Ivy, Kolin, Shun, and Jeff invite y’all to Pony (on) Up to the 3rd floor of Perkins Administration Building for a trip to “World Changers R Us”. Our “sweet” suite is 301 and ask Jeff or Kolin about the creatures that live in the haunted attic above us.
Michael Kelly is joining the Office of Engaged Learning team this semester as the first Entrepreneurship Fellow. In this role, Michael will host the E-Launch workshop series and coach winners of the Big iDeas Pitch Contest.
Michael is the Co-Founder of Resolute Future, a software company dedicated to empower the next generation of innovators, and a former VP of investments at JPMorgan Chase where he spent 12 years with a variety of responsibilities including sales, financial planning, management, & training. He held his series 7, series 66, and insurance federal and state licenses in over 20 states during his tenure there. Michael built a $120 million business before leaving to start Resolute Future. While at JPMorgan, he was recognized multiple times for his sales accolades, served on the Diversity Board, and helped increase the book of business 60x under his leadership. Michael is also a serial Entrepreneur dating back to his first venture in 2005/06 while still in high school. He currently sits on the Venture Board for the Dallas Entrepreneur Center focused on increasing venture activity in the DFW area. He donates his time to the DEC, the Capital One accelerator program, Mass Challenge’s accelerator program, and giving speeches at Universities. He was voted by his peers North Texas’ Startup Evangelist of the year for 2023. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with his business administration and management degree from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Get the word out that SMU students can start their own businesses by having an idea, developing a pitch, and entering the Big iDeas Pitch Contest.
Click on the links below to lean more and RSVP!
Family Weekend – Friday, September 29: Big iDeas Pitch Contest – Win $1000 in 90 Seconds – Hughes Trigg Ballroom
On Friday, September 1st, operating within its scope of authority, the Council on General Education approved an update to the Common Curriculum Critical Reasoning rubric.
Critical Reasoning was assessed for the first time in Summer 2021 by the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. Following that round of assessment, raters recommended reviewing and revising the rubric, which they found difficult to apply in many cases. A faculty-led committee was charged to review and revise the rubric over the summer.
Further review of the rubric found that although the learning outcome for Critical Reasoning is appropriate to the components (Students will demonstrate university-level critical reasoning proficiencies through written expression), the supporting skills emphasize writing and are nearly identical to the supporting skills for Academic Writing requirement, which has a different learning outcome (Students will develop competency, clarity, coherence, and organization in their writing). Plus, writing is assessed separately under the Academic Writing, Writing, and within the academic evaluation process.
The current design of the Critical Reasoning rubric has functioned as a barrier to the development of courses outside of the Writing and Reasoning Program (WRTR), mainly because of the primary focus on academic writing in the current iteration of the rubric. Therefore, efforts to revise the Critical Reasoning rubric have been joined with this effort to expand offerings in Critical Reasoning beyond WRTR 1313, WRTR 2304, and WRTR 2306.
Common Curriculum course proposal forms and the online rubrics were updated with the newly-approved rubric.
The Hilltop Scholars Program (HSP), an honors community at SMU for students interested in service and leadership, hosted their annual Service Showcase on Monday, August 28th at 6 PM. This year, 185 Hilltop Scholars made 500 sandwiches for Austin Street Center, 500 coloring books for Dallas Children’s Health, 100 menstrual packs for the SMU Period Project, 100 meal kits for Vogel Alcove, 50 dog toys for Operation Kindness, 50 paracord bracelets for Operation Gratitude, 40 meal bags for Meals on Wheels, 40 book recordings for Readers to Leaders, and 100 self-care kits for Genesis Women’s Shelter.
While building community, students learned about the HSP culture of service and made a considerable impact on local nonprofit organizations. Special thanks to HSP Student Workers Lilly Chapman, Gracie Doyle, and Paul Rowe, as well as all the HSP mentors and faculty, for their support in planning and implementing this important event.
Energy is high on the Hilltop as we welcome students back to campus.
This academic year, the Office of General Education is committed to enhancing the student experience by providing programming to connect students to SMU resources and help them stay on track toward graduation. Plus, we want each student to get the most out of the Common Curriculum.
As we work towards this mission, the Office of General Education has begun student communications to keep all undergraduate Mustangs in the loop of campus offerings.
A quick look at two recent communications sent to all undergraduate students is featured below:
| Sender | Subject Line | Brief Description |
| The Office of General Education (gened@smu.edu) | Welcome Mustang! | Scheduling information about Common Curriculum workshops and pop-ups. A link to Zoom office hours was provided, increasing the accessibility of our services. |
| Peer Academic Leaders (peeracademicleaders@smu.edu) | Ready to PAL around? Let’s connect you with campus resources and more! | Information about the Peer Academic Leaders (PALs) program and its various services. Booking.SMU and SMU360 links were referenced. |
We hope you may amplify or point students to these communications in your interactions. Specifically encouraging Degree Planner and other programming.
We look forward to keeping you and our students informed throughout the year. Please direct feedback to gened@smu.edu.
The Peer Academic Leaders (PALs) are off to a running start this fall. PALs completed their Peer Leader training on August 14th, and all also passed their Certified Peer Educator (CPE) exam.
The Office of General Education is proud of the PALs and is excited to see how they utilize the tools they learned during training. While all eleven PALs have shown great initiative and engagement in August, one PAL stands out a hair above the rest.
Meet Syed Sajjad. Syed is an SMU sophomore who currently studies Finance and Energy. Syed was consistently engaged in his CPE training and regularly contributed to all discussions, no matter how big or small the topic. Syed was also one of the first PALs to complete all assigned programming for August. Students might have seen him at the Cockrell McIntosh kick-off on 8/27, where he took the initiative to order pizza for the residents and shared information about the PALs’ services.
Syed is an excellent representation of a student who always puts forth 100% effort, and we are excited to watch him continue to shine this year.
To all undergraduate students, check out upcoming PALs programs and events on the Office of General Education SMU360 page or the SMU Connected Wednesday newsletter. Students can also schedule appointments with PALs during office hours via Booking.SMU.
The Office of General Education, in conjunction with the Office of Information Technology, collaborated to rename and update the drawer types used in AdminImages.SMU. Drawers store electronic records of general education and other important petitions.
AdminImages.SMU provides an electronic document storage and retrieval system. Electronic documents can be scanned or captured in various ways, and all documents are stored in a secure, encrypted database.
Previously, the drawer was initially named “SCH UG GEC” an abbreviation of School Undergraduate General Education Curriculum. However, the naming was changed to reflect our office’s current processes and the document types we will process moving forward. The updated drawer name is “PROV GenEd” an abbreviation of Provost General Education. The table below shows the previous drawers and types and how they have been renamed.
| Original Drawer | Original Type | Renamed Drawer | Renamed Type |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG Honors Petition | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Honors Petition |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG Enrollment Request | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Enrollment Request |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG GEC Individual Petition | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Individual Petition |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG GEC Formal Exemption | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Formal Exemption |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG Data Science Advising | Removed | Removed |
| SCH UG GEC | Default | PROV GenEd | Default |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG Transfer Credit Petition Reeval | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Transfer Credit Reeval |
| SCH UG GEC | SCH UG Transfer Credit Petition Preappro | PROV GenEd | PROV GenEd Transfer Credit Preappro |
Viewing permissions and access remain the same. School records offices, the Registrar, and some advisors can access scans of completed (approved or denied) Office of General Education petitions. However, two additional imaging drawers have been added to aid transparency and improve academic advising of students.
| New Drawer | Petitions Included |
| PROV GenEd BRD Swap | New Fall 2023 catalog and forward petition tracking swaps in use of external credit |
| PROV GenEd PREX | Pre-approval and fulfillment verification petitions used for graduation requirements (e.g., proficiencies and experiences) |
We share this information to increase visibility and accessibility to General Education processes and records offices. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Lisa Cordoba (lcordoba@smu.edu).
The Office of Engaged Learning invites students to apply to their premier funding opportunities: the Engaged Learning Fellowship and the Big iDeas Pitch Contest!
The Engaged Learning Fellowship (ELF) provides up to $2500 of funding for students pursuing a capstone project in research, service, or creative inquiry. The deadline for the current cycle is September 15. Applicants submit a project proposal along with a letter of recommendation from their faculty mentor. Proposals are reviewed by a faculty panel.
The Big iDeas Pitch Contest awards up to $1000 of funding for student entrepreneurs. A brief application is due by September 27, and participants will deliver a live 90-second pitch to a panel of judges on Friday, September 29 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Student Success & Retention is excited to announce Shun D. Colter as our new Assistant Director!
Shun comes to us most recently from the Texas Workforce Commission where he served for 3 years as a Vocational Counselor, a role where he oversaw a ~50-person caseload and helped clients overcome barriers to success in going to college and securing employment.
Shun has also volunteered as the Counseling Coordinator for Friendship West Baptist Church for the past four years, a role in which he provides mental health education and resources to his local community.
Before these roles, Shun worked as a Rehab Clinician with New Start for two years and a Mental Health Associate for Menninger Psychiatric Clinic, both in Houston.
Shun has a master’s degree in counseling from Prairie View A&M where he also worked for two years. Shun’s bachelor’s degree is in Sociology and Psychology from the U. of North Texas. Shun grew up in Port Huron, Michigan before coming to college in Texas and beginning his career as an actor (IMDB link). Shun was chosen as Houston’s New Actor to Watch for 2013 but even before that, as a 13-year-old, Shun was print modeling for JC Penney, New Yorker Kid, and Macys.
Jeff Doyle shared that “Shun brings a level of professionalism, care, and hard work to our office that only further supplements the already amazing staff we have in Kolin and Ivy. I hope others on campus will reach out to Shun by email (scolter@smu.edu) or phone (768.7055) to welcome him to the Hilltop.
Shun shared, “I hope to make a strong effort to allow students to be seen, heard, and valued by having an open mind through demonstrating kindness, compassion and empathy.”
Shun joins Kolin Goldschmidt, Program Coordinator, Ivy Phillips, Success Counselor, and Jeff Doyle, Director, on the fully staffed department thanks in large part to Assistant Provost, Dr. Dustin Grabsch!