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The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents approved a $66.9 million budget for the 2023 fiscal year and discussed upcoming capital project priorities during their meeting Thursday. Before approving next fiscal year’s operating budget, the board approved an adjustment to the current fiscal year’s budget, in light of a $571,696 difference in the ending unrestricted instruction and general funds balance and of a difference of $83,914 in restricted instruction and general funds. Last April, the board approved a $50.9 million budget, and the final fiscal year 2022 budget was $72,768,878. “There are a couple pieces to this budget,” said Dr. Joseph Shepard, who is President of WNMU. “We used $5 million in one-time money to increase enrollment, and while 4,000 students didn’t materialize, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. This budget moves us downward in terms of our reserves because we’re moving into a second year of the 4K initiative. This budget will...

Evangeline Dominguez began her education at Western New Mexico University 20 years ago, left when she started a family, and returned after spending the past two decades raising five children. Now pursuing an associate degree in early childhood education with the aim work toward a bachelor’s, she said. “I came back to finish what I started.” Dominguez works as a Pre-K educational assistant at Bayard Elementary School and is taking six credit hours at WNMU this spring. She said she would not be enrolled if it weren’t for the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. “I did not withdraw correctly 20 years ago. It affected my financial aid,” she said. “I was a kid, but withdrawing incorrectly came back to haunt me. Without the Opportunity Scholarship, it’d be easy to say, ‘I’m done.’” The financial support, combined with the ability to participate in classes online, makes college feasible for her. “I’m able to work a full-time job and take care of my kids at...

Jaedyn Arellano has a younger brother with special needs. “I have seen the services he has been provided, and I want to become a physical therapist and offer similar help to others,” she said. Arellano is a senior in both the kinesiology and rehabilitation services programs at Western New Mexico University. “I chose to attend WNMU because it’s affordable and close by my family,” said the Bayard native. Receiving the Opportunity Scholarship is a relief for Arellano, who said she didn’t know about it until being awarded the support, which she uses to supplement what she earns at her on-campus student-worker job and to buy extra course materials. “I’m taking labs so my lab fees were high, and the books I needed were expensive. I probably wouldn’t have bought my books. I have gone without books. It’s terrible. It’s like being lost in the class,” she said. “This scholarship has given me the opportunity to pursue my dreams, because it covers costs I might...

A student-centered event celebrating National Poetry Month included readings by professor Heather Frankland’s English 99 class, Aldo Leopold Charter School students and the WNMU Undergraduate Writing Contest Winners. WNMU Provost and author Dr. Jack Crocker and New Mexico Book Association Vice President Miguel De La Cruz (both pictured), along with Silver City Poet Laureate and WNMU student Allison Waterman, were also featured. Organized by WNMU J. Cloyd Miller Library, WNMU Humanities Department, Mimbres Press of WNMU, and WNMU – Deming, the event was held in J. Cloyd Miller Library on the main...

Pull off fruit and leaves. Cut plant off at ground level and wash all soil from its roots. Take the plant top and roots to the lab. Weigh and measure the parts then wash, alternating three times between acid and water. Let dry. Divide the collection in half. Dry one half. Freeze the other half. That’s not a jam or cookie recipe. Those are directions for harvesting and processing the tomato vines in preparation for analysis with recently acquired spectroscopy instrumentation — all as part of an experiment being carried out by student researchers at Western New Mexico University. Elizabeth Sorells and Michael Shaw are among the group of students exploring applications of nanomaterials in agriculture, thanks to a $142,000 grant WNMU received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Technology in 2020 for the purpose of establishing a research program in nano-enabled agriculture at the rural institution not typically considered a research...

The Western New Mexico University Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest provides students across all academic majors the opportunity to practice the art of the written word and be recognized for their nonacademic writing. A committee selects the top work in two categories: poetry and prose/play. This year’s winning poem by senior elementary teacher education major. For #NationalPoetryMonth and in honor of those taking refuge in lands foreign to them, we’re sharing an excerpt. “Morning Serenity No Longer” by Atlantis Lopez Yesterday the rain fell upon the desert land Misty morning serenity as Kabul awoke Sun bright in the sky, radiant home of my heart I wonder when the rain turned into a river of tears and blood The children who used to play with kites Soaring above the souks, now lie Asleep in the river, eyes closed forever Today, the English sea, a dark opaque kind of blue is angry waves lapping violently on the shore It reminds me of the water I had to...

Western New Mexico University ensures that the cost of books won’t be a barrier to student success. Required course materials like textbooks and lab kits will now be delivered as part of tuition and fees, providing students of all economic backgrounds access to these essentials at the very start of each semester. “Every student will have their textbook by the first day of class,” said Dr. Isaac Brundage, who is WNMU Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. The new WNMU program levels the playing field, reduces stress and saves students about 30% while allowing the charges to be covered by financial aid and even New Mexico’s Opportunity Scholarship. For $25 per credit hour, WNMU aims to help students stay in school longer and graduate at higher rates. Similar programs have been shown to support students in raising their grades by as much as 11%. “All WNMU undergraduate and graduate students, whether they attend online, part-time or in...