Alan's Monday Message for February 26

Last Saturday, I attended the “High Desert Play Festival” at the Center for Performing Arts. Afterwards, I walked to the Atkinson Recital Hall to listen the Desert Winds perform in front of the SW Honor Band. On Monday morning, I started the work week by attending a meeting with President Gogue, Chief of Staff Leslie Cervantes, and Graduate Dean/Associate Provost for International Affairs, Dr. Ranjit Koodali. This was an opportunity for Dr. Koodali to meet with the President and share his thoughts on the graduate school and international affairs. Afterwards, I attended the executive and cabinet meetings. Clayton Abbey gave a legislative update during the cabinet meeting. The Governor has until March 6th to sign legislation, so nothing is finalized until after that date. After lunch, I had another APR meeting with one of my direct reports. I then walked to Gerald Thomas Hall to visit with people in the ACES Dean’s office before returning to my office.

On Tuesday, I had a 1:1 direct report meeting and then I met with VP for Student Success Renay Scott to review a report on fostering student retention. For most of the afternoon, I worked on a variety of administrative issues before attending the College of Business Border Economic Development Lecture featuring Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Gretchen Morgenson in Domenici Hall. It was an insightful lecture on private equity firms who take over a variety of entities across society and flip them for profit. College of Business Dean Bryan Ashenbaum introduced Ms. Morgenson below.

To start Wednesday, we held a welcome reception for Ranjit Koodali in Hadley Hall lobby. There was a nice turnout of people to welcome him to NMSU. I want to thank everyone who welcomed Dr. Koodali. This was his first full week on-site. To illustrate his character, Dean/Associate Provost Koodali is living in the cinderblock homes on the south side of campus. He wanted to see first-hand what kind of living conditions our international and graduate students experience. I believe this gives you an indication of the type of leader and his character and commitment to graduate students. He is off to a great start at NMSU. Afterwards, I had a meeting with Dean Rolando Flores, Dean Ranjit Koodali, and former Graduate School Dean Loui Reyes to review and discuss the Descrubre program, which provides students from Mexico with discounted tuition price of 150% of in-state tuition. We are exploring ways to recruit more students from the northern portions of Mexico like Juarez, Chihuahua, and surrounding Mexican states. Following this meeting, I had lunch at the Game with Luis Cifuentes and Orlando Padilla to discuss potential economic development involving NMSU. I returned to campus and had several 1:1 meetings before briefly attending the ACES HRTM networking session in Gerald Thomas Hall. I want to thank Dr. Jean Hertzman, Department Head of HRTM for inviting me to this event. Following this, I drove to Lescombes for a College of Business dinner with Dean Bryan Ashenbaum, President and Mrs. Gogue, six COB faculty/administrators, and keynote speaker, Gretchen Morgenson. We had a wonderful dinner party and enjoyed good company and food. It was interesting to talk to Gretchen Morgenson and pick her brain about how to address the private equity issues she raised during her keynote address. It seems like a big challenge with limited options for addressing it.

On Thursday, President Gogue and I met with the Faculty Senate leadership. I shared information on the Descrubre 150% in-state tuition for Mexican national students. I also shared information on our path forward for accreditation and assessment. And lastly, I addressed a question about the search for a permanent Deputy Provost. As I shared with the faculty senate leadership, this was my decision to provide stability and consistency to the Provost’s office. Dee Dee Campbell, the interim Provost made the decision for a two-year term for the Senior Associate Provost, because she wanted the new Provost to have the ability to hire their own person. In addition, I am unaware of an institution that uses two year rotation for a senior level position. Positions like the Senior Associate Provost or Deputy Provost are usually permanent positions. This change reverts back to when Deputy Provost Greg Fant held the position. I want to reiterate, so no one is confused or misinformation is spread unfoundedly. There will NOT be a Senior Associate Provost and Deputy Provost. There will be one position and I am changing the name from Senior Associate Provost to Deputy Provost. Whoever is hired, this position will be permanent and serve at the discretion of the Provost. There will be zero salary implications. Later in the morning, I drove to the Las Cruces Convention Center to attend the HRTM Career Fair and have lunch with employers who attended the career fair with HRTM faculty and staff. I returned to campus to attend a Deans meeting with Global. Afterwards, I had another APR meeting with one of my direct reports and then worked on tenure and promotion cases.

On Friday morning, I attended a breakfast with the Deans and David Davin, one of the candidates for the NMSU Foundation VP for Development and Alumni Relations. We had a nice conversation and wish him the best in the process. Afterwards, I had a meeting with D’Anne Stuart and Clayton Abbey regarding NMSU’s in-state tuition issue. Kim Rumford and Lori Montoya are working together to do an assessment of our current out of state full paying students and creating several models for us to review on what the budget implications would be if we lowered our out of state tuition and how many students we would have to make up to generate additional revenue for the institution. At mid-day, I hosted a lunch at 100 West Café with College of Business personnel, Lourdes Alvarado-Salas, Denise Tafoya, and Maria De Boyrie. Later in the day, I attended Dacia Sedillo’s retirement reception in Domenici Hall’s atrium. Everyone wished Dacia happy retirement and thanked her for her 27 years of service to NMSU. Following this, I attended the College of Engineering Bromilow Lecture given by Ed Macha in Jett Hall before driving to the NMSU golf course to attend the College of Engineering banquet. It was well-attended and the COE gave out 11 awards to faculty, staff, and a graduate student.

Announcements

Presidential Search

This coming week, all five Presidential candidates will be on campus. Information on the open forums can be found at this link. I encourage all faculty, staff, and leaders to attend each candidate's available session and provide feedback.

New Associate Dean for Research in HEST

College of Health, Education, and Social Transformation Dean Yoshi Iwasaki informed me that Dr. Michael Hout is the new Associate Dean of Research in the College of HEST effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Hout will start informal onboarding immediately. Dr. Hout received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology (with a minor in Neuroscience) from the University of Pittsburgh, and his Master’s and PhD (in Cognitive Psychology) from Arizona State University. Currently, Dr. Hout is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at NMSU, where he directs the Vision Sciences and Memory Laboratory, and serves as the Graduate Director. Additionally, he is the co-director (and co-founder) of the Addison Care Virtual and Augmented Reality Lab on NMSU’s campus, the Associate Director of the NMSU College of Arts and Sciences Discovery Scholars Program (which gets undergraduates involved in research with faculty mentors), and a Faculty Fellow in the Arts and Sciences Dean’s office. He is currently (and was previously, from 2016-2020) an Associate Editor at the journal Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, and he recently completed a two-year position as Program Director for the National Science Foundation, co-running the Perception, Action, and Cognition program and the Cognitive Neuroscience program. His research focuses primarily on visual cognition (including visual search, attention, eye movement control, and computational modeling), spanning both basic theoretical research and applied scenarios such as professional medical/security screening, and search and rescue. He has won several awards for research and teaching, including the Rising Star award from the Association for Psychological Science, as well as the Early Career Award for Exceptional Achievements in Creative Scholarly Activity and the Donald C. Roush Award for Teaching Excellence from NMSU. In addition to publishing in traditional scientific journals, he also writes articles aimed at more general audiences, such as Scientific American Mind magazine, and the journal Frontiers for Young Minds. And occasionally he consults for organizations such as Major League Baseball. Congratulations Michael! I look forward to seeing how you support and help HEST faculty to garner more external funding and expand their impactful research.

U.S. Department of Energy Accepting Nominations for 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced a call for nominations for the 2025 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, one of the longest running and most prestigious science and technology awards given by the U.S. government. The Lawrence Award is presented by the Secretary of Energy to honor mid-career U.S. scientists and engineers for exceptional technical contributions and achievements in research and development supporting DOE’s mission and its programs to advance the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. Awards will be considered in each of the following nine categories: Atomic, Molecular, and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Environmental Sciences; Computer, Information, and Knowledge Sciences; Condensed Matter and Materials Sciences; Energy Science and Innovation; Fusion and Plasma Sciences; High Energy Physics; National Security and Nonproliferation; and Nuclear Physics.

Nominations must include statements summarizing the candidate’s achievements and connection to DOE support, three to six letters of support, a curriculum vitae, and a short bibliography. An independent panel of eminent experts will be convened by DOE to review nominations in each award category and inform award recommendation(s) submitted to the Secretary of Energy. Final award selections are made by the Secretary of Energy. Each Lawrence Award category award winner receives a citation signed by the Secretary, a gold-plated medal bearing the likeness of Ernest O. Lawrence, and a $20,000 honorarium. In the event the award is given to more than one individual within an award category, the recipients share the honorarium equally. The deadline to submit nominations is 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, May 9, 2024. To submit a nomination and read nomination guidelines, go to: https://science.osti.gov/lawrence/Nomination-and-Selection-Guidelines. DOE encourages nominations of individuals from underrepresented groups and is committed to fostering safe, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible work, research, and funding environments. Read the Office of Science’s Statement of Commitment for more information. Questions may be addressed to SCLawrence.Award@science.doe.gov. The Lawrence Award was established in 1959 to honor the memory of the late E.O. Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the cyclotron (a particle accelerator) and after whom two DOE national laboratories, one in Berkeley and the other in Livermore, California, are named. The Lawrence Award is administered by DOE’s Office of Science.

Demographic Cliff Talk

This Thursday, February 29th, NMSU is hosting the New Mexico State Demographer, Robert Rhatigan and Senior Research Scientist, Jacqueline Miller to deliver a presentation entitled, “New Mexico’s Demographic Outlook: Stagnant Growth and an Aging Population” in Hardman Jacobs Learning Center 125 from 2:30pm to 4pm. Please RSVP at the following link. We expect a packed audience including community and civic leaders. This is an opportunity to learn about how demographic trends will impact New Mexico.

This past Friday, in the Chronicle of Higher Education, an article about the demographic cliff appeared. I provide the link for those of you who are interested in reading it. In the coming years, there will be a lot of uncertainty. However, this article articulates how the enrollment cliff can help or hurt your career. It addresses five ways how a person can be either an asset or a liability to an institution: 1) Think financially; 2) Think enrollment and retention; 3) Think like an entrepreneur; 4) Quantify what you do; and 5) Embrace the cliff. For me, the key takeaway was even during challenging times, there are opportunities to shine and make a difference if you can bring value to your unit.

Participate in Spring 2024 Graduation Ceremony

Here is the first call for faculty and staff to participate in the spring 2024 graduation ceremonies. I encourage all faculty and staff to participate in the spring 2024 graduation ceremonies. Your participation is meaningful to our students, because you helped them get across the finish line. Please sign up for participation in our graduation ceremony at the following link.

Supervisors and Managers - Call for Nominations for the Ralph B. Crouch Memorial Award

Exceptional employees make the people and organizations they work for better, and as a supervisor or manager you have a role in supporting a culture where employees feel appreciated. One of the best ways you can show appreciation is to nominate outstanding employees for a formal award. A call for the Ralph B. Crouch Memorial Award nominations is currently open through March 1st. If you know of an outstanding, current, or former Faculty or Exempt Employee who has made a significant contribution to the NMSU system or your department, please nominate them for this award. If selected, they will receive a cash award and their name will be placed in Hadley Hall among the other past award recipients. To learn more about selection criteria and access the nomination form, click here and review the Ralph B. Crouch section or email trainingcentral@nmsu.edu and put “Ralph B. Crouch” in the subject line.

International Student Recruiting

If anyone is planning to do any international student recruiting on behalf of NMSU, please let Dr. Ranjit Koodali know about it. He is the new Associate Provost for International Affairs and I have charged him with being the point person who knows what international student recruiting activities are going on, so we can better coordinate and be prepared for any upcoming applications or I-20s to be processed.

NMSU's Unsung Heroes

This week, I received two recipients for being NMSU Unsung Heroes.

Britney Stout (Administrative Assistant, American Indian Program/LGBT+ Programs/Asian and Pacific Islander Programs) and Joseph Duran (Administrative Assistant, Chicano Programs/Black Programs) – Michael Ray, Director of the American Indian Program shared the following about how both Britney and Joseph are assisting in multiple areas to create a welcoming environment for students who utilize our diversity programs spaces. Little do our students know that Britney and Joseph are the backbone that make our offices great places on campus. There was an opportunity where we saw them jump into action when one of our spaces was going to close for an off-campus conference. Instead of having one of the offices closed for a day, both Britney and Joseph worked with their schedules and supervisors to ensure students continued to have a place to call home on campus.

Both Britney and Joseph have done a fantastic job of making sure the students are heard when it comes to visiting our offices when times are good and not so good. They have been an open ear to students who are facing difficulties with both university and personal issues, and they are there to share in the accomplishments and success as they are sometimes the biggest cheerleaders for our students. They have done a great job working with our previous students, and we look forward to the amazing work they will continue to do that makes our campus stand out among the crowd.

Quote of the Week

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge