At SMU, Fraternity and Sorority Life is a way for undergraduate students to get involved on campus, but also show a commitment to their academics. While the Fall 2020 semester was a challenging one, members of SMU’s Greek community have shown that they are capable of academic success, despite challenges the pandemic brought.
SMU’s Fraternity and Sorority Life Community, which accounts for roughly 43% of undergraduate students, saw an increase in overall GPA for Fall of 2020. Up from a council-wide average of a 3.4 in the Fall of 2019, the increase comes after students dealt with changing class formats and different schedules due to the pandemic.
Fraternity and Sorority members at SMU have shown their dedication and commitment to their academics, despite the external challenges that they faced. It is the combination of leadership and said commitment to their academics that make members of SMU’s Greek community leaders both in and out of the classroom.
To learn more about the FSL Community at SMU, please click here.
Students, Faculty, and Staff received the following message regarding make-up days after the winter weather in mid-February.
March 2, 2021
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:
After nearly a year of the most remarkable adjustments by every member of the SMU community, the week before last challenged us again beyond imagination. We are thankful to everyone who worked throughout that week to keep us safe, healthy, warm and nourished.
SMU cancelled almost five full days of instruction during the weather event and, as you know, we need to recover lost time. During the campus closure, leaders from across the University consulted to determine our best options. These conversations included Faculty Senate Executive and Calendar Committees, Student Senate, Council of Deans, Accreditation Representatives, Provost’s Leadership Forum, Offices of Financial Aid and Enrollment Services, Student Affairs, and the President’s Executive Council.
After careful consideration of federal credit-hour requirements, the consensus of the groups we consulted is to use Good Friday and Reading Day One to make up two instructional days; the remaining direct instruction will be left to the discretion of individual faculty members to ensure that all course outcomes are met. We made the decision to use Good Friday only after careful consideration, and the campus leaders we worked with – including those from Faculty and Student Senate – advised it would be preferable to scheduling a make-up day on a Saturday. We intend to be sensitive to and accommodate the members of our SMU community whose religious practices include a full observation of Good Friday.
Religious Observance & SMU Holiday:
Students whose religious practices include observance of Good Friday should notify their professors in writing now, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.
Faculty whose religious practices include observance of Good Friday should notify their department chair (or otherwise appropriate person within their department) and explain alternative accommodations that will be made for missing class, such as holding make-up class(es), a guest speaker(s), etc. (University Policy No. 7.22.)
Nonexempt employees who work Good Friday to support class delivery should record their hours worked, as usual, and will be compensated for the time worked as well as holiday pay. Exempt employees who must work Good Friday to support class delivery should arrange with their supervisor for another time to recognize the holiday. Any employee asked to work the holiday to support class delivery will be granted the same sensitivity to religious tradition.
Revising Syllabi:
We ask faculty to amend their syllabi to reflect the make-up days and distribute the revised syllabi to all students via Canvas and to provide a copy to their department chairs or program directors. Chairs and directors are asked to retain these syllabi on file should they be needed for upcoming accreditation reviews and visits.
Good Friday, April 2: Make-up day for classes cancelled Tuesday, Feb. 16
Reading Day,Tuesday, May 4: Make-up day for classes cancelled Wednesday, Feb. 17
All classes on make-up days will take place virtually during the regularly scheduled synchronous times. Faculty may deliver remaining direct instruction through a variety of synchronous or asynchronous faculty options, using pre-recorded lectures, virtual discussion groups, etc.
As a reminder, faculty should not schedule exams or assignments to be completed on university reading days. It is particularly important that faculty who may have previously scheduled work to be completed on the readings days also revise their syllabi.
Exemptions: Professional graduate programs may need to make different adjustments as dictated by discipline, specific accreditors, calendar modules, and/or constraints on students working full-time. Please be reminded that end-of-term dates must not be altered as that could impact students’ federal financial aid. Deans are asked to notify the Office of the Provost along with all affected students as to specific make up plans.
Academic Support: OIT academic support staff will be available to answer the SMU Help Desk questions and to provide regular technical support on make-up days.
I want to thank each of you for working with us as we move forward to finish the semester.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth G. Loboa Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Southern Methodist University
The Division of Student Affairs provides thirteen Graduate Assistants with opportunities to grow as aspiring leaders in higher education. Recently, we caught up with a few of them to talk about how the pandemic has altered their experiences as GAs in the 2020-2021 academic year.
One of the greatest lessons this pandemic has taught those who work in higher education is how to adapt. Vic Norris, a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement, said that his experience is one of “constant change and adaptation. Being able to work with student leaders has been a new challenge, but a joy as well.” However, adapting to this new format has also limited the amount of in person work that GAs can do. Hannah Curtis, GA for Sports Clubs noted that the new limitations did not “allow much practice and competition. I do think the Division handled it well and was very thorough.”
Even in the wake of a pandemic, graduate assistants have found opportunities for growth and ways to play active roles in their respective communities. Jessica Borne, a Residential Community Director for Mary Hey Peyton-Shuttles Commons, expressed that her experience “has been one of a lot of growth,” and that she is “amazed at her students’ hard work and diligence to still make connections inside of our community” despite the pandemic.
Finding a sense of community as the world fights COVID-19 daily has not been an easy task. However, graduate assistants have played active roles in successfully helping students navigate the new, partly virtual world. Dani Meyers, a second year graduate assistant for the Hegi Career Development Center, expressed that she believes that their office has “grown stronger in terms of better communication and support amongst ourselves and as part of the SMU community,” and despite the pandemic, they are able to “provide the same caliber of services to students as we did prior to COVID-19.” As we begin to think of a world beyond the pandemic, the desire to serve students at SMU will remain.
While the initial adjustment to online instruction was difficult, the new format provides those interested in higher education with the opportunity to serve as graduate assistants, even from afar. Dedman Law student Colleen Collins said that she is a “virtual student at home in Florida, and it has been an amazing experience to work for the Women and LGBT Center virtually. This work is so important, and it is something I am passionate about – so it has been fun to make things happen for the Center from afar.” Perhaps one of the major takeaways of the pandemic will be that no matter the format, student affairs professionals can still have a profound impact on students and the universities they serve.
Graduate Assistants have faced unique challenges as they navigate classes, work, and attempting to have a social life with a pandemic raging. While this academic year may look far from normal, some things, like support and mentorship, have remained. Emily Rasch, Graduate Assistant for Student Affairs Administration, noted that, “when I think of starting my role in the middle of a pandemic, what I will remember most is the people who invested in me and helped me succeed, both in and out of the office.” Though adapting to the pandemic’s challenges has been a task in itself, it is important to remember those who are helping graduate students succeed.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, little was known about the impact it would have on daily life at SMU. However, through hard work and a little flexibility, Graduate Assistants for the Division have offered a new sense of hope for the future of student affairs at SMU.
Sigma Chi member Cullen Blanchfield ’21 reflects back on his fraternity’s effort to help their house chef when he needed it most.
I joined Sigma Chi in the Spring of 2018, and while change has been a constant during the last three years for all of us at the Sigma Chi house, one thing has remained consistent and that is Claudis, our House Chef, who feeds us three meals a day.
Claudis has worked for the Delta Mu Chapter of Sigma Chi for 18 years, without a single complaint. Each weekday, Claudis arrives at Sigma Chi at 6 AM sharp, cooks all day, and leaves shortly after 6:30 PM every day except Friday when he leaves us at 2 PM.
Although he is a man of few words, Claudis is a man of his word. Day in and day out, Claudis works diligently to serve others. On a few occasions I’ve had short conversations with Claudis while getting my food, and I’ve learned that Claudis is a die-hard Seahawks fan, a father, and a husband. Additionally, my Sigma Chi brothers and I learned that Claudis’ wife had been battling cancer over the last few years. Not only has Claudis cooked for 100 + young men every weekday for years, up until this past fall he would return home and cook for his wife who had a limited diet because of her battle with cancer.
When the COVID pandemic hit, a few of us noticed that Claudis began to serve our food. Not only was he cooking all of our meals, but he was serving all of us, unable to relax after preparing our meal. This didn’t sit well with anyone in our chapter, so we looked into providing Claudis with a raise or bonus for his extra work.
Just like any other morning, Claudis arrived at the house on time on October 6th. Our house Mom, Pam, informed us that Claudis had lost his wife to cancer. Pam had to tell Claudis to take the week off, showing just how committed he is. My fraternity brothers proposed the idea to pool together money to help pay for the funeral. I suggested that we use GoFundMe as a platform to allow the Sigma Chi brothers to show their appreciation for the man who has shown up every single day to cook for us regardless of the challenges life has presented him. Our GoFundMe raised $5775, surpassing our goal of $2500 more than two-fold. We received donations from current brothers, recent alumni, alumni from decades ago, some of whom don’t even know Claudis personally. It felt incredibly special to give back just a fraction of what Claudis has given to us. All of us at Sigma Chi consider it a true honor to have Claudis as a part of our Sigma Chi family. We look forward to many more years of his quiet presence and big heart in our house.
To donate to Sigma Chi’s GoFundMe for Claudis, please click here.
Cullen Blanchfield ’21 is a BFA Film Production Major. He is from New Hartford, New York and his Residential Commons affiliation is Armstrong Commons.
With SMU’s Spring 2021 semester in full swing, the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement (SCIE) held its annual Dream Week. The annual event, inspired by the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, brought together students to serve SMU.
Dream Week 2021 kicked off on January 26 with a Day of Service, which brought together students to package bags of essential items for the Bridge Homeless Recovery Center. The annual Unity Walk, which usually features large crowds of people, had to be scaled down this year because of COVID-19 restrictions. However, that did not stop SCIE from gathering to form a Unity Circle on January 27, which brought together students, faculty, and staff to celebrate Dr. King’s mission for justice.
When asked about how it felt to participate in Dream Week, Vic Norris, a graduate assistant for the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement, said that, “Being able to participate in a small part of Dream Week was important to me. It felt like I was contributing to MLK’s dream, which is something we shouldn’t just do once a year but every day.” Dream Week 2021 was a reminder for SMU students to use Dr. King’s words to inspire and initiate change on a daily basis.
If you have any questions about future events from the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement, please click here.
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, like most areas of our campus, had to make several large adjustments this year due to Covid-19. Recognizing the importance of involvement and the need to create safe processes to do so, our staff shifted our marketing focus to virtual platforms in order to prepare students for intake and recruitment. A few of the new initiatives we developed included:
Greek 101 Canvas course – created a comprehensive learning experience for students interested in any of our four councils. It also provided a longer opportunity for students to explore their Greek life options without having to come to an in-person or Zoom event. Over 550 students took the Greek 101 course.
Reduced registration cost and an extended registration period for both IFC and PHC. With the registration deadline extensions, IFC had a record number of students sign up for recruitment (459) and Panhellenic hit their goal to meet a typical year’s total (614).
Mass emailing from our office to every unaffiliated first- and second-year student with all four council options and specifics for joining. These students also received multiple registration deadline reminders.
Our Multicultural Greek Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council quickly adapted their processes to create virtual information sessions. MGC in particular created a week of engaging events on Zoom and other platforms to engage with interested students and showcase their organizations. Our office met with local, regional, and inter/national advisors to determine best pathways forward for individual chapter intake processes. Most have plans to move forward with intake this spring.
Formal recruitment processes for the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils were completely virtual this year. We worked closely with the national umbrella organizations and compiled best practices from other campuses to determine the ideal virtual process for our campus. Each recruitment process was held entirely on Zoom. Similar to in-person recruitment options, potential new members took part in a number of Zoom events each day based on the invitations they received. Our chapters worked all fall semester to create creative ways to engage with students. Most developed videos that highlight their chapter experience, and each planned creative and safe ways to welcome new members to their organizations. Some of these include delivering welcome items to the student when they return to campus, scheduled times to stop by their facility to take a “bid day” photo and meet chapter leaders, and mailing welcome baskets/yards signs to students who are remote learning this semester. Our IFC organizations got creative with their invite-only events during recruitment with some examples including a virtual game show or an online video game event.
As Panhellenic recruitment is our most logistically complex process, we added a number of new features to help our community members and potential new members be as prepared as possible for the process. A number of added additions for virtual recruitment this year included:
Several training sessions and mock recruitment events during the fall semester to help train chapters on how to utilize Zoom breakout rooms to rotate members for one-on-one conversations.
The addition of video submissions during registration as an added way for chapters and potential new members to get to know each other better.
A Panhellenic virtual “help desk” where potential new members can stop by anytime to ask questions or help work through technical issues.
Recruiting volunteers from FSL offices from around the country to assist in our final selections process.
Built in assessment tools to gage student experiences with the virtual format.
As with any new venture there were a number of lessons learned. There were also a few initiatives that we so well received, we may use those formats moving forward. Hybrid recruiting models may be the future in the fraternity and sorority world, and may also be the best way to reach a broader audience.
Orientation Leader, Jillian Taylor, reflects on her experience adapting Orientation and Stampede to a virtual format because of the pandemic. Through teamwork and quick thinking, the Orientation Leaders were able to make the virtual experience a memorable one for the newest class of Mustangs.
My experience as an SMU orientation leader in the summer of 2020 was a blur of Zoom calls, crisis management, and true teamwork.
Allow me to begin by explaining exactly what an Orientation Leader (OL) does. It goes far beyond funny skits and knowing facts about SMU; we underwent four months of leadership training and team bonding before we even began our OL jobs. During this training period, we practiced public speaking, learned about our own personalities, listened to lessons about leadership, wrote speeches, and more. Then, we officially became OLs. For June and July, we spent hours on Zoom learning about dozens of departments at the university, facilitating small groups discussion, and planning Stampede events. We moved on campus in August and worked tirelessly to plan Stampede. Then, 11 hours before Stampede was supposed to begin, the whole thing got switched to online. We quickly adapted and executed a fully-online version of our original plan.
It was a rollercoaster experience that taught me some vital lessons.
First, I learned how to respond to crisis situations. Our team was dealt difficult cards: facilitating orientation over Zoom, our boss quitting three weeks before Stampede, and Stampede moving online 11 hours before it started. Getting too overwhelmed to work isn’t an option when thousands of new students and parents are relying on you. The only option was to overcome, and we did just that. It was a powerful thing to experience.
This point leads me to the next thing I learned: the value of a close-knit team. The OL team spent four months learning about ourselves and each other, and by the end of it, we knew one other really well. This bond caused us to generally respond to stressful situations as a unit. I vividly remember the meeting where we learned Stampede would be online. There was about one minute of shocked silence, then we immediately started brainstorming ways to respond. We worked like our tail was on fire for 11 hours and created a dynamic, entertaining live stream to replace the in-person kickoff events we had planned. I’ll be honest with you; I was surprised by how good that live stream was. It was awesome.
Finally, I learned about my strength in facilitating connections. Getting people who’ve never met to talk openly over Zoom is difficult. There are so many social cues that are lost when interactions are online, so I had to be constantly attentive to the energy my groups were putting off. Sometimes, they really wanted to ask questions and learn about SMU. Other times, they just wanted to make friends. As the facilitator, I had to gauge what the group was interested in and quickly adapt to meet their needs. It was absolutely a challenge, but it helped me pinpoint a unique strength that I possess.
I’m so thankful I was able to learn all of these things as a student because it equips me for life beyond college. For any college students reading this: I would undoubtedly recommend finding ways to practice servant leadership before you graduate!
Jillian Taylor ’23 is a Journalism major with a Computer Science minor. She is from Waxahachie, TX and her Residential Commons affiliation is Momac Commons.
The Engage Dallas initiative is a long-term, place-based community engagement initiative where students residing in eleven Residential Commons have avenues for service in South and West Dallas. Through these experiences, students complete education and training, reflections, and share their talents with community partners from around the city of Dallas.
Engage Dallas is an interoffice SMU initiative dedicated to cultivating community vitality. Dr. Dustin Grabsch, director of Academic Initiatives at SMU and one the core team for Engage Dallas, said, “We are honored by the opportunity to serve Dallas through this new university commitment which animates our mission – World Changers are indeed shaped here. We’re excited to help build an initiative that will make our city proud, and that will build the belief that SMU is better because of the city we call home.”
Staphany Lopez-Coronado, assistant director of the office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement, said about the announcement, “Engage Dallas is an important program at SMU – our students continue to find ways to support our local community and community organizations in a way which best serves their needs and those of their constituents.” Lopez-Coronado explained the initiative launched in the fall semester with the necessary education and training students need to prepare for direct-service opportunities beginning later in the spring 2021 semester. Lopez-Coronado mentioned the education and training sessions available to students via Canvas include an overview of Engage Dallas, opportunities for reflections, an overview of the initiative, elements of personal reflection, and education on community needs in Dallas.
Engage Dallas was also awarded a $25,000 innovation grant from Division of Student Affairs. Grabsch reflected on the grant application stating, “We considered the proposal to be innovative, as only six institutions of higher learning currently employ place-based community engagement to our knowledge. Of these institutions, none operationalizes the model via a residential college system.” Engage Dallas offers a unique combination and timing of the initiative with University prioritization that made the proposal a promising contender for the grant. The grant funds student leadership positions, marketing and communication resources, and supports development of the education and training elements of Engage Dallas.
Melinda Carlson, assistant vice president of Student Affairs and dean of Residence Life and Student Housing, remarked at the incredible potential to solidify the connection between the campus and Dallas communities. “Engage Dallas brings high impact community engagement opportunities to our Residential Commons communities. Our residential student communities will be able to grow their sense of place in the larger Dallas community.” Carlson believes in the importance of students feeling a sense of connection and belonging to the neighborhood and community in which they live. “Students will learn and experience the importance of engagement with the broader community, a skill that is critical to being a World Changer”
A unique feature of Engage Dallas is SMU students are able to fulfill the Common Curriculum’s Community Engagement Proficiency and Experience requirement for graduation. Students can reach out to their Residential Commons’ Engage Dallas student director with questions or for assistance.
On January 19, 2021, SMU participated in a nationwide Evening of Remembrance to commemorate the lives lost to COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic in March of 2020, over 400,000 Americans have passed away from COVID-19. Seeing the Hilltop lit up in blue reminded the campus community of the pandemic’s impact across the United States.
As we look to the start of the Spring 2021 semester, it is important to continue in campus-wide efforts to keep students, faculty, and staff healthy and safe. For more information on how SMU is facing the pandemic, please click here.
In collaboration with Student Academic Success Programs, we are excited to provide some advice and resources for students to help students with studying and scheduling during online classes and finals:
1. Figure out a schedule early.Over Thanksgiving and before you return to virtual courses, locate and set up a space in the house for “work”. Find somewhere quiet during the times you will need to be logged into your computer.
2. Make a list of times/dates of your final exams and share it with your family.If siblings and others are around, talk about how important these times are. Are there better places to take your finals – parents’ office or a library? Think about these chunks of times and make a plan for where you’ll be.
3. Maintain your schedule.If you normally get up to study before classes, do that while you’re home. If you always study during lunch, keep it up! Share your schedule with family so they understand.
4. Take all your course materials home! Books, notes, workbooks, returned exams/quizzes. Don’t leave anything behind that might help with your classes or finals.
5. If you completed a Time Awareness sheet (a 24/7 worksheet), take it home and share it with your family so they know the schedule you’ll keep for the 3 remaining class days.
6. There are 3 Reading Days – plan out how you’ll utilize them in advance.
8. Virtual tutoring (including Writing Center appointments) and academic counselingwill continue through final exams. The schedule can be found at www.smu.edu/SASP.
For more information, please visit the following websites:
