Press Releases

A Western New Mexico University Mustang cross country runner will be representing Team USA at the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Championships on Saturday, February 29, 2020. The Pan Am Cross Country Cup is in Victoria, Canada, where Beam and the five other Team USA runners will navigate a hilly and sandy 8-kilometer course. KRQE News 13 in Albuquerque recently shared his story. Watch below and read the full piece here....

Public Invited To Campus for “Power Structures” Opening Reception on Thursday Evening Western New Mexico University artists in residence for ceramics Atziry A. Apodaca and Natalie Rae Good will show their work for a limited time at WNMU Francis McCray Gallery of Contemporary Art starting Thursday, February 13. “Power Structures” exhibits what the two have created throughout their residencies so far. While not strictly thematic, the show’s name nods to the overlaps of both physical structures and the structures of state, politics, and perspective, which they each highlight in their distinct artistic focuses. The exhibit opens with a reception at the WNMU McCray Gallery on Thursday, February 13, at 4:30 p.m. It will be on display during gallery hours Friday, February 14, from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. and on Saturday by appointment. “‘Power Structures’ is a one-weekend show,” Apodaca said. Originally from El Paso, Texas, Apodaca lived in Cuidad Juarez for most of...

Starting Monday, February 10, Western New Mexico University students will offer tax help to low-income individuals and families in the southwest corner of the state. This is the 38th year WNMU students have run the local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, which is supported by Tax Help NM. This free service is for people whose household income is $56,000 or less. The volunteers — WNMU business and accounting students by day — are certified by the IRS and are trained to help taxpayers identify tax credits. “Students get real-life tax preparation filing experience by participating in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program,” said Ashley Montenegro, the adjunct WNMU instructor and certified public accountant who sponsors this program. “Students finish their degrees having filed 50 to 100 tax returns already. The community benefits because, as long as they meet the requirements, they don’t have to pay for our students’ help.” The Volunteer Income Tax...

The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents approved the university president’s 2019-2020 evaluation form and performance goals, the 2018-2019 Fiscal Year Audit Report, the Fiscal Year 2020 Quarter 2 Financial Certification, the Revised Capital Projects Transmittal for Harlan Hall (Phase III), and the Capital Projects Transmittal for Altamirano Field Turf during a meeting at the New Mexico State Capitol in Santa Fe on Thursday, January 30, following Grant County Day at the legislature. “We’ve moved the president’s evaluation form to be connected with the strategic plan. At our last meeting, Dr. Shepard provided us with his performance goals in relation to the strategic plan. We left a category open for things outside the box, things we hadn’t thought of,” said WNMU regent Dr. Mary Hotvedt, who presented the university president’s 2019-2020 evaluation form and performance goals action item. Vice President for Business Affairs Kelley Riddle presented the...

About 400 middle school and high school students from two dozen schools in southwest New Mexico will compete during the Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Competition at Western New Mexico University on Saturday, January 25, 2020. The defending champions from Socorro High and Socorro’s Cottonwood Valley Charter School will be returning to defend their titles. The Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Competition runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in the Fine Arts Center Theatre at 4 p.m. All of the events are held on campus in the Intramural Gym, Harlan Hall and the Phelps/Dodge-Martinez building. “The active events in the gym are likely to be the most interesting, and the public is invited to spectate at any of them,” Southwest Regional Science Olympiad Tournament Director Eric Casler said. The Science Olympiad teams compete in categories such as Earth and Space Science; Physical Science and Chemistry; Technology and...

Dr. Alexandra Neves, WNMU Professor of Bilingual/TESOL Education, spent the fall 2019 semester on a faculty exchange program with Universidad de Oviedo (UNIOVI) in Spain. She and Dr. Mónica Herrera, a UNIOVI faculty member, co-taught a class that involved training student teachers in delivering science content to elementary children in English. Student teachers taught the lessons they created during that class in a local school. During this intervention, Dr. Neves and Dr. Herrera collected data that will be analyzed in further research. While in Europe, Dr. Neves also presented at two conferences: Congresso Internacional de Enseñanza Bilingüe in Granada and the International Association for Intercultural Education in Amsterdam, Holland....

From Sao Paulo, Brazil, João Galera is the current WNMU Artist in Residence. “I am here for a year to do a project, exchange knowledge and go to the local art events,” he said. João’s project contains three main parts—the land, the people, the conflicts or differences. “The idea is mainly to work with different groups of Silver City that live here but sometimes they don’t talk between each other: the hippies, miners, ranchers, the students. They are here but sometimes you don’t see the people together,” he says. “The main line is the memory.” To depict the land, João is painting 100 watercolors of objects he finds in nature and will sew them together. “I call it the quilt of land,” he says. “I’m trying to get these small objects and things I’m seeing and finding here to try to describe what Silver City is for me. It’s my point of view.” For the people component, João plans to hold clay workshops with many groups in the area, starting...

A Western New Mexico University Board of Regents approved the possible addition of 20 new degree programs, accepted a donation of property, and passed the mid-year budget adjustment request, the first quarter financial certification, and a revised version of the Five-Year Capital Outlay Projects document, also hearing updates from campus leaders during their meeting on Thursday, December 12, on campus. Dr. Jack Crocker, WNMU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, presented the five-year degree plan, which includes three new master’s programs, baccalaureate degrees in outdoor leadership studies and political science, five new minors, several certificates and Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences degrees. WNMU Vice President for Business Affairs Kelley Riddle presented the Mid-Year Budget Adjustment Request for Fiscal Year 2020, Fiscal Year 2020 Quarter 1 Financial Certification and Revised Five-Year Capital Outlay Projects and Institutional Capital Projects and...

Western New Mexico University biology student Nicolas Farley interned with the NASA Earth Science Division this summer. “I definitely didn’t realize how prestigious the program was when I applied. There were 28 students from across the U.S., most of which came from Ivy League schools,” he said. Farley worked in a flying laboratory made from a retrofitted DC-8 aircraft and collected air samples from over southern California. “As part of the Whole Air Sampling Crew, I would open and close vacuumed out stainless-steel cans then take the samples back to lab and plug them into spectrometer to figure out what was in the air. We measured around 100 different chemicals that affect air quality,” he said. Beyond that, Farley networked with scientists involved in world-renowned projects and discoveries, getting his foot in the door with an organization known for space exploration — one of Farley’s biggest interests. “One the things I want to get into is movement into...

Western New Mexico University will graduate 267 of its students this fall. Of those, 173 graduates will walk across the Fine Arts Center Theatre stage during the fall commencement ceremony on Friday, December 13, 2019, at 2 p.m. They will receive their diplomas then shake hands with WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard and with former WNMU Dean of Students and Mustang basketball coach James R. Smith, who is the fall commencement speaker and will be presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Doors to the Fine Arts Center Theatre will open at 1 p.m. Overflow seating will be provided in the Global Resource Center auditorium and in Light Hall Auditorium. The program will be streamed live at both locations for the benefit of fall WNMU graduates’ extended family members and friends. Diplomas being granted at the fall 2019 commencement ceremony include those for 23 associate degrees, 125 bachelor’s degrees, 117 master’s degrees, 22 certificates and 46 graduate...