Melissa Sturm-Smith, Phd Email & Phone Number

Des Moines, Ia, Us

Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States

Lead the Student Success Unit, consisting of Access and Success, New Student and Family programs, Community Engaged Learning, and Career Services.Collaborate with students, faculty, staff, and administration to develop, implement, and evaluate policies and programs that foster student success. Coordinate and serve as chair of the Council of Academic and Administrative Departments (CAAD) and represent the university in key relationships with students, alumni, and the community. Develop, implement and assess initiatives to promote the integration of academic and student life as co-curricular and extracurricular contributors to students’ meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishments, and responsible global citizenship to improve retention.Assist families to understand better their roles in the educational experiences of their students. Interact with students individually, in small subpopulation groups, and in larger forums to enhance intrinsic motivation, encourage them to become reflective practitioners and engaged citizens, and help them make connections through experiential learning opportunities as they “make real” Drake’s mission relative to their development.

Provided leadership to the Student Involvement and Leadership staff, comprised of the Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Director of Leadership Development, Director of Campus Programming and Student Life Center Office Manager, in order to ensure programs and services that contribute to overall student life satisfaction and student learningOversaw departmental budget of $177,000 and student activity fee budget of $500,000 to ensure maximum effectiveness and complianceAssisted Dean of Students in administering campus-wide non-academic misconduct process: conduct administrative hearings and appeals, compile conduct data for the Division of Student LifeAdministered registration, event planning, policy adherence, and contracting for 160 student organizationsManaged implementation of online student organization system designed to provide paperless system for student organization registration, calendaring, and event requestsTrained, supervised and managed the student center information desk and desk staffMaintained and administered campus-wide employee and student identification system; managed process of implementing new logo and additional card types

Miami, Fl

Advised the campus programming board, and its respective committees: lectures, concerts, films, cultural arts, special events, coffeehouse, spring carnival, publicity and public relationsSupervised the distribution and management of $230,000 programming budgetNegotiated and prepared entertainment and service contracts consulted with professional staff and student groups to aid in processing contractsDeveloped and implemented ongoing training program for campus programming boardDirected planning committee for annual orientation festival featuring 150 student organizations, 25 university departments and 25 community sponsorsDesigned, coordinated and produced the Student Life Handbook, which provides information on all university departments, community resources, and a calendar with daily planner

Bachelor Of Arts, Psychology

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Educational Leadership And Policy; Social Justice

Dissertation title: Faculty perspectives on facilitating holistic learning for engaged citizenship. Recipient of Iowa State University.

Master Of Arts, Educational Administration; Student Affairs