DES NEWSLETTER

The Division of Enrollment Services Newsletter
Southern Methodist University
An Electronic Newsletter of
Undergraduate Admission, Financial Aid, Student Financial Services, and the University Registrar

Volume IV, Issue X         December 2005
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STAR ACHIEVEMENTS

Over 900 students received degrees in December.

NEW STAFF

Colleen Franklin - Federal/State Loan Specialist

Carmel Shook - Receivables Manager

STAFF LEAVING

Laura Harrington - UG Admissions

ANNIVERSARIES

Lorinda Lamb - 14 years

Monica Cordero - 11 years

Marc Peterson - 7 years with DES

Jenny DeMasi - 5 years

Shannon Grandberry - 5 years

Alan Bordelon - 2 years

Cristina Coronado - 1 year

BIRTHDAYS

Darrah Rippy  - Jan 5

Peggy Boykin - Jan 23

If you are not on the list and should be, let Kathy know..

Check Out the New Stuff

Honorary Degree Website - celebrate SMU's rich history in awarding of honorary degrees at  http://www.smu.edu/registrar/
Honorary_Degrees/HonoraryDegree.asp.  Learn about the 243 men and 33 women SMU has chosen to be part of our alumni family.  You will find familiar names and some surprises for sure.  This project with continue to evolve by adding more information and pictures.

Degree Verification - in June 2005, degree verification has been done by the National Clearinghouse.  At the end of November they had done 1,351 verifications on our behalf saving money in time, postage, and supplies plus earning a rebate fee on most of the transaction.  And the requestor gets 24/7 service. 

DHL Provides Better Service - starting the end of November 2005, transcript requests are delivered by DHL Courier Service.  DHL provides dependable overnight service, gives the requestor a way to track the package and provides a customer service contact.  Our students and alumni are getting great service and SMU is reducing its handling costs.

Visiting Students - As the fall term ended so did the partnership between SMU and six schools in the area impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  University Registrar, John Hall and Dean of UG Admission, Ron Moss reported to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board the success of the visiting student program.  210 students took advantage of our Partnership in Education.  SMU faculty, staff, and administrators worked hard to make sure that these students were able to catch up with their classes.  One faculty member remarked that the student with the highest grade in one of his classes was a student from Tulane.  SMU should be proud of the response of the entire community.

VIPs - Very Important Ponies 

 

Some of our VIPs this month are:

Jenny DeMasi - The SMU Staff Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the Caroline M. Jones Staff Association Scholarship. Jennifer DeMasi has confirmed that all of the scholarships have been awarded, so these students will see the financial benefit before their tuition is due later this month.  If any of you see Jenny DeMasi over in DES, feel free to tell her that she ROCKS, and that she made this whole experience so much easier.  Stephanie Dupaul, Cox School

Staff for December Graduation Thanks for copying me on this note of thanks.  Indeed, the people you sent it to certainly deserve congratulations and thanks -- especially those involved in mounting the third ceremony on such short notice!  All three ceremonies went well, and were successful recognitions of the graduating students present.  I want to add, though, that a very special thanks goes to Peggy Boykin and John Hall. You pulled it all together wonderfully, and I know how long, hard, and "smart" you worked.  You should be feeling very good.  Tom Tunks

I want to thank all of  you, and Hubert, too, for Saturday.  It may be true that we over-prepared, but it was that preparation that gave us the confidence to do the great job that we accomplished.  Pat yourselves on your back, and Chris, you probably are in this for the long run.  Brad Carter

Cristina Coronado - Thank you Cristina for the excellent service you gave to the confused student I brought to you.  She came in after her mother called from New Jersey saying that there was a hold she shouldn't have.  Since I know next to nothing about the world of financial aid, I brought her to you.  Cristina you greeted her with your warm smile and went right to work.  You were able to find out what was holding up her loan.  A very confused student and a long distance mom were both put at easy that day specifically because of you.  Thank you.  Kelly McMillan Milazzo

 Off To Work 9 To 5 

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE

This is the next in a series of articles by etiquette and protocol consultant Linda Tyler Rollins.  Ms. Rollins is a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington and founder of Rollins Rules Etiquette and Protocol Consulting.  Ms. Rollins was associated with the University of North Texas Athletic Department for twenty years before moving into consulting full time. 

Ms. Rollins is available to present workshops and can be contacted through her website at www.rollinsrules.com. 

A huge thank you to Linda for her insights and advise. 

 Horseback Riding 

Pony Protocol
by Linda Tyler Rollins

Having an Ear for the Complaint Call

Of course, it’s not your fault! Most of the time when you draw the black bean for a complaint call, you were in the next county when the alleged incident took place. That is totally beside the point. Now is not the time to become defensive. This is about the caller/customer. It is not about you.

Accept responsibility. No, the customer isn’t always right. But, let me play the flip side…wronged customers are always lethal. 

Think about the last time you, as a consumer were treated wonderfully well. With how many people did you share this good news? Ok, now think of the last time someone “done you wrong” out there? You told everybody on your radar screen about it, didn’t you? And, no matter how old the story may be, you will be glad to share the details when the topic comes up. “Well, if you think that’s bad, listen to what happened to me in Duke and Ayers in 1966!”

Accepting responsibility does not mean you agree with the complainant. You must try to understand how the person is feeling. Empathize first. “I understand how you must feel.” Apologize second. Yes, apologize. You are sorry that there is a problem, aren’t you, especially since the problem landed in your lap? “I’m sorry there is a problem.”

Accepting responsibility also means you are taking on the problem- solving load. You are going to do something, and you are going to assure the caller that action will be taken. Many times that is exactly what the caller wants to hear. (If luck is on your side, your solution is as easy as forwarding the call to the rightful owner! I prefer personally solving the problem because a forward means following up to be sure there was a resolution.)

Although I place the emphasis on accepting responsibility, I have based this information on a method called EAR – Empathize, Apologize, Accept Responsibility. I found the acronym via The Workforce Investment Act: Telephone Etiquette: Thirty-Six Tips. Needless to say, I have placed a bit of a spin on it.

We’ll look at dealing with an irate customer next time.

Remember, you can’t play the game if you don’t know the rules.

 

DON'T FORGET
 NO DES Meeting in January

 

Important Dates

Dec. 26-30 - University Holiday

Jan 2 - University Holiday

Jan 9 - Residence Halls Open

Jan 16 - University Holiday

Jan 17 - First Day of Class

Jan 23 - Last day to enroll

March 13-18 - Spring Break

Quotation of the Month

Two kinds of gratitude: the kind we feel for what we take, the larger kind we feel for what we give.
Edwin Arlington Robinson

SMU Trivia

Question
 What is Martha Sumner University and what is its significance to SMU?

Answer
 Martha Sumner University was a fictional university in the 1929 Charlie Ferguson novel Pigskin.  It was widely understood to be based on SMU.  After the novel, Martha Sumner University became a subversive university-within-a-university composed of SMU students rebelling against the strict rule of President Selecman.

The Elements of E-communication

E-mail has become as ubiquitous in business communication as the interoffice memorandum once was. While e-mail is a technological necessity that can make communicating much more efficient, there are certain rules and guidelines that can help those in the financial aid industry use e-mail in both an efficient and secure manner.

Most everyone has heard the advice on proper e-mail etiquette. However, for those who work in the financial aid office, protecting your students' personal and financial information when sending an e-mail can be a more challenging, but more important, task.

To help financial aid offices enhance their e-mail skills, TG Speakers Bureau offers The Elements of E-Communication. This professional development session goes beyond the basics of e-mail etiquette and offers practical skills to protect personal data in electronic communications.

Why is this important?
Although e-mail is a great tool for communication, it also unfortunately has become a way for criminals to steal information such as people's names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and account numbers. This can lead to bank and credit card fraud and, in the worst-case situation, identity theft.

The Elements of E-Communication is designed specifically for financial aid professionals and addresses the various ways you can protect your students', parents', and borrowers' personal information when communicating by e-mail.

"We already know not to send social security numbers via e-mail, but we really need to understand how we can protect all financial information and the 'box' that holds the data," said Tom Sharp, TG assistant vice president for corporate learning and development.

Locking your computer when you leave your desk, choosing strong passwords, and adopting the attitude that all e-mail is public and permanent are some of the safeguards that financial aid professionals can perform to protect sensitive data.

"Always remember that just because you deleted an e-mail, doesn't mean it's not still out there, saved on a server somewhere," Tom said.

Learn more
To learn more about The Elements of E-Communication or other TG Speakers Bureau training sessions, visit the TG Speakers Bureau page on TG Online at www.tgslc.org/speakers/index.cfm. To schedule a TG Speakers Bureau event, call (800) 252-9743, ext. 4650, or send an e-mail message to customer.services@tgslc.org.

Thank you, June Hagler for sharing this with us.

 

 



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