Monday Message for November 13

What a wonderful time of the year. The temperatures are mild and the sun shines down on NMSU. As we head down the final stretch of the fall semester, I hope everyone will take time to help our students cross the finish line and enjoy fellowship with your family and friends during the upcoming Thanksgiving week. 

I started last week by attending the Roshni celebration in the Corbett ballrooms on Sunday evening. On Monday morning I had breakfast with ASNMSU President Citlalli Benitez and Vice President Eduardo Gallegos. Both are graduating in May 2024. I have enjoyed working with them to advance student initiatives and success. We have a monthly breakfast where we exchange updates. After breakfast, I attended the weekly President’s executive team meeting. Following this, I attended the Military and Veterans Appreciation ceremony at the Memorial Tower (see below). I returned to the office to have a 1:1 meeting and then I walked to Milton Hall for the College of Arts and Sciences National Advisory Board luncheon and meeting. Following this, I returned to my office for a small group meeting and had a zoom meeting with a person I am mentoring from another university. For me, one of the most important things I can do as a mentor is to listen 90% of the time and talk less than 10%. My mentee is an assistant professor at the University of Utah. 

On Tuesday, I had a small group meeting and then I worked on administrative duties. At midday, I attended the Veterans Day picnic in front of Garcia Center. After the picnic, I had 1:1 meeting before returning to the office to debrief on some administrative issues. Afterwards, I attended the Department of Languages and Linguistics meeting in Breland Hall. To end Tuesday, I went to the Fulton Center to celebrate the Hunt family gift to Arrowhead Center.

Wednesday was relatively light as some of my appointments were canceled. As a result, I had time to work on administrative issues prior to going to the Department of Geography’s meeting in Breland Hall. I finished the day with the Dean’s monthly dinner at Double Eagle in Mesilla. While we were there, CMI Professor Ross Marks and his students were filming a movie in the Mesilla Plaza.

On Thursday, I had a number of 1:1 meetings. I met with the Faculty Senate Leadership and President Gogue. Following this, I raced over to Gerald Thomas Hall Auditorium for November’s operational learning forum featuring the Graduate School. Phame Camarena and Carol Flinchbaugh presented an overview of the Graduate School’s operations and then answered questions.

To end the work week, I met with the demographic cliff group and we identified six work groups and everyone volunteered for one work group. These work groups were: 1) international partnerships and student recruiting with CES/4H; 2) expanding in-state tuition beyond its current allowance; 3) coordinating marketing across campus for recruiting; 4) understanding and using data to help model/inform enrollment projections; 5) Create interdisciplinary and unique academic programs; and 6) creating an Adopt an Aggies mentoring program. For the remainder of the academic year, these work groups will devise strategies and plans for advancing their particular work group’s initiative. We will continue to meet monthly to check-in and update the big group on their progress and if they are encountering any challenges I might be able to help navigate or traverse through. Following the demographic cliff group meeting, I had several 1:1 meetings prior to hosting UTEP’s leadership team. Back in June, NMSU’s academic leadership went to UTEP to start a conversation about how we might better collaborate on some big topics. This is our 2nd meeting and we expanded the group by inviting relevant faculty in the areas that were identified as potential areas for collaboration. After the half day of meetings with our UTEP colleagues, I drove to El Paso airport to catch a flight to Seattle for the American Public Land Grant Universities (APLU) meeting, which started on the weekend and ended on Tuesday.

Kudos

NMSU Faculty named among Top Scientists in the World 

A number of our faculty were recognized as being in the top 2% for their career or in 2022 in their respective fields. Congratulations to all these highly productive and impactful faculty members in their respective fields. You make NMSU Aggies proud!  

VP for Student Success Renay Scott shared that Associate VP for Student Success, Patrick Turner was elected to serve a three-year term on the UERU (Association of Undergraduate Education Research Universities) Board of Directors. It’s an exciting time for the association. UERU’s growing leadership role in higher education, its national and local influence through growing membership, and its collegial community all mark great momentum for the association. Congratulations Patrick on your election to the UERU’s Board.  

Russell Walter, Executive Secretary for the New Mexico Future Farmers of America Association reached out to me to inform me that Emily Gossett, a junior at New Mexico State University studying Agricultural Communications in ACES, successfully completed 6 rounds of interviews, facilitations, and one-on-one questioning prior to being elected to serve as the National FFA Western Region Vice President. During her time, Emily will be representing all 945,988 student members in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. In her year of service, she will travel more than 100,000 miles nationwide. Congratulations Emily. We are Aggie proud of you! 

News from Alamogordo 11/10/2023 

Our GO Bond request was approved by local voters! 

The bond will be used to supplement planned capital projects over the next several years. Projects include: 

• Classroom Building – Construction of new, modern classroom building to replace 55-year old building. 
• Allied Health Building – Modernization of laboratories and equipment to support current and new programs. 
• Automotive and Welding – Additional stations, improved ventilation and HVAC. 
• Tays Event Center – New gym floor, renovated bleachers, new HVAC. 
• HVAC Upgrades – Replace end-of-lifetime HVAC across campus. 

AMP Student Research Conference Award 

Brianna Diaz received third place for best poster presentation for community college students at the New Mexico AMP Student Research Conference held on 10/13/2023. Her poster was based on the research work she did as part of the Summer Community College Opportunity for Research Experience (SCCORE) program, on the topic of "Additive Manufacturing Onyx Material Testing.”

Quote of the Week

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." — Albert Einstein