Monday Message for December 4th

Good 1st Monday of December. This is the start of graduation week. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year as we get to recognize our students receiving their degrees. Our students are fortunate to have caring faculty and staff who want the best for them. I hope our faculty will turn out for graduation to help our students celebrate their degree attainment. I started last week with the President's executive meeting. Later in the morning, I attended the High Wait List meeting. After lunch, I attended the TPAL meeting before having several small group meetings and attending to administrative issues.

To start Tuesday, I had a meeting with Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UACH) representatives (see above) with President Gogue. We discussed ways to collaborate and they invited the President and I to visit UACH in the near future. They spent the entire day at NMSU talking to Deans and faculty members about potential collaborations. Subsequently, I had a 1:1 direct report meeting followed by attending the Board of Regents Student Success committee meeting. Each of the community college leaders gave an update on the challenges and opportunities they experience. Clayton Abbey gave a legislative update with some potentially very positive news on the horizon including possible 6% raises being supported by various higher education entities including HED. There is also the potential for a 3% targeted fund for faculty to help attract and retain our excellent faculty. I gave a brief update on the ROTC in-state tuition waiver as well as some informational items on providing tuition flexibility to attract more out of state and international students. Much work needs to be done on this including a financial analysis as well as determining various options along with the pros and cons of each option. After lunch, the Deans met for their bi-weekly meeting and then I had a small group and a 1:1 meeting before working on some administrative issues. In the evening, I attended the Burrell Happy Hour before attending a dinner Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua (UACH) representatives at Salud de Mesilla. The owners, Russell Hernandez and Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez, who are ACES alums opened up Salud de Mesilla just for this occasion. I can't thank them enough for supporting NMSU. I also want to thank everyone who took part in hosting the UACH representatives. In particular, I want to recognize and thank Dean Rolando Flores Galarza, Erka De La O Medina, Herber Lara, Yesenia Palma, Karlei Olivarez, Pam Miller, and Ana Mora Trejos for coordinating and facilitating this visit. Erka – I will learn how to be an easier person to translate for in the future!

On Wednesday, I went to the Geology department meeting and had a nice discussion with their faculty. This was followed by a 1:1 meeting. After lunch, I attended the Board of Regents Financial, Strategies, Performance, and Budget committee meeting. A number of budgetary requests were reviewed and ultimately approved for consideration to the full Board at their December 7th meeting. Many of the items dealt with maintenance and repairs. After the meeting, I attended the Roberts Award ceremony at the Corbett Center Doña Ana Room. Monica Lury, Administrative Assistant for the Norhtern District of Cooperative Extension Services was honored along with two students, Taylor Lee and Natlia Molinar.

On Thursday morning I started my day with breakfast with the first finalist for the Graduate School Dean and Associate Provost for International Affairs, Dr. Ranjit Koodali from Western Kentucky University. After breakfast, I accompanied him to his first appointment with VP Renay Scott at the Corbett Center. I had a 1:1 direct report meeting then I drove to Organ Mountain High School to attend the NMSU Esports Invitational. There were thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students competing in esports. I had never experienced esports team competition (see photo). I want to thank Ryan May and Kevin Fan for hosting and educating me about esports. There were esports commentators providing play-by-play commentary. I returned to campus to have another 1:1 meeting. Afterwards, I participated in the Promotion and Tenure workshop at the Teaching Academy in Milton hall. In the evening, I attended the American Indian program graduation ceremony at the NMSu Golf course. Dr. Catherine Montoya gave a heartfelt keynote talk that connected her Native values to the importance of giving back to Native communities.

On Friday morning, I attended a American Kinesiology Association (AKA) planning meeting on zoom. The AKA is having their annual meeting in late January in Albuquerque and they asked UNM Provost James Holloway and I to participate on a panel to address DEI and leadership development issues. I am looking forward to this panel discussion. Afterwards, I had an exit interview meeting with Dr. Koodali before attending the Department of Fish and Wildlife meeting in Knox Hall. Following this, I raced over to  the Asian American graduation ceremony inside Corbett Center Senate Chamber to deliver a graduation message (see below picture thanks to Sophia Pook). I want to thank Dr. Sophia Pook for organizing and supporting the Asian Pacific Islander student organization. It is faculty like her who are making a difference for our students. Following this, I went to pay my respects to the graduates from Disability access graduation ceremony. I was double-booked, so I had to attend a zoom meeting with the graduation ceremony committee as I watched Aaron Salas, Director of Disability Access Services (DAS), Joseph Molina, Assistant Director of DAS, Will Waller, Senior Associate Dean of Students, and Margot Ersinghaus and Sylvia Quintanilla recognize our students with disabilities on their upcoming graduation next week. To end my work week, I drove to Kim Allbright’s house to help celebrate her retirement from NMSU. As a testament to Kim’s contributions to NMSU, so many people attended the party to say thank you and wish her well. Kim is one of NMSU’s unsung heroes and she will be missed tremendously. Kim promised me we’ll continue to see her around campus and at Aggie events. And if she fails retirement, she will always be welcomed back at NMSU. 

Feedback on Graduate School Dean/Associate Provost for International Affairs Finalists

It is critical for the campus community to provide feedback to the search committee and myself as I weigh who to hire, if anyone from the three finalists. If you watched or engaged with the finalists, I encourage you to share your feedback. You will be able to provide this feedback at the Provost's Website. Here is the link to finalist open forum presentation (Dr. Ranjit Koodali).

Kudos

I want to recognize the NMSU football team for a great season. As I have shared with people, before applying and interviewing at NMSU, the only thing I knew about NMSU was their football team was the doormat for opponents playing them in the Big West and WAC during the 1980s through 2016. Two things strike me as I have observed Coach Jerry Kill, his coaching staff, and his players. First, this team’s orientation is one where everyone cares about the team first. And second, it is amazing what a team can achieve when it believes in itself and plays with confidence. On Friday evening, they played their hearts out against Liberty, a 12-0 team and ranked #22 in the country heading into the game and unfortunately, they lost 49-35. Thus far, this has been a dream season and I wish the football team all the best as they play Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque on Saturday, December 16

New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte shared with me the following story. In the early hours of November 17^th, a livestock hauler loaded with 119 calves caught fire near the Corralitos exit on I-10. The accident closed both eastbound and westbound traffic as first responders and personnel from NM Livestock Board, NMDA, NMSU, and local ranchers worked to offload cattle off of the damaged trailer and round up cattle that had been turned out on the interstate. In order for traffic to resume on the busy interstate, specialized equipment had to be brought in to offload and contain the cattle to be moved to a secure location at the county fairgrounds. In order to avoid future accidents, cattle that had been turned out needed to be re-located and moved off of the interstate and frontage roads. The Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center, led by Marshal Wilson from NMDA and Tom Dean from ACES, trained responders in this type of emergency. That training paid dividends once again. The response showcased how operational coordination is necessary for a successful response and highlighted the capabilities of agricultural emergency response efforts. The people included: 

NMDA:

• Marshal Wilson – Co-Director, Southwest Boarder Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center
• Juan Sanchez – Agricultural Marketing Specialist
• Hunter Alcon – Student Aide
• Clay Ivey – Metrology Laboratory Manager

NMSU

• Tom Dean – Co-Director, Southwest Border Food Protection and Emergency Preparedness Center
• Teresa Dean – Dona Ana Extension County Program Director/Ext. Livestock & 4-H Agent
• Tyler Gardner – Farm and Ranch Manager
• Joby Priest (and students) Horse Center Manager

NM Live Stock Board (not part of NMDA, but shows agency coordination)

• Jacob Heron – Livestock Inspector
• Amanda McComb – Livestock Inspector

Quote of the Week

"If you don't risk anything, you risk even more." – Erica Jong