Press Releases

Last month, Dr. Alexandra Neves of the WNMU School of Education engaged with teens to recruit passionate learners into the field of education at the New Mexico Educators Rising conference. “After a couple years away, it was inspiring to return to this very lively conference and meet with students who are not only in our WNMU – Deming chapter but who live all across the state,” she said. Educators Rising is a community-based movement in which high school chapters, along with teacher preparation programs at higher education institutions like #WNMU and the New Mexico Department of Education, come together to provide a clear pathway to increase teacher diversity and teacher...

Licensed Clinical Social Worker Edith Lee, who earned her master’s from WNMU in 2016, is currently the Vice President of the U.S. Program at Americares, a global nonprofit improving health for people affected by poverty or disaster. In April, she will become the President and CEO of LifeBridge Community Services, which provides behavioral health services, youth development and asset-building resources for families in Connecticut. The native of rural Arizona is a first-generation college graduate who began her undergraduate education just ten years ago. She will assume the responsibilities of her new role with the awareness that the average CEO is in their 50s and finished their education much earlier in their lives and careers. Having earned her master’s from a regional university that offered a high-quality yet affordable program presented Lee prospects she might not have accessed otherwise. Although the MSW program is available fully online, being in Silver City...

Adriane M. Torrez' son is the reason why she's so passionate about helping others in schools. "I’ve been advocating for my son with ADHD since he was in kindergarten. I’ve learned how to get him the services he needs so he can be productive in school and be the best version of himself," she said. "He’s doing amazing now.” As a Master of Social Work student without a four-year degree in social work, she is anticipating needing to take about 60 credits--more than a bachelor's-prepared social worker would need to complete their program. "As a full-time worker and a mom of twins, I wondered how I would cover tuition, fees and books? Some people don’t go to school because of the financial commitment and I almost did that," said the WNMU Expanding Opportunities Program awardee. "Instead, I poured out my heart out on a piece of paper telling them why I want to become a school social worker." Aimed at increasing the numbers of social workers in rural and high-need schools,...

When New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 140, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, on campus last Friday, a number of recipients were present to express their appreciation for the support and one student spoke on behalf of all current and future recipients of the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. Below is her story. Grant County native Raquel Parga is finishing up a forest-wildlife degree at Western New Mexico University while raising her two-year-old son. “I’ve overcome some obstacles in my life but I’m still going strong with my degree,” she said. Before receiving the Opportunity Scholarship this past fall, she had taken out loans each semester. “I was always short about $600,” she said. “On top of worrying about how I’m doing in my classes, there was stress over how to afford each class.” Parga proactively set aside what she earned at her on-campus job in preparation for paying off student loans after graduation. “When I found out...

The New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship Act was made into law during a ceremony on the WNMU campus Friday afternoon. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham visited J. Cloyd Miller Library to put a flourish on the signing of Senate Bill 140, which enables any New Mexican who wants to pursue higher education to do so. At WNMU, more than 125 students have already benefited from the scholarship, and a few of them were in attendance. The New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship is the only state-funded scholarship program in the country to include both recent high school graduates, returning adult learners, part-time students, career training certifications, associate and bachelor’s degrees, and summer courses. In addition to covering full tuition and fees at in-state public colleges and universities like WNMU, the scholarship lets students stack federal aid such as Pell Grants, local scholarships, and private scholarships to pay for books, materials, housing, food, transportation,...

On February 26, 1869, the 15th Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote was sent to the states for ratification. On that day in 2022, Western New Mexico University celebrated alumnus James Meredith, who marched for voting rights in 1966. (There’s more to that story. Read the details here.) While most see Meredith’s admission to the all-white University of Mississippi as a pivotal moment in civil rights history, Meredith sees his attendance at what he calls “New Mexico Western College” in the fall of 1951 as a pivotal moment in his personal history. The activist, political advisor and author of 28 books said, “A whole lotta water’s crossed under the bridge, but there’s no question in my mind the role New Mexico Western College played in my good fortune through my life.” Your browser does not support the video...

Western New Mexico University was named one of the most affordable nursing school programs in the southwest by Mometrix Test Preparation, a college planning resource. In an analysis of over 100 nursing schools in Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico, research experts identified the 30 most exceptional programs, specifically cataloging programs with high graduation rates, top National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rates and low tuition costs. “Western New Mexico University offers high-quality nursing education at fraction of the price students pay at most institutions, so students are able to invest more of their time in learning and ultimately spend their energy on improving the health of their neighbors and communities,” said Dr. Kim Petrovic, who is Associate Dean for the WNMU School of Nursing and Kinesiology. All of the highlighted schools have an NCLEX pass rate of at least 73% and an annual tuition cost of less than $10,000. WNMU tuition runs at...

This op-ed was written by Charnelle Lee, who is the Western New Mexico University Undergraduate Nursing Programs Coordinator and a New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium Nurse Educator Endowment Award Winner. Intensive care units throughout New Mexico are operating beyond capacity. Hundred-day hospital stays are almost commonplace now but were unheard of before 2020. Nurses, aging along with our U.S. population, are retiring. As demand for healthcare services mounts, the shortage of registered nurses worsens. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the nursing shortage by increasing the number of patients entering the healthcare system and skewing the patient-to-nurse ratio toward dicey territory. Nursing staff shortage can lead to errors and higher morbidity and mortality rates. Longer, more taxing shifts also lead to nurse burn-out and turnover, which interrupts the continuity of care with similarly dismal consequences for patients. It’s a cycle that can only be broken by...

Before beginning toward a nursing degree at Western New Mexico University – Deming, Elizabeth Villegas worked for Deming Public Schools Equity Department. The native of Palomas, Mexico, authored this feature story to demonstrate the impact one organization, and even one specific person, can have on young people’s lives. “I decided to write about a mentor and a high school student that are part of the Migrant Education Program because I was familiar with the kind of work the Equity Department does,” Villegas told the Deming Headlight, which published this article she wrote. “I used to live just across the border. When I graduated high school, I moved to Ciudad Juarez. I got married and moved to Deming when I was 20 years old in 2019.” Feeling she had too much time on her hands, Elizabeth enrolled in a CNA course. But pandemic-related delays prevented her from being able to work right away, so she got a job as an educational assistant with Deming Public Schools. It...

The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents received updates from state leaders, accepted a clean audit report, approved sabbatical leave for one faculty member, and added an academic behavior policy during their virtual meeting Thursday. As per tradition, the meeting followed Grant County Day at the legislature, where higher education representatives contributed on virtual panels covering topics such as economic development and public health, along with education at all levels — referred to as “cradle to career pathways,” which New Mexico leaders are looking to invest in. Along with a pair of $12 million asks to develop a workforce training facility in the mining district and move the university toward becoming carbon neutral by 2025, WNMU made a $12 million capital outlay request to realize a proposed Early Childhood Center of Excellence, which is stated to be necessary in attracting students from birth and training teachers all the way up through the master’s...