The Summer Technology camp (STC), sponsored by Instructional Innovation and Quality, is a three-day event consisting of a number of teaching-with-technology strands. Faculty at the Las Cruces campus who are serious about attending 90% of the events can submit an application to join the 2013 STC cohort. Selection for the Summer Technology Camp is competitive; twenty-two participants will be chosen for their desire to learn and apply elearning technologies to online courses. Preference is given to faculty who will teach distance education courses during the upcoming academic year. Each member in this cohort will receive an iPad upon the completion of the program. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2013.

Application 

List of Sessions

For more information about this event, contact Sharon Lalla at slalla@nmsu.edu.

The 2013 Summit was held March 8th at the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum. The day consisted of three main parts – Presidential Updates, Breakout Sessions, and Round Tables. The Presidential updates gave attendees an opportunity to hear from each campus President about recent and emerging activities. The Breakout Sessions included: Data Matters: updates from Institutional Analysis; P & T and the Allocation of Effort; NM HED and Developmental Ed, Campus to Campus: New ways to function as a system for enrollment planning; and the State of NM K-12 Common Core. Each presentation was offered twice giving participants the opportunity to attend at least two. Although feedback data is still being processed, it is clear that more conversation on the P & T process is desired.

Fifteen small group roundtable discussions rounded out the day on a wide range of topics that included Student Services, International Opportunities, and What does it mean to be a system? With over 200 registrants, this was the largest attendance of the eight years and we hope the beginning of many productive conversations.

Faculty and academic advisors will have the flexibility to make registration exceptions and should only make these exceptions if they are in support of student degree or certificate completion within the NMSU system.

Two weeks before classes begin each term, students will be able to register for any course on any campus provided space is available and they meet prerequisites. This year, registration will open for all students to take any course on any campus on May 9 for Summer classes and August 8 for Fall classes.

It is on the primary campus that students have access to faculty and advisors who are most familiar with their own campus-specific degree or certificate programs. Other support services such as financial aid, scholarships and tutoring, are more accessible at the student’s primary campus.

A meet and greet occasion was held in Albuquerque in conjunction with the NMHEAR meeting to give Higher Learning Commission (HLC) accreditation liaison officers, outcomes assessment leaders and institutional researchers from all the NMSU System campuses an opportunity to discuss roles on their own campuses and begin to envision how a system-wide perspective can support accreditations.

The NMSU Liaison at the HLC, Dr. Tim Gallimore, visited NMSU Las Cruces in February 2013.  Dr. Gallimore was appointed Vice President for Accreditation Relations at the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) in April 2012 and serves as the HLC Liaison for New Mexico State University at both the Las Cruces and Grants campuses, and Dona Ana Community College.  Dr. Gallimore is an expert in higher education policy and international communication with a Ph.D. in mass communications from Indiana University‐‐Bloomington.

During the visit with NMSU, Dr. Gallimore was able to meet with each of the NMSU Presidents, Academic Officers, Academic Deans, ADAC and Accreditation Liaison Officers and Outcomes Assessment personnel.  As a result of information gathered through his interactions with us, Dr. Gallimore has encouraged us to be particularly mindful as we examine further development of distance and international academic program initiatives, the implementation of HLC Pathways reporting processes and create clarity about the system-wide accreditation function.

Several accreditation visits and reviews have been completed recently with positive outcomes (reaccreditations) reported or with outcomes reported in the near future:

American Psychological Association (Counseling and Educational Psychology)

Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (NMSU Wellness Center)

Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (College of Engineering)

Higher Learning Commission Comprehensive Reaccreditation (NMSU-Alamogordo)

National Association of Schools of Public Affairs & Administration (Department of Government)

New Mexico Board of Nursing (Dona Ana Community College)

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (College of Business)

In accord with the final report (12/12) of the Commission on Nursing Accreditation Oversight, a system-wide Nursing Council is being formed.  The work group presently includes Jan Starr, Nursing Director at NMSU-Alamogordo, Dianna Johnston, Nursing Director at NMSU-Carlsbad, Tracey Lopez, Nursing Director at Dona Ana Community College, and Pam Schultz, Nursing Director at NMSU Las Cruces.  Bobbie Derlin, Associate Provost, also serves on the Nursing Council. The Council governs the nursing programs in the NMSU system and coordinates curriculum reviews, establishes shared positions, monitors and assists with accreditation and shares instructional expertise.  When the Nursing Council is formalized (anticipated 4/13), various recommendations to support nursing curriculum development and nursing accreditations system-wide are expected by fall 2013.

Institutional Research, Financial Services, and Accreditation Liaison Officers at all the campuses are presently engaged in providing necessary information to the Higher Learning Commission for the Annual Institutional Update.

The report, Improving Postsecondary Education Through the Budget Process: Challenges & Opportunities, explains that the present system may have worked well in past decades, but fiscal changes at the federal and state levels, as well as private market changes, make reform necessary. “State revenues for higher education will still be a critical source of operating support for public higher education institutions, as well as for infrastructure needs”, explains NASBO President Jason Dilges, budget officer of South Dakota.” But stiff competition for state dollars is expected to continue and state resources will remain constrained.”

NASBO’s report demonstrates how state financing and management strategies can help control rising costs and improve results. “Going forward, we will have to focus on performance and have a serious conversation about how to make positive change in how higher education is financed,” says Scott D. Pattison, NASBO Executive Director.

As Dennis Jones, President of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, explains, “The future economic competitiveness of our nation and the quality of life of its citizens will increasingly depend on the education attainment levels of the adult population…State higher education policy– particularly policy relating to financing and the allocation of resources– can do much to support the achievement of this goal.”

This report calls for state officials and public higher education institutions to collaborate to:
• Target funding to improve performance.
• Slow tuition and fee growth.
• Create incentives for increasing college and university access.
• Develop transparent information on higher education spending and results.
• Increase productivity and efficiency.

The report, part of a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and written from the perspective of state budget officers, presents the current landscape of state higher education finance and highlights opportunities to improve outcomes while reducing costs.

The full report is available online at http://www.nasbo.org/higher-education-report-2013.
For more information about NASBO visit www.nasbo.org.

March 22, 2013

TO:                         ABCD Distribution and All Faculty

FROM:                  Nancy McMillan, Chair, Westhafer Award Committee

SUBJECT:             Call for Nominations for Westhafer Excellence in Teaching Award

Nominations are invited for the 2012-13 Robert L. Westhafer Award for Excellence in Teaching.  The Westhafer Award is a high honor New Mexico State University gives its faculty.  It is presented in alternating years for excellence in teaching and in research and creative activity.  Students, faculty, and administrators are encouraged to nominate faculty meriting university-wide recognition for accomplishments in the area of teaching.

All members of the NMSU faculty who hold the rank of instructor or above and who are actively engaged in teaching are eligible.  The teaching cited may or may not take place within usual and traditional circumstances.  The teaching should be superior over a period of time and have a positive impact on students and/or the practice of teaching.  Nominees should have a thorough knowledge of their subject areas and demonstrate continuing scholarly development.  The criteria are grouped into two general categories:  (1) classroom teaching, and (2) lasting influence on programs through curriculum innovation and/or lasting student achievement.  These criteria are given as general areas of teaching excellence but are not meant to be all-inclusive.

Nominations should address the nominee’s major accomplishments with respect to the criteria stated above and should be accompanied by a vitae.  The nominating letter should not exceed two pages.  Neither letters that second a nomination nor supporting evidence is initially required.  Subsequent to the first round of screening, the nominator will be asked to supply additional information.  All correspondence is kept in confidence.

Letters of nomination with vitae should be sent to the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, attention Westhafer Committee, MSC 3445.  Nominations are due Friday, April 19, 2013.  Please call 646-2708 or 646-2127 if you have any questions

Dr. Robert L. Westhafer a Professor Mathematical Sciences at New Mexico State University (1946-1957) excelled as a mathematician and teacher.  He gave freely of his time and talents to his students and the university.  Following his death in 1957, a group of his friends created this memorial award in his honor.  Recipients of the Westhafer Award are determined annually by a faculty committee of seven who receive nominations from faculty, administrators, and students.  The monetary award is given alternatively for excellence in teaching and research and is contributed by interested faculty and friends through the NMSU Foundation.

Westhafer Award (Teaching) Past Recipients

1958-59                Marion Hardman, English

1960-61                Joseph Forsyth, English

1962-63                Simon F. Kropp, History

1964-65                Marlowe G. Anderson, Biology

1966-67                Ralph W. Dressel, Physics

1968-69                Bradley A. Blake, Sociology & Anthropology

1970-71                Philip L. Hosford, Education

1972-73                James Nordyke, Economics

1974-75                Edgar Garrett, Speech

1976-77                William H. Kersting, Electrical & Computer Engineering

1978-79                Leonard A. Traina, Civil Engineering

1980-81                Isabel M. Crouch, Speech

1982-83                Allan H. Savage, Accounting

1984-85                M. Dale Alexander, Chemistry

1986-87                N. Scott Urquhart, Experimental Statistics

1988-89                Reta Beebe, Astronomy

1990-91                Lowell B. Catlett, Agricultural Economics & Agricultural Business

1992-93                Dennis Hallford, Animal & Range Science

1994-95                Robert Levi Gallegos, Curriculum & Instruction

1996-97                Elise “Pookie” Sautter, Marketing & General Business

1998-99                Kevin Charles McIlvoy, English

2000-01                Louis D. Ocepek, Art

2002-03                Sherry K. Mills, Accounting

2004-05                Nancy Baker, Government

2006-07                Nina Compton, Finance

2008-09                David J. Pengelley, Mathematics

2010-11                Michele Schuster

Westhafer Award Committee

Nancy McMillan, Chair, Geological Sciences

Wanda Borges, Nursing

Kenneth Hammond, History

Champa Gopalan, Plant & Environmental Sciences

William Gould, Economics & International Business

Azadeh Osanloo, Educational Management & Development

Sonya Cooper, Engineering

Dear NMSU Student:

Have you received excellent academic advising from NMSU faculty or professional advising staff? If so, please acknowledge your outstanding advisor through a nomination for the “Award of Excellence in Academic Advising.” Selected candidates will be recognized at the Fall 2013 Convocation.  This award holds special meaning for advisor honorees, as they are nominated by you and your fellow students.

As you choose your nominee, please consider the goals academic advisors aspire to:

• Develop educational plans according to a student’s career interests
• Help clarify career and life goals
• Recommend appropriate courses and other educational experiences
• Interpret institutional requirements
• Enhance student awareness of educational resources
• Evaluate student progress towards goals
• Help develop decision-making skills and self-direction

Recognize your academic advisors for contributions to your success at NMSU by filling out the 2013 nomination form and emailing it to the address below by Thursday, March 28 2012:

exceladv@nmsu.edu

Thank you for your time and participation!  If you have any questions please contact Crystal Lay, Chair of the Academic Advising Council, at 646-1891 or by email: lay@nmsu.edu.

Sincerely,

Jay B. Jordan

Interim Executive Vice President and Provost

One of the first things Dr. Menking did was arrange for all English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs to be transitioned to IBP.  English for international students, while extremely labor intensive, is a critical part of achieving international student satisfaction and success.  ESOL programs are also a vital part of recruiting, as many international students require a bit of ESOL training before being allowed to fully matriculate into the university.  ESOL programs can also be a valuable source of revenue to generate funds to reinvest in campus internationalization.   For these reasons, the Center for English Language Programs (CELP) is now part of IBP.  Formerly known as the Center for the Intensive Teaching of English (CITE) when it was housed in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Communication Studies, CELP will continue serving the needs of the conditionally admitted students requiring intensive English.  CELP will also expand its role as it collaborates with other units on campus to improve services for matriculated international students requiring specialized English training, and begins providing TESOL services for what Dr. Menking believes will be the Center’s biggest area of growth — special programs.

One example of a special ESOL program is the recent arrival of 40 Ecuadorian English teachers who have come to NMSU on a special subcontract that is part of a larger contract that Kansas State University has secured with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education.  These students, who will be here for seven months, will receive a combination of intensive ESL training provided by CELP, as well as pedagogical training in the teaching of English provided by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education.  Other cohorts of Ecuadorians are expected over the next couple of years as the Ecuadorian president tries to make good on his commitment to train 3,000 Ecuadorian English teachers to prepare its own country to be economically and educationally competitive on the world stage.

The Ecuadorian program is a pilot that IBP is working to expand.  In these projects IBP and the partner college will share not only in the financial benefits resulting from the projects, but also in the increased global engagement that such projects bring to both students and faculty.  Revenue from these projects will then be reinvested into internationalization efforts, including a new Targeted International Initiatives Grant (TIIG), which will be unveiled sometime in the Summer of 2013 once monies from the first projects are freed up and available for use.  The TIIG, which will be administered by Dr. Menking’s office, will be available for faculty to support any type of international project requiring seed money.

Another change is that the Office of International and Student Scholar Services (ISSS) and its staff, led by Ms. Mary Jaspers, will become part of IBP.  ISSS, which will be transitioned out of the Admissions Office in the Spring 2013 semester, oversees all visa services and provides international student support.  Part of the rationale behind the change is to better serve international students through combined efforts.  The international admissions functions will remain in the admissions office, but international recruiting efforts will be coordinated by IBP.  Doing this will allow the ISSS staff to focus on international student support and integrate its efforts into those of other IBP offices, all of which lead to better services and increase the appeal of NMSU to prospective international students.  For example, the Office of Education Abroad (OEA) has developed a highly personalized and successful approach to hosting the nearly 200 international exchange students that visit the NMSU campus every year.  Combining ISSS and OEA efforts will help ensure that all international students – both degree-seeking and exchange students – are integrated into campus life.  Many other initiatives that ISSS is involved in (fairs, festivals, special events, the International Student Association, etc.) will also benefit from the synthesis of efforts.

The Office of Education Abroad continues to grow and expand.  First of all, the office was recently renamed to more accurately reflect the multiple ways students can pursue an “education abroad”.  The former name, Office of Study Abroad, only reflected the “study” approach.  Students can also pursue education abroad by engaging in service and internships abroad.  OEA continues to collaborate closely with Aggies Go Global, which is housed in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, but serves the entire campus.  Secondly, to facilitate what OEA Director Kristian Chervenock believes is the next big wave of growth in study abroad opportunities, the Faculty Led International Programs (“FLiP”) Office has been established.  FLiP offers support for faculty wishing to organize NMSU courses that travel abroad.  In the first six months of operation over 17 courses have been slated for the 2013-14 school year, and 20 for 2014-15.

Comprehensive internationalization means that the entire campus and community is engaged in internationalization efforts.  Internationalization affects not only NMSU students and NMSU courses, but also the entire community.  Over the next year IBP will be hosting new events, both on campus and in the community.  You are invited to participate in these new events, such as the International Education Week celebration in the Fall, or the new “Global Encounter Series” which will bring interesting, open-to-the-public, lectures and performances to campus.  If you see an international student on campus, reach out, say hello.  Whether you are a student, faculty member, staff, or a community member, if you want to get involved please stop by IBP in Garcia Annex and ask how you, too, be part of the fun!

Dr. Gallimore is an expert in higher education policy and international communication with a Ph.D. in mass communications from Indiana University–Bloomington. Dr. Gallimore taught journalism at four U.S. universities and was a Fulbright scholar to Hungary and Poland. Prior to his appointment at HLC, Dr. Gallimore served as Assistant Commissioner for the Missouri Department of Higher Education.  He was also a public information officer and spokesperson for the Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

He is a certified mediator, facilitator and third party neutral in conflict resolution and has published research on psychosocial trauma healing, reconciliation, and violence prevention. He is also a trained trauma counselor.

In August 2012, NMSU Las Cruces (NMSU-LC) and DACC administrators had a phone conference with Dr. Gallimore to welcome him to the NMSU System and to update him about varied accreditation initiatives. NMSU participants updated Dr. Gallimore on the collaborative work that is being done for a USDOE NMSU Program Participation Agreement Review and the 2010 CIP Code conversion that influences HLC annual reports; as well as their compliance work on implementing federal gainful employment regulations at NMSU.  Other topics included: NMSU’s federal designation as an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and as a U.S. Space Grant college, NMSU international initiatives, HLC’s expedited certificate notification and change request processes and progress being made at DACC and NMSU-LC to address the needs of nursing student in the DACC associate degree program.

In sharing his expertise with us, Dr. Gallimore identified the importance of NMSU colleges and academic departments complying with HLC policy and procedures related to offering courses or academic programs at international locations.

Dr Gallimore will join us on February 13^th and 14^th 2013 for further discussions on accreditation related initiatives. A schedule of meetings for Dr. Gallimore’s visit will be publically available soon.

On more than one occasion during their employment with NMSU, faculty and staff are asked to self identify. This process relates to self-identification in relation to race/ethnicity, gender and veteran status. Sometimes this gives rise to the question “Why should I self identify?” The root of the request lies with federal executive orders and statutes. More specifically, Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act. Taken together, these laws prohibit discrimination with regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. The laws require federal contractors and recipients of federal assistance to take affirmative action to ensure that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment. Basically, this is a compliance issue for federal contractors and recipients of federal assistance. NMSU falls under such provisions which are enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).

Let’s look at this question in another light. When you walk around the NMSU campus you encounter students who are pursuing educational endeavors. Many of these students are receiving federal assistance to pay for their education. Additionally, if we look around at our colleagues, many of them are working on projects and conducting research that is funded by federal agencies. Given the level of federal financial assistance and contracts, NMSU has an obligation to comply and this begins with self-identification.

If NMSU failed to comply with non-discrimination or affirmative action provisions it would be found in violation of the contract. A finding of a violation could result in contracts being canceled, suspended or even have NMSU declared ineligible for future federal contracts and assistance.

The OFCCP conducts periodic audits/reviews of contractors. In April 2011, this agency initiated an extensive audit of NMSU. In October 2012, the university was notified by OFCCP that no violations were found. This notification is significant because it demonstrates that we are all doing our part in complying with the federal provisions. On the flip side, failure to comply would mean that students might miss out on federal assistance to pursue their educational goals. Failure to comply would also mean that our colleagues could not pursue federal contracts to conduct research. So why should I self identify? Because it benefits the entire NMSU community.