Author Archives: Dr. Joe Shepard

Dear faculty and staff, At Tuesday’s Board of Regents meeting, I was honored with a very favorable evaluation. I truly believe that this is a reflection not of me, but of each of you and how you have made this university a better place. Over the last several years we have become a more community-focused institution that is moving in the direction of embracing our uniqueness and caring for both our students and our community. We are being progressive with confronting the realities of higher education and preparing for our future by challenging the status quo and identifying what it means to be distinctive. It has not been an easy journey as we struggle with the financial realities of the present moment. But each of you, in your own individual way, has contributed positively to the overall well-being of this wonderful institution where people can transform their lives through education. Unfortunately, in spite of our tremendous progress, the financial crisis facing the State of...

I often get asked what makes Western New Mexico University unique. Though we have excellent degree programs that can compete against any university, the answer is not our degree offerings. Western New Mexico University is known for our people and what we do for people. We are more like a private university, but at a public price. We are the university that is known for the first, second and third chances. The place where babies can begin their first developmental moments in our nationally accredited early childhood learning lab, and the place where senior citizens can continue enriching the mind through lifelong learning. We are known for educating people from birth through death. A place where you can get your High School Equivalency Diploma, your Associates of Arts degree, your Bachelor’s degree or your Master’s degree. We are a place where we are first educators before anything else. There are thousands of universities tucked away in small foothills and beautiful parts of...