The University Testing Center will be closed on Monday, October 9th, and Tuesday, October 10th for Fall Break.
Testing will resume on Thursday, October 12th.
Good luck on midterms, and enjoy the break!
Category: Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center
As the University Testing Center (UTC) launches its second year of operation this fall, we are excited to welcome Amie DeRegge as our new Testing Coordinator!
Amie brings over 20 years of experience in student academic records management, having served as a Texas charter high school registrar. Her passion for serving students and her strengths in data management, multi-tasking, and customer service make her a tremendous addition to the UTC team.
“I’m so happy to work in the University Testing Center. I love the culture and spirit of SMU and look forward to helping our students reach their academic goals for success in life,” Amie said.
Amie’s arrival at the UTC coincides with more new changes coming to the UTC this fall. In addition to providing testing services to students receiving accommodations from DASS (Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies), the center will expand testing services to student-athletes during their sport’s competition season. A migration to test scheduling software in the new UTC Portal will provide additional academic testing and credit-by-exam services to SMU students and the local community.
“It’s an exciting time to be at the UTC and be a part of its growth,” Amie said. “It provides yet another opportunity to become immersed in the life of SMU.”
Amie enjoys spending time outdoors in her spare time, vacationing with family on the beach, being “Minyama” to her grandkids, and having fun with her pets Sparky and Doc. She and her husband, Andrew, are proud Mustang parents to their daughter, Molly, an incoming freshman and member of SMU Cheer.
The UTC is certified by the National College Testing Association (NCTA) and adheres to professional standards ensuring exam integrity and accessibility for both examiners and examinees.
SASP is fully staffed to kick of the fall, 2023 semester!
Please join us in welcoming Gracy Herrera as the new academic probation counselor. Gracy will counsel all pre-major students on academic probation. Gracy is an education advocate with over 14 years’ experience developing academic courses of action for students of varying social backgrounds, scholastic levels, and special needs. Gracy has most recently focused on advancing the skills of student-athletes in Dubai. Gracy will start next Monday, August 7.
We are also excited to welcome Makenzie Moriarty as the new academic counselor. Makenzie will counsel declared majors on academic probation, university probation, Prelude students, and the general undergraduate population. Makenzie comes to SMU from the University of South Carolina where she was a GA in the Student Success Center working to empower peer leaders and counsel students who were working to transfer to USC. Makenzie will start next Monday, August 7.
Varun Singh is our new Graduate Assistant for the First-Generation Initiative. Varun will work closely with Chris Meyers to support our first-gen students and implement our signature events. Varun is pursuing a MS in Business Analytics in the Cox School of Business. Varun has worked as a head organizer for a film festival, managed various projects, and has spent the last six years starting and managing his own real estate and construction firm. Varun will start next Wednesday, August 9.
We’d also like to thank our colleagues who assisted in the search process for all our positions this spring and summer – your collaborations are so appreciated.
Student Academic Success Programs welcomes Grace Okoro, who will start as tutor coordinator July 5th. Grace has a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from UTA and a master’s in Health Administration from TWU. She is also working towards a PhD in Health Sciences. Grace will be assisting Adreana and Nancy in expanding our tutor training program, working with our tutors, and working with students. Grace will bring SASP experience in data collection, and as a teaching assistant.
Please welcome two new staff members to the Student Academic Success Programs (SASP) team and thank a valued member who is leaving:
Dr. Nancy Larkin is joins the A-LEC team as the Assistant Director of Tutoring. Nancy has an Ed.D. from Walden University in Teacher Leadership, a master’s in Educational Technology from George Washington University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Geology from Lamar University. She has experience teaching and writing curriculum in many high school science courses including Honor’s and AP physics, chemistry and biology. She has presented at many conferences and has a lifetime teaching certification in Texas public schools.
Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies (DASS) regrets to say goodbye to Dr. Robin Corbett in July as she returns to the K-12 sector, working in the area of special education. We welcome her replacement, Valiza Cameron-Patterson, in mid-July. Valiza comes to us from Dallas ISD where she served as a school counselor. She received her Master’s degree in Counseling & Student Affairs from TCU, and is excited to work with students with disabilities in higher education.
Categories
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:
- Office of Engaged Learning
- Office of General Education
- Common Curriculum
- University Curriculum
- General Education Curriculum
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.
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.
Disability Accommodation and Success Strategies has added a new short video study skills series to its website: check out the “Body Doubling”! https://www.smu.edu/Provost/ProvostOffice/SAES/AcademicSupport/SASP/Services/DASS/SuccessStrategies
Student Academic Success Programs (SASP) will say good-bye to our tutor coordinator, Carlos Luis Garcia, at the end of September. Carlos served our students for five years after his graduation and was a math tutor during his undergraduate career, earning the Ben Thomas Outstanding Tutor Award his senior year. Carlos heads to Ernst and Young to apply his M.S in Operations Research and Engineering Management degree. Thank you, Carlos and you will be missed.