Pueblo Hall Open House

This Saturday January 16th, after Faculty Orientation and Lunch, we will gather on the patio of our newest building, El Pueblo Hall, to celebrate the official Open House. Following the ribbon cutting, faculty will be joining their Academy Heads to meet and greet the community and talk about their programs and classes (see agenda below). Invite family and friends to join us for the celebration. There will also be tours of the new buildings and solar array. Refreshments will be served in the new snack bar. 737-6204

See you there.

Faculty Orientation Saturday, January 16^th, 2010 Klauer Campus

8:00 AM – 9:15 AM New Faculty Orientation

9:15 AM – 9:30 AM Coffee Break

Full Faculty Orientation

9:30 AM – 9:45 AM Dr. Kate O’Neill, Executive Director

9:45 AM – 10:30 AM Academy Head Meetings

10:30 AM – 11: 00 AM-Student Engagement: panel discussion initiating a full-faculty dialogue on strategies for addressing attendance, classroom participation, timely completion of assignments, and requests for special accommodations.

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM Faculty Senate

Lunch: 11:15 AM – 11:45 AM

Pueblo Hall Open House 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Welcome and Introduction of Guests, Dr. Kate O’Neill (Ribbon Cutting in Patio of Pueblo Hall)

Presentation of Letter of Appreciation to Mr. Fred Peralta

Faculty Presentations of Academic & Professional Programs

12:15 PM – 12:30 PM: Select first session of interest from below.

12:30 PM – 12:35: PM: Passing

12:35 PM – 12:50 PM: Select second session of interest.

1. Arts (Visual Arts, Printmaking, Jewelry, Ceramics, Painting/Drawing, Media Arts) – Art Building

2. Business & Computer Technology (Pre-Business, Administrative Assistant, Business Computers, Graphic Design, Internet Technology – TSPH Rm 129

3. Health and Human Services (Behavioral Sciences, Human Services, Holistic Health & Healing Arts, Massage Therapy, Peace Studies) – TSPH Rm 127

4. Literacy and Cultural Studies (Communication & Journalism, Languages, English, ABE/GED/ESL, Developmental Studies, Student Newspaper/Literary Journal) – TSPH Rm 126

5. Professions and Liberal Arts (Liberal Arts, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Criminal Justice, Paralegal Studies) – TSPH Rm 124

6. Sciences (Nursing, EMT, Dental Assisting, Natural Resource Management, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics) – TSPH Rm 123

7. Trades and Industry (Green Instruction Technology & Alternative Energy, Culinary Arts, Woodworking, Physical Conditioning) – TSPH Rm 121

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Tours (Meet tour guides in patio of Pueblo Hall)

Pueblo Hall-Rudy Baca

Art Building-Gary Cook

Computer Tech Building-Joel Whitehead

Kids Campus-Gary Atias

Solar Array-Karlis Viceps

New Student Orientation

Attention all new and transferring students of UNM. On January 12 there will be a New Student Orientation planned to help you reach your goals as a new student at UNM.

The event will run from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and is being held at the UNM-Taos Klauer campus, located at 1157 State Road 570. We will provide important information and give you the opportunity to meet staff, faculty and fellow students.

Associate and extended degree information will be available to assist you in developing your program of study for the spring semester, and staff members will be available to answer questions and provide additional information on financial aid, academic support, student government, and other programs.

If you have not registered, student advisers will be present to assist you with the process. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact student affairs at 737-6200.

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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.”