Press Releases

The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents whizzed through a lengthy agenda Friday, approving the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, agreeing on proposed new degree programs and ensuring the university is poised to capture anticipated Federal funding for infrastructure projects. After receiving general updates from faculty and staff senate presidents, student body president and also university president Dr. Joseph Shepard, the board members addressed 17 action items, tabling just one and unanimously passing the rest. Discussing the $50-million 2021-2022 fiscal year budget, Vice President for Business Affairs Kelley Riddle said, “For Instruction and General, we’ll be budgeting a carryover balance of $5.4 million. This includes a temporary budget for the Road to 4k Initiative previously approved by you,” she said. Dr. Daniel H. Lopez, one of the newest members of the board who was President of New Mexico Tech for two decades, said he asked a lot of questions about...

The inaugural Western New Mexico University Remembrance March held on Saturday drew dozens to walk in honor of service members past and present. Held Saturday, this event allowed participants to commemorate the 1942 Bataan Death March. While 72 participants had pre-registered, even more who attended registered on site. More than a dozen marchers took on the 14-mile out-and-back route, while the remaining participants completed the one-mile Honor March. Each route began and ended on the WNMU campus. At least 20 marchers were veterans themselves marching in the Military category, and a couple registered in the Military Heavy category, committing to carry 35-pound packs for the duration of their journey. Some in the Civilian category carried photos of their loved ones who served in the U.S. armed forces, and others opted to write the name of a loved one they wanted to march in honor of on their participant number. Alternatively, civilians could choose to march in honor of service...

Roberta Brown, Composition Coordinator and Assistant Professor of English Composition at WNMU, recently participated in the Hannah Arendt Humanities Network Co-Laboratory on Racial, Economic, and Educational Inequalities. Meant to develop proposals aimed at reducing educational inequalities at the college level, it was a Structured Democratic Dialogue led by figures from the Open Society University Network and Bard College in New York over the course of a few weeks. “After President Shepard asked faculty and staff to increase enrollment to 4,000 students by the fall of 2022, I stumbled to this program in the hope that I could learn how to remove barriers to attending WNMU and attract new students to our university,” she said. Just one of 20 participants selected to join the conversation, Roberta said she had a number of takeaways. “Access to higher education is a global problem. Many of the educational challenges we face in New Mexico are not unique. Scholarships, early...

The State Higher Education Department released the list of 25 New Mexicans who were nominated by Gov. Lujan Grisham and confirmed by the Senate to serve on Boards of Regents at public colleges, universities, and special schools across the state. “This year’s cadre of regents includes individuals with a high level of experience and enthusiasm for higher education, which will be key for guiding our state institutions forward in the coming years,” Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez said. “We look forward to collaborating with them and all higher education leadership to ensure that New Mexico’s students and schools succeed.” Public four-year colleges, universities, and special schools are governed by boards of regents consisting of members who serve six-year terms and student members who serve two-year terms. The Board of Regents is responsible for governance of the school, including establishment of goals and policies, and overall operation...

Several WNMU academic programs have earned top ranks by Study.com with School of Education online degrees shining in particular. For 2021, WNMU was listed: No. 12 Best Online Bachelor’s in Special Education, No. 16 Best Online Bachelor’s in Elementary Education, No. 27 Best Online Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education, No. 28 Best Online Bachelor's in Social Work, and No. 37 Best Online Bachelor's in History. Over 40 million visitors per month use Study.com to research potential schools, degrees, and careers for potential students. To compile the lists, Study.com considered hundreds of universities across the country and ranked them based on academic and career resources, the quality of education, faculty, and...

The WNMU Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which was established 39 years ago and is also known simply as VITA, was found to have met all ten of the IRS’ Quality Site Requirements during an audit. “We are 100% in compliance,” WNMU Professor of Accounting Dr. Laurie Barfitt said. The Remote Site Reviews ensure VITA programs are performing their duties lawfully and as instructed. “Our VITA site workers were praised for their hard work and efforts to bring the service to the community, even throughout the pandemic,” said Dr. Miguel A. Vicéns, who is Associate Dean of the WNMU School of Business. Along with one community volunteer, there are seven accounting students working the long-running university VITA program this year. WNMU School of Business student-worker Paige Pinto, who is the program’s local supervisor/director, coordinated the site review. The VITA program provided by the WNMU School of Business was initiated by local certified public...

Charlie Demars’ "The Embarrassment Burrowed In" won second place in the prose category of the 2020 WNMU Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest hosted by the Humanities Department. The Utah native moved to New Mexico after years of traveling, following his high school graduation. “I ended up in silver because I had a sister I’d never met,” he said. He worked at a local school for some time and then the dove into his own studies after the pandemic began. Charlie spent a semester exploring various classes but is now enrolled in the electrical technology program. “I didn’t grow up with any practical skills. Electrical seemed like a neat thing I had no idea about. It’s probably one of the more rewarding experiences I’ve been involved in,” he said. Before deciding to pursue applied technology, creative writing and English were his favorite classes. He submitted prose to the contest to earn extra credit. “The story is about my own childhood. Growing up, I feel...

With the number of Americans on probation or parole at nearly 4.5 million, probation officer employment is projected to grow by 10%. Those looking to enter that field might considering starting their path at WNMU, which has as a top program for aspiring probation officers, according to new rankings by Intelligent.com. The site lists WNMU as the very best in police officer training specifically. All of the programs making this list meet the rigorous standards of educational quality set by well-known accrediting agencies such as the Higher Learning Commission, which is the body WNMU is accredited through. “In an accredited probation officer degree program, you’ll learn the communication, critical thinking, and emotional stability skills required to succeed,” Intelligent.com states. These rankings were developed in an evaluation of 220 education programs, comparing each on the basis of flexibility, faculty, course strength, cost, and reputation. According to Intelligent.com,...

The Western New Mexico University School of Education elementary programs received an A+ for diversity in the 2020 Teacher Prep Review, which is published by the National Council on Teacher Quality, a body that researches, evaluates, and ranks 2,400 teacher preparation programs. Programs only earn this grade when the percentage of enrolled candidates of color (60% for WNMU) exceeds the diversity of the state teacher workforce (46% for New Mexico) by at least 10 percentage points and also meets or exceeds the diversity of the local population (54% persons of color for WNMU). WNMU is found to be 13.8% more diverse than the New Mexico teacher workforce and 6.5% more diverse than the local population. The A+ grade indicates that the WNMU School of Education contributes significantly to the diversification of the teacher workforce. “A diverse teacher workforce benefits all students. We are proud to be preparing teachers who are ready to make positive impacts on a rapidly...

The WNMU Master of Arts in counseling program was rated “Best in the Southwest” by Intelligent.com, which released a list of the nation’s Top 50 Counseling Degree Programs for 2021. Intelligent.com’s ranking methodology first looks accreditation and flexibility then weighs program strength, student readiness and engagement as well as ROI to narrow down the list of programs. As more than 40 million American sought counseling in the last year and the demand for counselors is expected to increase by 25% over the next decade, now is an opportune time to enter this field. Details about the WNMU counseling program are available here. Intelligent.com is a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 191 accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate...