Faculty-in-Residence

“I have been excited about the faculty-in-residence program since it was first being dreamed up at SMU and am so grateful to finally have an opportunity to take on this role. I am really looking forward to helping all of the McElvaney residents find their home in the Commons and at SMU and can’t wait to learn from and alongside everyone in the community.”

Ashley Stone was born and raised in rural northeast Texas, which inspires her research on critical understandings of place and rural students in higher education.

Prior to earning her Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin and transitioning into a faculty role she served as the Director of New Student Orientation and Student Support here at SMU. After spending three years on faculty at George Washington University, she jumped at the opportunity to return to the Hilltop as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Higher Education.

Returning to Dallas has also meant being closer to home and having more time to spend being “Aunt Sassy” to her nieces and nephews and getting to be the loudest cheerleader at their little league games. She also had the joy of bringing home her pup, Margot Mae, this past October and knows Margot is also going to love walks around campus and welcoming all of the residents back to McElvaney.

In her free time she enjoys traveling, or when she can’t get away, exploring the world through new recipes in the kitchen. She is excited to bring these culinary adventures home to the Commons. Ashley’s research explores how the places we live can shape who we are and can’t wait to meet all of the residents, learn about the places they are from, and help them make SMU and McElvaney Commons home.

“Being a FiR will allow me to partake in energizing conversations and academic exchanges with students, and engage in social events in which I can contribute to the students’ personal growth and to the society at large by bringing my area of expertise on multilingual societies to the Commons.”

A native of Madrid (Spain), Alberto Pastor has taught linguistics at SMU since 2005. His research interests are linguistic theory and sociolinguistic issues related to Spanish in the United States such as language contact, language ideologies and attitudes, and linguistic landscapes. In his classes and personal life, he tries to serve as an advocate for multilingualism and multiculturalism in the society at large. Along with his wife Martha, and their son Alejandro, they are thrilled to continue the diversity values and traditions of HPMS Commons, and to be part and foster this community.

“I am excited to be part of the FIR tradition at SMU. Students are the reason I relish teaching, and I hope to repay all of the incredible life lessons I've learned from my students over the years.  Young people are a gift.  To grow and thrive, they must be nurtured and supported both inside and outside of the classroom.  And, as a FIR, I am honored to be a small part of this process.”

Debra Branch is a eighth-generation Texan, born in the border town of Eagle Pass and raised in the Piney Woods of East Texas. She received her BA at the University of Texas at Austin and her MA at the University of Oklahoma, both in Sociology. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the Ohio State University, where she specialized in gender and racial inequality in the workplace.

Dr Branch has lived and traveled extensively in the U.S.; She loves the outdoors, especially the Mountain West, and is an avid environmentalist. Her favorite hobbies include travelling, skiing, hiking, biking, and paddle-boarding. She has 25 years of college teaching experience and has won teaching awards at every university where she has taught.

Dr. Branch is a senior lecturer in Sociology for Dedman College and has been at SMU since 2007, where she teaches courses in the Sociology and Markets and Cultures majors. Her courses include Research Methods, Environmental Sociology, Constructed Social Identities, Social and Economic Development, Sport and Society, and Contemporary Issues in the American Southwest.

Dr Branch has won several campus honors at SMU, including the prestigious Provost’s Teaching Award. In addition, she teaches regularly at SMU-in-Taos, and has taken students to Cuba as part of the SMU in Havana/Miami abroad program. She is the SMU Faculty-in-Residence for Morrison-McGinnis Residential Commons.

Dr. Debra Branch and her wife, Molly, have served as the Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) family in Morrison-McGinnis Commons since 2020.  The Branches are excited to share their lives and experiences with the students, and look forward to carrying on the great traditions, such as MoMac at the movies, while creating new opportunities for all in the MoMac family to connect and bond together. Is anyone up for a snowball fight? The MoMac spirit is strong with the Branches!  They open up their home on Sunday nights for snacks (MoMac and cheese anyone?) and shows and love attending SMU events with their students. Go Ponies! When the Branches aren’t cheering on their students, you can often find them walking campus with their pups, Bean, Picasso, and Hank.

One of the founding symbols of MoMac is the torch, representing the development of character through helping others, and Deb and Molly believe that the best way to build lasting relationships is through community service.  As a Sociologist and the MoMac FIR, Deb loves to engage students with the larger Dallas community, whether it’s environmental justice or helping homeless youth.  Both Deb and Molly believe some of the best life learning opportunities happen outside of the classroom and strive to foster a sense of engagement, mentorship, and belonging among the MoMac community.

Deb and Molly consider themselves the “fun aunts” of MoMac.  Whether it’s attending a MoMac-er’s dance recital, hosting dinners, or just lending a hand, hug, or ear, Deb and Molly are always right there on the first-floor. Molly loves to host and cook, and Deb loves to talk and eat!  And, watch out for Deb and her camera as she loves taking and posting pictures of her MoMac family!  Isn’t that what aunts are for?

“My family and I are off the beaten path, and I mean that in a good way since I heard through the grapevine that Virginia-Snider’s motto is to ‘Keep VS weird.’ Self-acceptance wasn’t always a familiar concept when I was younger. Still, over the years, I learned that as long as we are authentically our BEST selves, the possibilities are endless. I’d rather the residents I meet learn this sooner rather than later--that most things are possible with discipline, integrity, passion, a little luck, FUN, and determination. And mentoring!”

Carol Dickson-Carr, AKA Prof DC (Professor of Practice and appointed Faculty-in-Residence beginning Fall 2021), her daughter Maya (SMU Class of ’22 and Psych Major), and her husband, Darryl (SMU Professor of English and outgoing department Chair), are excited to join and serve the Virginia-Snider Commons community. They love music, food, and lively discussion that centers on making the community, and by extension, the world a better place.

Carol’s undergraduate and graduate degrees are in economics. She has a Six Sigma Greenbelt and received training at the Graduate School of Coaching at Coachville and Coaching from Spirit Institute. Before moving to Dallas in 2007, she worked in the private sector, calculating economic damages for an employment litigation firm for six years. She was a legislative analyst for the House Finance and Tax Committee at the Florida Legislature for a little over five years. She started as an adjunct lecturer at SMU, teaching the economic principles courses in January 2007 and life coaching outside SMU. Ten years later, she was promoted to Professor of Practice when the Associate Dean of Dedman College discovered her other skills and could take over for the Business Writing professor who retired in 2017 and teach spreadsheet literacy to the college’s students.

Carol has an immense passion for music and movement for any shape, size, or age. These activities started as hobbies for her sanity, but she’s loved music from infancy; her mom said she was humming recognizable tunes at nine months before she could talk! She has had private vocal and piano students for almost nine years and has also taught dance fitness and Pilates at 24 Hour Fitness since the spring of 2017. This eclectic skill set positions her to continue the great work Dr. Ann has accomplished and potentially add new traditions to this community. The Dickson-Carrs look forward to bringing a combination of warmth, empathy, fun, real talk, humor (Maya is the natural comedian, though!), mentoring, and culinary skills (while Carol can cook…Darryl can COOK)! Carol is committed to channeling her collaborative nature with Res Life so students feel heard, understood, unstoppable, and intellectually challenged.