Division Colleagues ~
Thanks to all of you who participated in our recent Dean of Students on-campus interview process. I am pleased with the pool of candidates that the search committee recommended, and feel confident that we can continue moving forward in our process. We owe a great deal of thanks to our search committee members: Tony Marin (Chair), Stephen Lopez, Susan Waldo, Danois Montoya, Abby Goodin, Delia DeLeon, Julie Weber and Ann Nieto. At this time, I am preparing to complete final referencing on the candidates. I will keep you apprised of the progress. The target date for hire is scheduled for July 18th.
In addition to a busy week with our candiate interviews, several of our colleagues were extremely busy working on the submission of a Lumina Grant. If awarded, this grant will support the success and graduation rates of Latino/a students at NMSU. The project is named for one of the first minority students to ever attend NMSU (then called the New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts), Fabian Garcia. The specific name for the project is the Fabian Garcia Baccalaureate Achievement Program. A great deal of work was done by Dr. Tony Marin, Dr. Terry Cook and Christina Chavez Kelley. Thank you all for a job well done! Please keep a good thought that we are awarded this funding. We will know more in the coming months and will keep you posted on the progress.
I am preparing to present to the NMSU Board of Regents on June 22 during their annual Board Retreat. I have been given the opportunity to discuss the organizational structure of our division, as well as to discuss the many plans that we have to help boost our graduation and retention rates. I am looking forward to sharing the good things that all of our areas are doing! Thanks to those of you who provided data and information for the presentation.
I know there are many other things happening within our division right now. Some of you are involved in moving into new space, others are dealing with the challenges of being in new space, and others are engaged in planning for the upcoming year. We have some areas involved in cleaning our student data for HED reporting, awarding scholarships, managing and preparing for all of our new student registration programs, and generally preparing for the start of the fall semester. Even with all that is going on, it is my hope that you are each finding some personal time to relax and enjoy the summer.
As a reminder, I hope that you will use this forum as a place for collegial and professional dialogue related to our division. Your comments are encouraged. This web site will grow and expand as we continue our efforts to broaden our communication within the division. A closing thought and quote to consider:
“The greatest compliment that was ever paid me
was when someone asked me what I thought,
-Henry David Thoreau
In closing, I appreciate all of the support and positive feedback that I have received from so many of you. Thank you.
Bernadette
2 Comments
Bernadette – Thank you for your update on the Dean of Students Search and for sharing information on the Lumina Grant with the division. We would like to ask employees to Save the Date of Monday, Septemer 12, 2011 for the HFSC Second Annual Leadership Summit featuring Dr. Juan Sepulveda from the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. The Summit will be open to all NMSU faculty and staff. If anyone has any questions, please call me at 646-1729. Thank you!
Thank you for the update! Seems like there is a lot of good change happening within the division. My fingers are crossed for the Lumina Grant, oh, and I can’t wait to find out who the new Dean of Students is going to be. Btw, I like this site for news/updates!!