
lot of it has to do with the great attitude you have and the energy you have put
into the transfer students and transfer day. I am very proud to be part of
the SMU family." Nancy Skochdopole, Director of Transfer and Transition
Services (TTS) reports 83 transfer students attended, received advising, and
left saying they are excited to attend SMU. TOAD is planned by the TTS in
conjunction with Transfer Admission and staffed by Academic Advisors from all
schools and the College.
EOS assists with collections
- The University Bursar's office
is charged with collecting tuition, fees, and other cost of attending SMU.
Each year, University Bursar Pat Woods looks for ways to assist students and
families meet their financial obligation to SMU. However, at the beginning
of each term, some accounts have outstanding balances. The sooner these
students can be contacted and payment arrangements made, the less the balance
will grow. EOS, an accounts receivables service, has been contracted to
assist in contacting students with outstanding balances in order to resolve the
remaining charges.
Textbook link - Class Search
on ACCESS.SMU offers a new feature this fall -- textbook information. With
the standard class section information, students may find the name of materials,
the author, the ISBN, and the cost of textbooks assigned for that section.
Nada El-Sayed and Joe Papari worked with SMU Business Services, the SMU
Bookstore, Barnes and Noble, and OIT to provide this new services. This
initiative was as a part of compliance with one of the new Higher Education
Opportunity Act requirements.
Anniversaries
VIPs -
Very Important Ponies
Some of our VIPs this month are:
Bill Chandler - My son Joseph is a student at SMU. He was having some difficulty with a student loan -- getting the money disbursed to his account. Bill Chandler was able to figure out the problem and rectify it. Even though he is not Joe's financial [aid] advisor, he took action to solve the problem and the loan has been disbursed to my son's account today. We appreciate his efforts. Bill is very professional and customer friendly! Thanks Bill! Happy Dad
Cheryl Swift - I wanted to thank you again for your time and help this morning. SMU is a great institution and I am very proud my daughter has chosen to study there. We look forward to four years of watching her grow and learn in the SMU community. Thank you again. Happy Dad
Damon Wilkins, Todd Chiscano, Cate Hamilton, and Paley Wu - I would like to thank all of you for helping to set up CLEM 120 for AARO. The room looks wonderful and ready to handle the 1700+ new students that will come through over the next eight weeks! I know that Dedman Advising appreciates it, too; Kathy Stephens has already called to tell me so.
Mary Beard - Professional, quick, and efficient . . no surprise. You are fantastic and we appreciate all you have done for Staci. Our heartfelt thanks. Happy parents
Kelly Milazzo and Adrienne Montgomery - Above and beyond is all I can say. Kelly, thank you for working AARO Saturdays and getting lunch for all who worked. Adrienne, thank you for assisting a student who just showed up and need help with the Release of Education Records. Both of you put the "service" in Enrollment Services.
Cheryl Moore and Kathy Rowe - Thank you so much [for correcting the mistake I made in canceling my daughters summer II classes over the 4th of July weekend]. I can now sleep this weekend. Happy Dad
Angie Flores and Mirjam Laci - I want to commend Angie and Mirjam for the incredible work they do with the various organizations that pay for students to attend classes in Lyle. They work hard to make sure that billing and payment is seamless for both the student and his/her third party provider.
Gretchen Voight, Cate Hamilton, Nancy Skochdopole, Damon Wilkins, and Stanley Stubblefield - A huge note of thanks to the team that decorated the first floor display cabinets and surrounding walls and the shelfs at the service counter. It all looks great and really has a nice SMU feel. John Hall
Mitzie Goff - Ms. Goff went above and beyond for [my son] since he was having computer glitches and could not access his transcript. Ms. Goff returned all our calls and followed up to ensure that he had what he needed. He was able to arrive at his interview with transcript in hand. Happy Mom
Kathy Rowe and company
- Thank you again for assisting. You and your team are terrific . .
. I know we wouldn't get this kind of support at very many schools, and it's
clear you set the standard for your department. Happy Mom Official Transcripts at the speed of the
net! "Effective June 16th
SMU added an electronic delivery (PDF) option for official academic
transcripts," announced John Hall. With the Registrar's vendor that
provides an online option to request transcripts, the National Student
Clearinghouse (NSC), and OIT, person's may request his/her official transcript
be delivered through electronic mail. Anyone attending SMU after summer
1996 may request an electronic transcript through NSC or in person at the
Registrar's office. The Registrar's staff send the official transcript to
NSC and the receiving party is notified how to retrieve the PDF of the official
transcript from NSC. SMU has provided same day or next day service for a
number of years but this electronic option can beat that delivery time for a
much reduced cost. SMU is among the
first schools to implement this service with NSC. During the first 3 weeks
after the electronic option was live, 83 transcript requests were delivered
electronically. Safeguard for the
security for the transcript PDF ensures against tampering and improper handling.
Recipients of the electronic transcript have 14 days to view/print the document.
If the transcript is not retrieved by 30 days, the document expires and a new
transcript must be sent. Recipients are notified 3 times before the
document expires. The document cannot be saved to a computer. It
only can be viewed and printed. Other details
may be found at
http://smu.edu/registrar/transcripts.asp. SMU and DCCCD offer
Reverse Transfer Option Reverse of Transfer
Credit is an agreement between SMU and the Dallas County Community College
District (DCCCD) that allows student to transfer academic credit earned at SMU
to complete an Associates Degree at one of the DCCCD campuses. To take
advantage of this program, students must have at least 18 semester credit hours
from DCCCD, earned at least 15 credit hours at SMU, transferred to SMU from
DCCCD as the last school attended, and be in good standing with both schools.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner and DCCCD Chancellor Wright L Lassiter, Jr. will
sign the agreement in early fall.
Important Dates
Aug. 18 - New Student
Move In
Aug. 21 - Halls
officially open
Aug. 22 - Opening
Convocation
Aug. 23 - First day
of class UG students
Aug. 27 - Last day to
enroll/drop/add
Sept. 6 - Labor Day
Holiday
Oct. 11-12 - Fall
Break
Nov. 1 - Enrollment
begins for Spring 2011
Nov. 5 - Last day to
drop
Nov. 23 - Last day to
withdraw
Nov. 24 - no classes
Nov. 25-26 -
Thanksgiving Holiday
Dec. 6 - Last day of
instruction
Dec. 7 - Reading Day
Dec. 8-15 - Final
Examinations
Dec. 18 - December
Graduation
Quotation of the Month
SMU Trivia
Question
Answer
Dallas locked in its selection with a gift of 100 acres of land by the Caruth
family (later giving an additional 33 acres) and a endowment of $200,000 from
the Dallas business community.
Showcasing SMU History From its dedication in November of
2003, the Laura Lee Blanton Building has showcased SMU history with its
1st floor lobby decor. Vintage photographs hang in the vestibule and six
large frames hold a chronology of SMU from 1911 to 1994. These pieces of
SMU traditions were an anonymous gift honoring President A. Kenneth Pye and first hung in the lobby of Perkins
Administration Building. "The Early Years" cover the presidencies of
Robert S. Hyer - 1911 to 1920 and Hiram Boaz - 1920-22. Presidents
Selectman (1923-38) and Umphrey Lee (1939-54) represent a "Time for Growth."
The significant impact of the Willis M. Tate presidency (1954-1972) expands over
two periods, "Building the Future" and "Continuing Traditions." The 1970s
were "Creating a Vision for Tomorrow" during the Harden (1972-74) and Zumberg
(1975-80) years. The sixth "Recognizing SMU Heritage" covers the period of
Donald Shields (1981-86) and A, Kenneth Pye (1987-94). Last summer a project was initiated to
continue honoring significant times and people over SMU's almost 100 years.
One display case on the 1st floor exhibits the custom regalia unveiled at
Commencement 2009. Also in that display case are other ceremonial pieces
such as the first university mace and the Howard Lantern. Pictured are past
Chief Marshalls who shaped the academic ceremonies SMU presents each year. This summer, after a generous gift from
the wife of Willis M. Tate, the other display case was designed to chronicles the symbols
surrounding the SMU presidency. Mrs. Tate donate President Tate's academic
regalia. President Turner's new custom regalia is on display as well as
the president's medallion. Photographs of some of the past Honorary Degree
recipients and Commencement speakers are shown in this case. Please come by Blanton to look back on
SMU's proud history. People in the News Chriss moves to Assistant
Provost's staff - undergraduate Admission staff member Pavielle Chriss
assumed a new position as Assistant Director for Student Success Programs
the end of June. Working with Anthony Tillman, Assistant Provost for
Strategic Initiatives and Student Success, Pavielle will manage programs
targeting student success such as the Mustang Scholars and the Fall Academic
Bridge Program. Papari elected to SACRAO committee
- at the spring meeting of SACRAO, Joe Papari, Director of Information
Systems for Enrollment Services was elected to the 2010-11 N&E Nominations and
Elections Committee. He will work with four other members to select the
slate of SACRAO officers for 2011-12. Voight and Rippy lead SMU Staff
Association - Gretchen Voight became President of the SMU Staff Association
at the President's Picnic in May. She is joined on the Executive Board by
Darrah Rippy who was elected Vice President of Service and Activities for
2010-11. Congratulations to all.
Mark your calendar
Aug. 22, 2010
Aug. 15-16
- International AARO
No one has completed his
education who has not learned to live with an insoluble problem.
Edmund J. Kiefer
With what Texas city did Dallas compete for SMU?
Fort Worth.