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With the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting that social work jobs will increase by 13% by 2029, Western New Mexico University is preparing social workers of all levels to promote social justice on behalf of all people and to enhance the functioning of individuals, families, groups and communities. Continually top-ranked, the WNMU School of Social Work prepares students for careers centered anywhere between direct individual practice and community planning and organization, a more macro-level approach aimed at societal change that can improve the lives of individuals. Most recently, our master’s program has been ranked No. 1 by Best College Reviews. "We are committed to providing a high quality and affordable social work education to students from all walks of life. Like the rest of the WNMU community, we strive for excellence, create a caring culture for our students, and pride ourselves in being able to equip our students with the knowledge and skills they need to get...

Recently, 17 WNMU students earned certifications in basic welding positions through the American Welding Society, which is recognized nationally and internationally as the premier welding certification body. “In the 11 years that I have been at WNMU, this is a record number of students to pass American Welding Society certifications in a single semester,” said James Ortiz, who is Director of Applied Technology in the WNMU Community and Workforce Development Department. Those earning certifications included high school students who are dual enrolled, traditional students, and also Freeport-McMoRan employees who returned for training during a furlough period. “They are upgrading their skills in welding and electrical to be more valuable employees,” James said. A complete list of the newly certified welders ranked according to the level of skill they demonstrated follows: Tommie Perez, 1G Obed Hernández, 1G (Freeport-McMoRan) Ethan Sanchez, 1G Federico Jiménez, 1G...

Alejandro Romero was on his lunch break when he applied to WNMU. “Almost all my life I’ve had manual labor jobs. I went to culinary school. I have a CDL. I had a steady job and a pretty good income, but it was wearing me down all around,” he said. “I thought, ‘If I’m going to be worn down like this at something I don’t really like doing, I’d rather be worn down putting my energy and effort into something I do like.’” Now a junior, Alejandro is well on his way to earning a bachelor’s in expressive arts. “I got to a point where I was able to study something that means more to me than just a paycheck,” he said. Alejandro considers himself a lifelong artist. “I started with graffiti when I was about 18. One day my mom gave me a 35 mm camera and said, ‘Try this.’ That was 12-15 years ago now,” said the passionate photographer. “I’ve been doing art for a while but not on such a technical level. It was more exploring for myself.” Alejandro...

As per tradition during the first meeting of the calendar year, the Western New Mexico University Board of Regents spent time communicating with state legislators, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, during their Thursday assembly over Zoom. They also agreed on the university president’s performance goals, voted to extend regent Janice Baca Argabright’s term as the board Secretary/Treasurer until a new board is constituted, and approved the Fiscal Year 2019-2020 Audit Report and the Fiscal Year 2021 Quarter 2 Financial Certification. “When you are at the legislative session, it’s really a place for someone like me to listen—not talk—and understand what your priorities are,” Gov. Lujan Grisham said. “New Mexico was successful in quashing the virus, largely thanks to higher education. You led in terms of figuring out ways to serve your students and faculty.” The governor praised WNMU President Dr. Joseph Shepard for compelling the state’s colleges and...

Albuquerque resident Heidi Michaels won first place in the WNMU Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest poetry category for a piece titled “In Indiana Enjambment” and another she calls “New Mexican Sonnet,” which speaks to the beauty of our state during sunset and which is included below. Heidi is majoring in English so she can tutor people once she has a bachelor’s degree. “I come from an uneducated background. I know how hard it is to struggle, and I want to help others,” she said. Plus, writing is a natural fit for her. “I think poetry allows me and others to express themselves in a way you can’t when you speak normally. I have a little stutter and am awkward, but I can be more graceful and real with the written word. I know a lot of people feel that way about poetry,” Heidi said. Before pursuing a degree, she worked retail and in restaurants and was “sometimes a manager.” But then Heidi became handicapped and was homeless for a time. “I had a...

Over the next few weeks, Western New Mexico University Cultural Affairs will host a series of artist workshops centered around storytelling and a set of concerts called Women in Music and featuring global voices. Themed Journey of the Storyteller: Notion of Place, the workshops will be led by New Mexico artists, who draw connections between the intellectual, imaginative and cultural elements involved in creating art. The initial artist lectures will be open to the public. Artist and writer Edie Tsong kicks off the series with “Love Letters to the World” on Thursday, January 28, while multimedia artist Alia Ali continues it with “An Indexical Archive” beginning on Thursday, February 25. “In collaboration with WNMU Expressive Arts instructor Jennifer Douglas, WNMU Cultural Affairs is reaching out to regional artists in recognition of how the arts can inspire a new discussion, which synthesize imagery, dialogue and our critical thought processes. This collaboration...

The Western New Mexico University art collection continues expanding, largely thanks to the New Mexico Art in Public Places Purchase Initiative, with a recent addition being “Linear and Metaphoric.” This ceramic sculpture about transforming the walls that separate us into a symbol of diversity and connection is by longtime Silver City artist Zoe Wolfe, who created the piece in reaction to the momentum in building the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “The grouping of 18 mid-fired and glazed ceramic bricks create a shrine to New Mexico. The keystone is a lush white – the soul,” Zoe says. Images reference Mimbreno and Hopi symbolism while abstract patterns are contemporary, and the bricks’ surfaces mimic the textured earth. “I worked toward a visual balance of symmetry and asymmetry, representing the strengths and diversity of our population, ultimately in harmony,” Zoe says. "Linear and Metaphoric," which earned a recent mention in Desert Exposure,...

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Western New Mexico University is broadcasting a message from alumnus James Meredith, whose life and mission has been closely tied with King’s. The university is also recognizing two students with the 2021 WNMU/Grant County Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award. Lifelong activist and 1951 graduate, Meredith is best known for his actions spurring the integration of the University of Mississippi after clerk/typist training at WNMU — then New Mexico Western College. His 1966 March Against Fear, during which he suffered injury from a failed assassination attempt, was also a key demonstration within the civil rights movement and was continued by the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. With an introduction from WNMU Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Isaac Brundage, Meredith’s recorded address demonstrates the Silver City institution’s impact on his life. “A whole lot of water’s crossed under the bridge,...

Western New Mexico University advanced painting and drawing students are exhibiting their work in a pop-up gallery in a storefront at the corner of Bullard Street and Broadway Avenue downtown. The rotating installment of WNMU expressive arts student work is themed “We All Build Narratives” and is viewable from the outside of the building, as the art hangs in the windows and is displayed on easels just inside the building at 116 N. Bullard Street. “Having WNMU students involved in downtown through their art is something I have been wanting to do since I started teaching at WNMU last year,” said Assistant Professor Jennifer Douglass, who teaches Painting II and III, Advanced Painting, and Foundation Drawing in the WNMU Expressive Arts Department. The work being featured in “We All Build Narratives” was inspired by the realities of living through a pandemic and was the culmination of an exploratory process Douglass and her students underwent. “Our current...

Alumna Amy Page, ’16, was named New Mexico’s 2020 History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lerhman Institute of American History. A nontraditional student who had spent a dozen years as a stay at home mom before returning to earn a bachelor’s got involved with her children’s Moriarty-Edgewood School District’s National History Day even though she was in school for elementary education. Once Page got into a classroom, her passion only grew. She eventually over the district’s We The People program and the honors programs. “But in order to teach dual credit classes, I needed a master’s degree,” she said. After entering the WNMU Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies program, Page was accepted for a James Madison Memorial Foundation Fellowship, which provided $24,000 for her graduate school experience. “I wanted something in state yet online, which I felt was going to be conducive to the flexibility and the rigor I wanted. A lot of people don’t expect...