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Exactly 436 students earned degrees from Western New Mexico University in spring 2022, and the Mustang community celebrated through a hybrid commencement ceremony on Friday evening. Of the graduates who received diplomas from WNMU this spring, more than 200 chose to participate in the commencement ceremony, with two thirds of those walking in person at Ben Altamirano Stadium and the other third of graduates turning their tassels over Zoom. The university awarded 87 associate degrees, 150 bachelor’s degrees, 163 master’s degrees, 73 graduate certificates, 28 certificates and 10 fast-track certificates, along with five high school equivalency diplomas. Recognized as new inductees in the WNMU Student Hall of Fame were Abigail Walter, Joaquin Delpino, Julissa Alaniz, Adrianna Darrow and Elizabeth Sorells. “The WNMU Student Hall of Fame is the highest recognition that can be earned by students and is reserved for those students who have demonstrated integrity and achievement...

All four of the Western New Mexico University students who were accepted to this summer’s BUILDing SCHOLARS program are women and psychology majors. The research-intensive training program is funded by the National Institutes of Health and reserved for undergraduates motivated to become biomedical, social, behavioral or health science researchers. In addition to coursework and mentoring activities, students will conduct research at one of the program’s 10 partner institutions, which reserve positions for BUILDing SCHOLARS graduates to later pursue their Ph.D. degrees. “BUILDing SCHOLARS is meant to catch students right at the beginning of their college careers and help them focus their interests as juniors and seniors in order to be more prepared for grad school,” said Dr. Jennifer Johnston, a WNMU psychology professor. Saramaria Ortega, BUILDing Scholars participant The WNMU students who received the scholarship, which includes tuition for 30 credit hours and a...

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...