Category: Office of General Education

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Academic Center for Excellence Academic Devleopment of Student-Athletes (ADSA) Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies First-Generation Initiative Hilltop Scholars Mustang Scholars National Fellowships Office of Engaged Learning Office of General Education President’s Scholars Rotunda Scholars SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success Student Academic Success Programs Student Success & Retention University Advising Center University Honors Program University Testing Center

SEAS units begin migration to new SMU-branded web pages

In partnership with the Office of Information Technology, Student Academic Engagement and Success (SAES) began migrating unit websites to the new SMU-banded web pages.

As part of the brand migration, the SAES Marketing, Communication, and Digital Technology committee worked with unit webmasters to assist with a site content refresh (e.g., text, pictures, layouts). The committee recommended reorganizing navigation and pages based on Google Analytics data of high-traffic pages. As part of the process, broken links, spelling, SEO optimization, SMU web governance, and site navigation are also being addressed. Finally, professional headshots and employee biographies will be added over the summer.

Beginning with the SAES main navigation in late May, all units will be migrated over the course of the summer and early fall terms.

Last week, the following unit websites were completed:

Scheduled to migrate on or around the dates listed below will be:

  • June 23:
    • University Testing Center
    • University Advising Center
  • July 21:
    • Academic Development of Student-Athletes
    • Office of Student Success and Retention
  • August 11:
    • Student Academic Success Programs
    • Office of Undergraduate National Fellowships
  • September 1:
    • University Honors Program
    • First-Generation Initiative
    • Scholars’ Den
  • September 22:
    • President’s Scholars
    • Rotunda Scholars
    • Mustang Scholars
    • Hilltop Scholars

Please pardon our dust during this transition. If you discover broken links or issues, please direct them to academicsuccess@smu.edu to be routed appropriately. The next communication on the webpage migration will be once all SAES units have been completed.

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Office of General Education

Lisa Cordoba becomes a Certified Administrative Professional

Lisa Cordoba, the Administrative Assistant in the Office of General Education, passed the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) exam in May.

CAP is an NCCA-accredited credential designed specifically for the administrative professional. The NCCA, or National Commission of Certifying Agencies, is the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, or ICE’s accrediting arm, and verifies that the CAP meets national and international credentialing industry standards for certification programs.

The exam covered knowledge, skill, and abilities in the areas of:

  • Organizational Culture and Leadership
  • Business Communication and Deliverables
  • Software, Data, and the Internet
  • Office and Records Management
  • Meeting, Event, and Project Management
  • Operational Functions

Please join the Office of General Education in congratulating Lisa (lcordoba@smu.edu) on this professional accomplishment after months of study!

Categories
Academic Center for Excellence Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center First-Generation Initiative Hilltop Scholars Mustang Scholars National Fellowships Office of General Education President’s Scholars Student Academic Engagement & Success Student Academic Success Programs University Advising Center University Honors Program

Writing Center is open Summer 2023

SMU’s Writing Center in the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center (A-LEC) is open this summer from June 1 – July 31!  Appointment times are:   

  • Mon – Thurs 2:30-5 (in person at the A-LEC)
  • Tues & Thurs 4-6:30 (ZOOM)
  • Fri 2:30-4:30 (in person at the A-LEC);  Sun 5-8 (ZOOM)     

Book an appointment with a Writing Center Faculty Member in Canvas.

 

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success Student Success & Retention

Now accepting applications for three full-time staff positions

SMU Student Academic Engagement & Success (SAES) is excited to share that three open full-time staff positions within Undergraduate Education & Academic Success (UEAS), each position posting will go live on the SMU Staff Career Portal this week, May 1 – 5. Please consider, share with your offices, and post within your professional networks.   

Available Positions within Student Success and Retention:  

Director, Student Success and Retention: The Director leads the Office of Student Success and Retention (SSR). The primary role is supervising three full-time staff and providing day-to-day problem-solving for students trying to remain, depart, or return to SMU. Working closely with the Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Success and the SMU in Four initiative, the Director operationalizes processes to identify at-risk students, strategically outreaches to inspire engagement, coordinates interventions, tracks academic progress, and assesses our institutional strengths and weaknesses in these areas. Manage interventions as projects, repeating annually or each term, involving multiple offices. The Director chairs a university-wide retention and financial support committee to retrain undergraduate students. Serves as a critical partner to the Office of the Dean of Students. 

  • Deadline: Sunday, May 28, 2023
  • Hiring point-of-contact: Dr. Dustin Grabsch (dgrabsch@smu.edu; 214-768-4887) 

Assistant Director, Student Success and Retention: The Assistant Director position involves identifying and supporting students who have either taken a leave of absence, exceeded their expected graduation term, or dropped out of the university without documentation. The Assistant Director will engage with these and other high-level students through personalized campaigns, offer concierge support for complex situations, and monitor their academic progress. They will work with the students regularly to develop action plans and facilitate referrals to on-and off-campus resources to help them complete their degrees. In addition, the Assistant Director will develop and lead programs, trainings, and workshops for re-engaged students that support their holistic student development and success. Will report directly to the Director of the Office of Student Success and Retention. 

  • Deadline: Sunday, June 4, 2023 
  • Hiring point-of-contact: Brittaney Wilson (brittaneyw@smu.edu; 214-768-6248) 

Available Position within the Office of General Education: 

Senior Advisor, Office of General Education: The Senior Advisor for General Education is responsible for coordinating the Office of General Education’s undergraduate student outreach and timely offering academic advising to ensure progression through Common Curriculum requirements. This position develops advising practices and policies and conducts comprehensive academic, career, and other student support services. Acts as a mentor and trainer to other Academic Advisors for the specialty area of general education. The Senior Advisor develops, oversees, and provides Office of General Education programs, initiatives, and student interventions to undergraduate students. Reporting to the Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Success, the position aids with academic integration efforts within the co-curricular. 

  • Deadline: Sunday, May 22, 2023 
  • Hiring point-of-contact: Brittaney Wilson (brittaneyw@smu.edu; 214-768-6248) 

A search committee comprised of UEAS members will review applications, conduct virtual and in-person campus interviews, and make a recommendation for hire.  

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on April 21, 2023

The Council on General Education met on April 21, 2023. The meeting minutes for March 31, 2023 were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of Agenda for the April 21, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the March 31, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Previously Reviewed Proposals
    1. ITAL 2302-Breadth/CA
    2. WL 3311-Breadth/TAS, PREX/HD, PREX/GPS
    3. RUSS 3341-PREX/CIE, PREX/HD
    4. ADV 2343-PREX/GPS, PREX/HD
    5. ANTH 3314-PREX/HD
  4. New Proposal
    1. ADV 4399-PREX/OC
    2. ADV 3303-PREX/QA
    3. FILM 3352-Breadth/HC
    4. HIST 3365- Breadth/HC
    5. HIST 4388-Breadth/HC
    6. PLSC 4340-Breadth/SBS
    7. ENGL 2315-Breadth/LAI
    8. MATH 1340-FND/QR
  5. Activity Proposal
    1. Board Fellows Program- PREX/CE
  6. Office of General Education Updates

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

Categories
Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success University Advising Center

Degree Planner after-action report and advisor incentives announced

Degree Planner was introduced to students at the end of the Fall 2022 semester as a tool that supports the SMU in Four – SMU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) –SMU’s comprehensive approach to improving retention and four-year graduation rates. 

The Degree Planner in the my.SMU Student Dashboard is a powerful tool that can provide students with a personalized, pre-populated degree plan to help them on their journey to graduation. This degree path provides a sequence of courses that will fulfill degree requirements and can be adjusted regularly to fit their future plans. This differs from the Degree Progress Report (DPR), the authoritative source for graduation requirements. 

Initial adoption efforts focused on the 5,348 Common Curriculum students who matriculated in the fall 2020 semester or after (213 Spring 2023 graduating seniors were excluded). Students received outreach on Degree Planner’s purpose, support with completion, and notification of their progress in a variety of ways: 

  • 1,201 students completed their Degree Planner for all remaining terms.  
  • 1,484 students completed their Degree Planner for the Fall 2023 semester. 
  • 8 Degree Planner Support sessions were held (4 in Caruth, 2 in Hughes Trigg, 1 in Meadows, and 1 Zoom Session)  
  • 7 Blog posts were written introducing Degree Planner, sharing progress, announcing raffle winners (on 2/2/23, 2/13/23, & 3/16/23 ), and general information on Degree Planner  
  • 7 Student emails were sent   
  • 130 Winners were selected in raffles to win prizes for completion of Degree Planner.  
  • To-do tasks were added to students’ My.SMU accounts. These to-do tasks were updated and removed weekly. 

We want to reward the following advisors with $100 Amazon gift cards for having the highest number of advisee completions University-wide: 

  • Dorie Beitchman 
  • Misti Compton 
  • Maria Crouch 
  • Christopher Logan 
  • Jennifer Malone 
  • Barbara Morhle 
  • Jeanene Renfro 
  • Caroline Rydquist 
  • Alyssa Wong 

Special Acknowledgement is also given to Janet Stephens and Alyssa Wong for their efforts in encouraging student completion and advertising our student support sessions.  

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Updates made to 44 COVID-19 cohort students for one-time exceptions for Proficiencies and Experiences

Students study before Spring Finals at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Tuesday, May 6, 2021 on the SMU Campus.

The Office of General Education communicated on Monday, February 20, to the campus community about the one-time exception to two Common Curriculum Proficiencies & Experiences for COVID-19 cohorts.

Based on feedback from School Record Offices, we completed the first of three recommended audits. The first audit was conducted today, a day after the originally published Withdrawl Deadline. We added waivers to 44 undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum who dropped courses with needed tags following the February 20 announcement. We applied 38 Community Engagement waivers and 37 Civics and Individual Ethics waivers.

The next audit will be conducted on Thursday (after the extended Withdrawl date due to the ice storm), and the final audit will be as soon as possible following the posting of final grades for the Fall 2023 semester to limit impacts on graduation verifications.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Office of General Education at gened@smu.edu.

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Brittaney Wilson transitions to the Office of General Education full time

Effective April 17, Brittaney Wilson will transition to full-time at the Office of General Education as the inaugural General Education and Academic Appeals Coordinator.

Brittaney Wilson

Since October 2022, Brittaney has served in a joint Undergraduate Degree Counselor position between the Office of General Education and Meadows Student Academic Services. In this role, Brittaney provided:

  • academic advisement for declared majors,
  • aided in adopting the new Degree Planner tool in my.SMU, and
  • launched new student outreach related to general education to Meadows students.

In her new role as General Education and Academic Appeals Coordinator, she will:

  • support the Council on Academic Petitions (CAP),
  • aid in the development and compliance of Common Curriculum pre-approved programs and organizations,
  • Provide data analysis and marketing to encourage student progress through Common Curriculum requirements, and
  • to develop inter-office agreements and audits for the Office of General Education.

Wilson shared, “Though my time in Meadows Academic Services has been short, I have enjoyed supporting students and working with such a knowledgeable team. My new position offers the opportunity to provide support in a different way.  I look forward to increasing my knowledge of university processes, and continued growth on the Hilltop.”

The Office of General Education and the Meadows School of the Arts are grateful for the collaboration to successfully implement this shared Undergraduate Degree Counselor position pilot program. Due to increased demands on both offices, full-time staff was required. The Meadows Academic Services office will begin serving all Meadows graduate and performance degree students in addition to their long-standing service to the undergraduate population, which requires the addition of a full-time Meadows Degree Counselor.

Please join us in congratulating Brittaney Wilson (brittaneyw@smu.edu).

Categories
Office of General Education SMU in Four

LAI seats held for select undergraduate students to assist with CC student progress this fall

Dedman professor, Kate Engel, lectures a Digital History class, Tuesday, April 10, 2018 in the Fondren Library on the SMU Campus.

Thanks to the Department of World Languages & Literature and the Department of English, the Office of General Education was able to hold seats in Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)-tagged courses for fall 2023.

317 students who have not satisfied this general education requirement were admitted in fall 2020, spring 2021, and fall 2022. Due to concerns for student progress through the Common Curriculum (CC) by these admit cohorts in particular, this one-time initiative hopes to assist more students in accessing LAI-tagged courses to complete the requirement.

The email below will be sent to students later today, March 27.

Questions or concerns can be directed to the Office of General Education via email at theccmail@smu.edu.

—

To: LAI Students (n = 317)

From: General Education

Title: Hey Mustang, we’ve held a seat this Fall for you to complete your CC Literary Analysis and Interpretation requirement

March 27, 2023

Dear Mustang –

The Office of General Education wants to inform you that we saved you a seat this Fall in a Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)-tagged course.

As of March 21, your Degree Progress Report (DPR) indicated you had not satisfied your LAI requirement. As you approach graduation, sometimes registering for the necessary courses is more challenging, so we wanted to help you fulfill this Common Curriculum (CC) requirement.

We have held a limited number of seats for LAI-tagged courses this Fall for you. The catch? They are only available during continuing student enrollment, and after this time, the held seats will be released. The following courses have held seats for you:

World Languages Department
WL 2330 – Spanish Civilization
WL 3326 – Introduction to French Cinema
WL 2333 – Italian American Cinema
WL 3371 – Latam Through Film
WL 3381 – GrecoRoman World in Lit & Film
WL 3383 – Latin American Women Writers

 

English Department
ENGL  1320 – Cultures of Medieval Chivalry

ENGL  1330 – The World of Shakespeare

ENGL  2311 – Poetry

ENGL  2312 – Fiction

ENGL  2313 – Drama

ENGL  2318 – Intro To Digital Literature

ENGL  3320 – Topics in Medieval Literature

ENGL  3347 – Topics in Am Lit in Age of Rev

ENGL  3355 – Transatlantic Encounters III

ENGL  3362 – African-American Literature

ENGL  3363 – Chicana/Chicano Literature

Can’t fit in an LAI course this Fall? Consider SMU Intersessions or plan to complete it in the spring.

Special thanks to the Department of World Languages & Literature and the Department of English for working with us to hold seats.

We know enrollment can be stressful, and registering for classes you need to graduate may add to this. We hope these saved seats can help you fulfill your general education requirements.

Sincerely,

Dustin K. Grabsch,  PhD
Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success

 

Categories
Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success

SMU in Four announces final Degree Planner raffle winners

Let’s give a big round of applause to all 758 students who completed Degree Planner before the final raffle deadline! 

For your Degree Planner to be considered complete:  

  Fifty winners were randomly selected to receive prizes courtesy of SMU in Four: 

Amazon Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 Target Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 Starbucks Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 Visa Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 SMU Flex Dollars  

($25 value)    

 SMU Swag Bag  

($50 value)  
 Skyler H.  Michael G.  Breanna S.  Aaliyah A.  Grace B.  Steven B. 
Sarah B.  Spencer B.   Maya C.  Ria D.  Humberto O.  Daniele D. 
Mirana E.  Sofia G.  Jack G.   Arin J.  Eden C.  Annabelle L. 
Jack L.  Karen L.  Anna M.   Mason M.   Lily L.  Lucy M.  
Regina N.   Abby R.  Riley T.   Carina K.  Ava S.   
Alexander B.  Katie F.  Emma G.  Gracie H.   Tulsi L.   
Karis P.  Megan R.  De’Anna W.  Jaena Z.     
Oscar C.  Braden C.  Ella D.  Savannah H.     
Alexa L.  Matthew M.  Lily S.  Jess S.     
Natalya T.  Owen T.  Sydney B.  Remonda H.     

 Winners can come and pick up their prizes from the Office of General Education, Laura Lee Blanton Suite 100, from Monday, March 20th– Monday, March 27th.   

 All Common Curriculum (CC) undergraduate students must complete Degree Planner by March 20.    

 Visit smu.edu/degreeplanner for help getting started.