Also let us review SMU’s Undergraduate Admission Staff. This will give us a better look at the qualifications of the people tasked with most of the criteria the US News reviews and granting students admission to the University.
https://www.smu.edu/Admission/ConnectWi ... lors/StaffTheir SMU profiles aren’t very informative. Most of the information came from their Linkedin profiles. From reviewing all of their profiles, you will notice that they mostly do not have experience with high profile/selective departments from peer or aspiration institutions. If you review the admissions teams in the top 20, you will see a vast difference in terms of experience and educational qualifications. It seems part of SMU's issue, is that we don't take our admissions department very seriously.
How do we expect a team full of under-qualified Admission Officers to compete with schools that are above us in terms of US News rankings? This team will not be able to get the job done. I blame R. Gerald Turner for not staffing a competitive Admissions Office. A more competitive Admissions department could have been assembled. The majority of people assigned to grant students admission to SMU didn't even graduate from institutions that are at SMU's peers caliber or better. While I do not believe education is all that is needed to determine a person's competency, I think not having a reputable work experience tells me all I need to know. Now I wonder how many Academic departments are filled with under-qualified faculty and staff? If SMU wants a competitive US News ranking, the most important thing is to create a staff that have worked at schools we want to overtake--hopefully from the top 25.
Below is the information I gathered of the senior members of the staff:
Dean of Undergraduate Admission ad interim
BYRON LEWIS- No useful information found via SMU. His linked in states, He went to Truman State University for a year, then University of University of Missouri-Columbia for 2 years, then Free-Hardeman University for 2 years and graduated with a Marketing degree. He received a Masters of Ministry, Counseling from their as well. He did 2 years Instructional leadership, not sure if this is a master’s degree, from Tennessee Technological University. Before he came to SMU, he was a Director of College Counseling at Greater Atlanta Christian School. He was an Associate Director/Assistant Dean, and an Associate Dean for about 8 years before his current assignment.
Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission/Director of Diversity Recruitment
ROD JACKSON-I couldn’t find much information via SMU or Linkedin. He has been with the office since 1998.
Associate Director of Admission/Director for International Admission
JEREMY BROWN-He is a 2002 graduate of Walla Walla College. He was an Associate Director of Admissions from Saint Michael’s College for 5 years before he came to SMU.
Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admission
ABBY CHU-She is a 2012 graduate of Northwestern and is receiving her MBA from SMU. She has worked for SMU since her graduation at Northwestern.
Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission/Director of Strategic Partnerships
ABBI PFISTER-SORIA-She is a 2002 graduate of Lynchburg College and received a Masters in Arts in Education from Virginia Tech. Before SMU, she was an Admissions Counselor at Lynchburg College for 2 years.
Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission/Director of Transfer Admission
JEN LASAGNA-She is a 1998 graduate of Texas State University. She received a Masters of Arts from The University of Texas at Arlington. She has been at SMU for about a year.
Regional Director of Undergraduate Admission -- Houston area
JOE LOPEZ-From his linkedin, he is a 2001 graduate of Earlham College. He worked as an Associate Dean of Admissions and Minority recruitment at Earlham for 9 years. He was the Southwest Regional Director of Admissions at Northeasters before he came to SMU.
Regional Director of Undergraduate Admission -- Rocky Mountain Region
TALI KOERNER-No helpful information on SMU or linkedin.
Regional Director of Undergraduate Admission -- Alabama, Florida, & Georgia
CAROL MORRIS-She is a Tulane University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Business/Corporate Communication. She has worked at SMU for 26 years.
Regional Director of Undergraduate Admission -- Southern California
RICK DIAZ-He has worked at SMU for 25 years according to his Linkedin profile.
So we have officers for: Houston, Rocky Mountain Region, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Southern California. I wonder what the strategy is for the rest of the United States? Or do we concede that we can't get students form others states. I would have at least thought we would focus on bordering states such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. In addition, staff focused on the Midwest, Northeast, and east coast.