The UNM Taos Report

By Bill Knief

Published in The Taos News 12-10-09

After 20 years as a classroom teacher in the Taos municipal school district, Jim Gilroy (AKA “Mr. Gilroy” to generations of students) has served for the past several years as the Dean of Instruction at UNM-Taos. In this time of transition, deepening budget cuts and increasing need for community college services, I asked him to share his thoughts on where we stand today.

“As administrators, people responsible for the general well being of this institution, I think the biggest concern that Kate O’Neill and myself and Dennis Cruz and Mario Suazo feel is living within our means. One of the worst things we could do is jeopardize the future of this institution by not doing that. And yet the needs are so great. With the economic crunch right now we are seeing more students than ever coming in from construction jobs, coming in from the mines, from the service industries, coming in from businesses that are reducing the number of their employees. People are looking at this as a time to retool and gain some skills to enhance their job opportunities in the future.

“We have three or four hundred more students than we did only a year ago, and yet our budget has been cut by 15.5 percent. I appreciate that our Executive Director Dr. Kate O’Neill is trying to hold harmless the instructional side of our operation so students have the courses they need for their degrees, their certificates and their transfers to other institutions. Everyone including the academy heads has really taken to heart the economic hardships both in the community as well as in public institutions like UNM.

“We used to do a fair number of courses we called trial balloons to see if there was interest in a particular area. We have fewer and fewer of those nowadays. Students are enrolling in certificate and degree programs because they need critical skills either for employment in the community or transfer to other institutions. We still offer more courses than ever---somewhere around 284---but we are trying to be certain that they really do meet the students’ career and academic needs.

“Already, just four days into spring enrollment, we’ve seen a couple of courses starting to fill. Word is getting out to students that they need to enroll early so they can be assured a place in the classes they need. Faculty are doing more personal recruiting for particular classes and helping students one-on-one.

“The exciting news is that we have just received our temporary Certificate of Occupancy for Pueblo Hall and the Department of Instruction is scheduled to move out to Klauer in about a week. We’re excited. Pueblo Hall provides us with six new classrooms with capacity for up to 40 students each, larger than any we have at present. I think what we are going to notice is a true sense of a campus, a sense of a college community out there.

“There is a snack bar where a person can get a bite to eat between classes and we are planning to invite the entire community at noon after faculty orientation on January 16 to come out and meet the faculty and help us celebrate the opening of Pueblo Hall. It’s a beautiful building filled with natural sunlight. The water you turn on is heated by a solar hot water heater. Air is circulated through all the rooms by a solar convection system that automatically exchanges air without energy use. We are told that there will be a 70 percent overall reduction in energy use, and that’s something to be proud of.

“We are very, very fortunate to serve the community with an outstanding full time and adjunct faculty. Over 60 percent of our academic faculty have terminal degrees, which means Master’s, PhD’s, law degrees and the like, far more than at main campus. The qualifications for our academic faculty are identical to main campus, because they all have to be approved by department heads and deans down there before they can teach. There is no distinction between teaching here or at UNM in Albuquerque.

“As an academic institution we probably have one of the best prepared faculties anywhere, and the tuition charged makes it an exceptional deal for students. Younger students especially are becoming aware of that. We don’t accept low standards in any of our classes. We want students to come out very well prepared, and we are proud of their successes. We have zero tolerance for bullying and harassment. We take incidents of this nature very seriously. Our job is to provide a safe and secure environment for all students.

“Faculty, staff, students and the community at large are justifiably proud of UNM-Taos and how it has grown since the mid 90’s. I’d love to take a look at this place twenty years from now and see what we have.”

Holy Cross Hospital Announces New Health Care College Scholarships to Begin Fall 2010

Holy Cross Hospital Announces New Health Care College Scholarships to

Begin Fall 2010

Applications for Health Care and High School Senior Scholarships will

be available in January 2010, awards made in May

Taos, New Mexico (December 2009) -

Beginning January 2010, Holy Cross Hospital will open the application

process for several new scholarships for college students studying a

health care field who plan to return to Northern New Mexico to work.

These new scholarships will supplement the high school senior

scholarships Holy Cross has awarded since 1999.

In the last 10 years, Holy Cross Hospital has awarded hundreds of

scholarships to graduating high school seniors and college

undergraduates with a total value of over $1.5 million.

High school senior scholarships will continue. Each high school

scholarship pays $500 a semester for up to 8 semesters, for a total of

$4000.

In 2009 the board of Holy Cross Hospital decided to create a new set of

scholarships focused on health care. These scholarships are open to

college students at the associate, undergraduate, and graduate level.

Scholarship Committee Chair and Hospital Board Member Anna Martinez

states, “Rural hospitals all over the country are facing shortages in

health care workers. We decided to support our hospital and our

community while supporting the education of our local youth.”

Examples of health-care fields covered by the new scholarship include

counseling, occupational therapy, medical coding, nutrition, physical

therapy, radiology, graduate social work, and medicine. Fields NOT

included are veterinary medicine and undergraduate social work.

Eligible students must be willing to pledge to return to northern New

Mexico to work. If there are appropriate jobs available at Holy Cross

Hospital, they will receive preferential consideration.

To be eligible, students also must be enrolled full time in a college

as of fall 2010; be pursuing an associate, bachelor, or graduate degree

or certificate in a health-care-related field; have resided in Taos

County continuously for at least 5 years and/or graduated from a Taos

County high school; and have a GPA of at least 2.5.

Graduate and undergraduate scholarships pay a total of $10,000: $2500

each fall and spring for up to four continuous semesters.

Associate/Certification Scholarships pay a total of $5000: $1250 each

fall and spring for up to four continuous semesters.

To retain their scholarships, students must be continuously enrolled

full-time, earn at least a 3.0 semester GPA each semester, complete at

least 12 credit hours each semester, and submit documentation to the

Foundation each semester.

Applications for HCH scholarships will be available at the beginning of

January online at www.holycrossfoundation.org or www.taoshospital.org.

Submission deadline is March 29, 2010.

Contact:

Sally Trigg

Executive Director, Holy Cross Hospital Foundation

(575) 751-5811m (575) 758-4663 (fax)

strigg@taoshospital.org,

Bill Stewart

UNM-Taos art instructor Bill Stewart will be featured in a showing of his paintings for the month of January at the Prince Street Gallery, 530 West 25^th Street, New York, New York. Inspired by the work of Cezanne, Stewart “creates his watercolors and oils with vigor and gusto with an astute grasp of plane, distance and color....There is boldness, structural certainty and intense chromatic push and pull between the colors of his palette and that essential light, air and clarity” of the New Mexico landscape, according to admirer Ann Wilson.

Render Visible - Art Show by New UNM-Taos Faculty Member

"RENDER VISIBLE" EXHIBITION: Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by Jeremy McDonnell, a new member of the UNM-Taos Arts faculty.

“Render Visible”, an exhibition of painting, drawing, and prints by Jeremy McDonnell will be on display at UNM-Taos Klauer campus until December 11th in the Art building lobby. Show hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

McDonnell's art incorporates visual phenomena in both real and illusionary space. He skillfully uses pictorial elements like rhythm and movement to push visual and spatial perceptions from single to multiple readings. McDonnell's underlying goal is to explore how the human brain understands images.

The exhibition introduces Mr. McDonnell as a new faculty member at UNM-Taos. He holds an M.F.A. from Ohio State University, where he was awarded a full fellowship. He will be teaching courses in Art History, Painting and Digital Portfolio Development in the lower and upper division programs at UNM starting in the Spring 2010 semester.

Contact: Sabra Sowell, Arts Academy Program Coordinator
Phone: (575) 737-6256

Ecology at UNM Taos

GREETINGS TO ALL & MANY HEARTFELT THANKS for your continued interest!
By popular request, I'm adding the four course descriptions for our upcoming Spring
semester. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions. Now more than ever, EARLY ENROLLMENT WILL BE KEY to these and all course offerings!

Most of all, I would like to congratulate everyone on the GREAT academic year underway, during which two key regional ecology and sustainability courses continue to gather momentum:

Ecology of Taos and Plants and Sustainability in the Southwest. Coordinated and individual student efforts have already co ntributed in many positive, creative and progressive ways, including in-depth discussions, presentations, field excursions, hands-on evaluations, and much more!

Such impressive engagement, dedication and collaboration served as the touchstone to many activities this Fall, including creating the recently chartered UNM-Taos Ecology Club, collaborating on regional and local sustainability events and programs, expanding mentoring and internship opportunities, participating in local and regional meetings and conferences, and many more amazing outcomes related to biodiversity, cultural ecology, sustainability studies, and all affecting the what we rely on most: the earth, sky, water and all the company we keep, especially each other.

Most of all, please accept my GRATITUDE for your support, encouragement and active participation in our evolving, multicultural and intergenerational study of restoration ecology, cultural and ecological sustainability, botany, regional field study, ecology, biodiversity, environmental history, natural science and MORE! In this collective striving, we learn from each other and add strength to our focus in so many ways . . with best wishes for the Winter Solstice, holidays, and a very peaceful, joyful New Year and beyond,

-Sylvia

Sylvia Rains Dennis
Faculty, Botany, Ecology & Environmental History
Coordinator for Cultural & Ecological Sustainability Education
University of New Mexico at Taos
sdennis@unm.edu phone: 575-770-9040
mailing address: Dept. of Instruction, 115 Civic Plaza Dr., Taos, NM 87571

PS: Classes begin Jan 19th (Tues.). Please stay in touch about mid-January ecology events, if you'd like to come alon g!

Four course descriptions follow & are attached:
Plant Identification Seminar
BIO299-805 (3 credit hours); CRN 36960
meets Weds. 3-5:30 PM in Klauer Campus Rm. 115
Description:
Introducing our regional flora, this course will focus on identifying and describing plant species in North-central New Mexico. Class meetings will focus on three main categories of our local vegetation: 1. woody plants; 2. herbaceous species (non-grasslike); and, 3. grasses, sedges & rushes. In addition, we will consider fire ecology, native vs. non-native species, botanical applications to related disciplines (including wildlife habitat, forest indicator species, and wetland/riparian descriptions). Students work both independently and collaboratively--identifying local plant species using a range of botanical reference material--to gain fundamental understanding of our regional flora, as well as local botanical diversity.

By adopting a unique plant family for the term, each student considers a specific context for engaging and responding to contemporary botanical issues, including topics introduced by guests and/or fellow students. Some current examples relate to fire behavior, invasive species, taxonomic changes, or plant conservation. Plant profiles detailing habitat change, adaptation, and land use factors are among the many topics covered during peer presentations. Hands-on and collective assignments are layered throughout the course to build upon knowledge and skills learned in previous class meetings, including identification methods, ecological descriptions, plant uses, dendrology, winter botany, and professional keying of plant species.

Restoration Ecology in Northern New Mexico
BIO 299-801 (3 credits); CRN 35128
meets Thurs., 3-5:30 PM in Klauer Campus Rm. 115
Description:
Focusing on recent restoration efforts in Northern New
Mexico, students will examine land and watershed sites in
natural, cultivated, disturbed and restored conditions. We
will tour three field sites in the Upper Rio Grande
region, observing site-specific ecological restoration
objectives and outcomes in forested, wetland/riparian
(bosque) and range- or shrubland settings. Students will
also have the opportunity to attend local and regional
meetings that include a restoration focus, including
possible attendance at professional conference sessions as
their instructor’s guests.
Through project review and collaborative restoration case
studies, students gain in-depth knowledge of restoration
planning, base line mapping, and progressive stages of
project implementation, expanding their understanding of
real-world restoration programs through field study and
attendance at professional meetings and conferences.
Students examine a range of reasons for restoration,
including highly disturbed sites, post-fire scenarios,
weed or other infestation, biodiversity, habitat
improvement, and culturally or ecologically-specific site
considerations.
Culminating in late spring site visits to active
restoration projects, course participants are able to
integrate concepts learned from these examples with
independent research on restoration ecology themes using
systems science and ecocultural approaches to consider new
and traditional efforts to restore landscapes and
watershed features in Northern New Mexico, including
forest, mesa, bosque, and wetland areas. By increasing
their understanding of local and regional examples,
students can ana lyze restoration ecology approaches in the
context of far-reaching national and international
restoration goals (e.g., Watershed Health; Biodiversity).


Environmental History of the Upper Río Grande Region
E&PS 110-802 (3 credit hours), CRN 38496
meets Tues., 3-5:30 PM in Klauer Campus Rm. 115
Description:
Introducing the landscape and ecological features of the
Upper Río Grande Region, this course will consider
vegetation, wildlife, watershed, climate, and other
changes to our local environment over periods of human
settlement and as a result of extended natural cycles. We
will interpret all available sources of environmental
history, including oral tradition; ecological study and
reconstruction of landscape trends; climate records;
information on natural and human-introduced changes; and
positions of guest speakers on local l and and water
issues.
Each class meeting begins in talking circle format as we
consider journal responses to specific environmental
history topics, ranging from global to local examples. By
engaging in individual, group and guest presentations,
students increase their awareness and understanding of
issues affecting the people, range of natural habitats,
and land uses found in the Upper Río Grande Region. Each
individual chooses a local example to profile the site’s
imprint and degree of environmental change, incorporating
maps, ecological descriptions, land use, settlement or
other impacts, and an interview assignment (concluding
with an in-class presentation and peer review exercise).

Introduction to Environmental Problems
CRP 181-800 (3 credit hours); CRN 38384
meets Weds. 12-2:30 PM, Klauer Campus Rm. 112
Description:
Thi s course explores the development of the major issues,
concepts and methods emerging from the relationship of
social systems and the natural environment. By taking a
broad view of cultural geography, students will consider
human-environment interaction as a factor of individual
and community need, political and social organization, and
ecological change. Students will explore issues and
conditions prevalent among traditional, rural, and larger
communities in the contemporary American west, as well as
consider compatibility and sustainability factors within
the carrying capacity of specific landscapes or watershed
features.
We will examine several current issues specific to the
Southwestern Region in detail, inviting collaborative
program members and lead agency managers, among others, to
discuss trends, policies and procedures that address a
range of social and environmental objectives. Questions
related to this study inc lude: How does the level of
human integration with the natural environment influence
overall resource access and decision-making? Are
issues-based stakeholder groups representative of the
potential for collaboration among local citizens? What
methods are used to determine, plan and implement any
perceived desired future outcomes?