Alan's Monday Message for March 18

Last week was relatively quiet, probably due to spring break. I started Monday with an executive meeting followed by meetings with several Deans and Department Heads to share my decisions on promotion cases. After lunch, the Board of Regents held their regular meeting in the Education Services Building. The primary business was to elect officers for the upcoming year and to announce the status of a new President. I also introduced our new Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Provost for International Affairs, Dr. Ranjit Koodali. In addition, I put forth a petition for a posthumous degree recipient, Ms. Karla Salcido, a nursing student who died almost two years ago. The petition was passed on the consent agenda. After going into and returning from executive session, the Board of Regents announced they were not hiring any of the finalists and will look for a new interim President until a new permanent President is hired through a new search.

Tuesday was devoted to administrative duties. I did meet with a small group to discuss what we need to do if we are going to recruit more undergraduate international students, specifically from Mexico. Following this, I met with a group to discuss the usage and value of some of the data analytic tools NMSU has subscribed to and determine whether it was cost-effective to continue these subscriptions.

On Wednesday, we held an operational learning meeting in Gerald Thomas Hall Auditorium, where Dean Rolando Flores Galarza provided an overview of the College of ACES. I want to thank everyone who attended. It was refreshing to see a nice turnout when campus was relatively quiet due to spring break. After lunch, I worked on administrative issues for the rest of the day.

Thursday morning was devoted to several 1:1 and small group meetings to address personnel issues. The rest of the day was devoted to administrative duties involving setting up the process of informing all candidates of their tenure and/or promotion case decisions.

On Friday, I started a test run of holding office hours within the academic units. The purpose of these office hours are to be available to any faculty, staff, or administrators to informally chat about any subject they want to bring to my attention. In the morning, I started in the College of Business Dean’s suite and in the afternoon, I went to the College of Engineering Dean’s suite to hold informal office hours. I enjoyed the interaction with everyone I talked to.

Announcements

Tuition Scholarship Award Payments to Graduate Assistants

This week, Department Heads or Directors and appropriate support staff will receive an email from the Graduate School listing the department’s graduate assistants who are eligible to receive the Union tuition award, and the amount each should receive, so they can begin placing the appropriate funds into student Scholar Dollar$ accounts.

The spring 2024 semester’s tuition scholarship relief payment has been increased to a flat amount of $1,600 for each eligible graduate assistant, prorated for FTE, up from the $691 minimum payment for eligible students last fall semester. A “Detail Code” is needed in order to place funds; please have your fiscal monitor or other staff work with Financial Aid in order to set up a detail code, if there are no codes yet established for this purpose, and please alert Holly Kurtz of the Graduate School if your department or unit is having difficulty with this part of the process.

We will need your help to make payments of the guaranteed tuition scholarship awards to all eligible graduate assistants as quickly as possible. The completion goal for making these spring 2024 payments is Friday, March 22, 2024. The NMSU Board of Regents ratified the inaugural contract between the university and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (the “UE”), the union representing NMSU’s graduate assistants (the “GA union”) on December 28, 2022. The parties’ collective bargaining agreement (CBA) runs through January 1, 2025, for a term of two years. Thank you all for your continuing efforts during this third semester under the parties’ CBA.

A Valued-added, Sustainable Agriculture for New Mexico

ACES Dean Rolando Flores Galarza wrote an op-ed in the Las Cruces Sun-News this past Thursday, March 14th. He articulates the role of ACES in creating value-added, sustainable agriculture in New Mexico. He goes on to share how many of these initiatives will be on display at the ACES Open House on Saturday, April 6th from 9am to 12pm in Gerald Thomas Hall.

HEST Spring Fling – Thursday, April 11th from 11am to 2pm at Preciado Park

Are Colleges really on the brink?

I read this article last Thursday. It is similar to many articles I have read over the past few years about the challenges of higher education and how most faculty and staff do not understand the landscape and environment the industry is operating in. I encourage everyone to become educated and informed about why addressing the demographic cliff and the financial health of our institution is so important. Many state flagships are suffering financial challenges (West Virginia University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska, Rutgers University, Penn State University and the University of Arizona to name the most recently challenged public flagship land grant institutions). This does not include all the private institutions that are being forced to close or merge. Fortunately, NMSU is not currently in this situation, but we could be in a few years depending on where enrollment goes. That is why I have asked UPAC to examine a 2020 Gray’s Associates report that focused on which academic programs we should grow, fix and sustain, and sunset. I have also asked Gray’s Associates to update the 2020 report with our most recent institutional data. These are not easy conversations, but they are necessary for the institution’s health.

Provost Forum on Promotion and Tenure

On Thursday, April 11th from 3pm to 4:30pm in a location to be determined, Senior Associate Provost James McAteer and I will be hosting a promotion and tenure forum based on our experiences from this year’s cases. We plan to share insights on what we saw, so that it is more transparent about what the expectations are for anyone seeking promotion and tenure. I am a firm believer that clarity is the key to improving the process and in some of the academic units, a lack of clarity has contributed to misunderstanding of the expectations required for promotion and tenure. By improving expectations and processes, I am hopeful in the future that we will reach 100% success in all cases. Register at https://teaching.nmsu.edu.

Taking the Pentagon to the People

NMSU is hosting Taking the Pentagon to the People (TTPTTP) on March 27th and 28th. TTPTTP program event is carried out through the DoD's Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) and provides:

• Information about student opportunities for employment, internships, and scholarships
• Information on DoD’s current & future opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, business, education, language, arts, and many other fields
• A pathway to connect students and graduates directly to DoD senior leaders, executives, and recruiters
• Information for faculty and staff on research, fellowships, sabbaticals, contract, and grants

The STUDENT EMERGING LEADERS SUMMIT & NETWORKING LUNCH, scheduled from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm in the Corbett Center ballroom, offers a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to engage with DoD and other government personnel, facilitating connections and exploring various career and developmental pathways. Following this, the DoD RECRUITMENT SESSION & INFORMATION TABLES will run from 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm, providing valuable insights into employment, internships, and scholarships for high-achieving students.

Simultaneously, the FACULTY AND STAFF LUNCH & LEARN TRACK, slated from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in the Corbett Center Senate Chambers, is tailored to faculty members, offering crucial information on research, fellowships, sabbaticals, personnel exchanges, and small business opportunities. This session also enables direct networking opportunities with DoD representatives, fostering a deeper understanding of how the agency can support recruitment efforts, teaching endeavors, and research activities within the academic community.

We must come together to rally faculty, student, and staff participation to avoid the embarrassment of being cancelled. Click here to register.

Quote of the Week

“A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms. Lack of candor, if unchecked, ultimately leads to dysfunctional environments.”— Ed Catmull, President of Pixar