The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to providing an applied liberal arts and sciences education. Our faculty strive to meet students where they are and to prepare them as globally educated citizens capable of improving our future world through applied critical thinking, responsible problem solving, creativity and effective communication, with appreciation of diversity, equality and intellectual inquiry.
We envision a college which engages our university and community by offering ALAS teaching and scholarship in a premier educational environment. Our college will challenge students with innovative approaches to learning while maintaining a tradition of excellence in teaching to prepare our graduates for lifelong success. Through collaborative and cross-disciplinary research and teaching, we encourage scholarship and creative expression by developing original ways to view our past, assess our present, and realize our potential.
Ignite & Nurture a Spirit of Learning
The mission of the College of Education at Western New Mexico University is to ignite and nurture a spirit of learning in order to positively impact lives globally through transformative education.
A vision for teaching
The College of Education and other academic departments at WNMU believe that good teachers, counselors, and/or administrators have very intense and personal reasons for their purpose as educators and can readily provide influential reasons for teaching. The COE Conceptual Framework is Western’s response to the question, “Why teach?”
Western New Mexico University is committed to preparing professional educators for PreK-12 utilizing a curriculum that supports each candidate, regardless of race, class, or age. The College of Education depicts this vision in the following ways:
The College of Professional Studies offers exceptional professional programs designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their academic and career aspirations.
The College of Professional Studies strives to be the regional leader in preparing students to be professionals who are adaptable, culturally competent, globally and environmentally aware, strong communicators, and who are critically minded professionals that will become world changers.
The College of Professional Studies’ Strategic Goals (24-25) are aligned with the Western New Mexico University Strategic Plan (2023-2028), and with the Academic Affairs Division goals.
The Department of Counseling at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) is a three-year, CACREP accredited, 60-credit online program that prepares students to become professional counselors within a variety of settings including schools, community mental health centers, state agencies, clinics, hospitals, and private practices. The focus of the program is to assist students in developing the skills and nurturing the dispositions needed to provide innovative and effective counseling experiences for diverse clients in multicultural settings. The Counseling Program provides four separate specialties which include Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, School Counseling, and Addiction Counseling. More detail regarding each specialty can be found below, under the Counseling Specialties section of the website. Graduates of the Counseling Program at WNMU are eligible for licensure as School Counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC), and Licensed Rehabilitation Counselors (LRC) in New Mexico. The program is also designed to meet the National Board for Certified Counselor requirements for students who wish to become National Certified Counselors (NCC) as well as the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification requirements for students who want to become Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRC).
The Department of Counseling first received CACREP accreditation for its four specialties on April 24th, 2025. The fours specialties include the following: addiction counseling, clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling and school counseling.
The start date for CACREP accreditation is February 6th, 2023, and the current cycle ends April 30th, 2033. All individuals who graduated from the Department of Counseling at Western New Mexico University on or after February 6th, 2023 are considered graduates from a CACREP accredited program.
The Department of Counseling’s CACREP accreditation status can be viewed at the following link: Western New Mexico University CACREP Accreditation.
The mission of the WNMU BSW program is to prepare students for culturally humble generalist practice through a person-in-environment framework, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and scientific inquiry. The program is committed to fostering social work values and competencies that promote:
Through this mission, the program equips students with the knowledge, skills, and ethical foundation necessary to address complex social issues and create meaningful change.
Grounded in a global perspective and respect for human diversity, the WNMU MSW Program equips graduate students for advanced generalist practice through scientific inquiry, self-reflection, and guided practice experiences. Through this program, students cultivate the knowledge, skills, values, cognitive and affective processes, and cultural humility required to improve the well-being and quality of life for all individuals as champions of social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.
