We at New Mexico State University are delighted to have been reaccredited for the maximum period possible - 10 years - by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Formal notification was received in November and it concurred with a highly positive oral report made in April by a 12-member NCA review team.

Among the areas of particular strength reported by the review team were students' perception of faculty as "inspirational mentors," the university's well-established status as a Carnegie Research I institution, the multicultural diversity and achievement of the student body, an institutional commitment to low-cost, accessible higher education, and well executed public service, especially through the Cooperative Extension Service.

The review team's assessment, I believe, is an affirmation that NMSU is a student-centered university with strong faculty and staff, whose teaching, research and public service programs are of highest quality despite our relatively low budgets.

Fostering economic develpment

Six initiatives that could have a long-term impact on the quality of life in southern New Mexico emerged from an economic summit held recently in Las Cruces, sponsored by the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance and the local Chambers of Commerce. Several NMSU deans and faculty members participated in the summit, and Gary Cunningham, our interim vice president for research, will serve on a committee to monitor actions resulting from the meeting.

Participating in this sort of effort, working shoulder to shoulder with business leaders and government, is a natural activity for a land-grant university. As an added benefit, the summit provided valuable hands-on experience for some of our students. Two NMSU classes – a hospitality class and a graduate management/marketing class – assisted with the preparations for the summit.

A check-up for the Star Spangled Banner

NMSU astronomer Nancy Chanover sometimes uses a special infrared camera to study distant planets. Last month she and some colleagues from NASA turned that same camera on the original Star Spangled Banner as part of a Smithsonian Institution project to preserve the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to compose our national anthem. The flag, which hangs in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, withstood the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814, but time is taking its toll. The astronomers' work will help identify contaminants and give conservators an idea of where to focus their attention.

Outstanding service to Hispanic students

NMSU was among the "Publisher's Picks on Best Colleges for Hispanics" featured in Hispanic Outlook on Higher Education's Nov. 20 issue. Just over 40 percent of NMSU's undergraduate students, and about 22 percent of graduate students, are Hispanic.

Ground broken for arid lands center

Construction has begun on NMSU's Center for Sustainable Development of Arid Lands, a teaching and research facility that will focus on some of the state's most pressing concerns. Areas of research and extension activities will include soil and water use, forestry and reforestation, plant science and other fields relevant to the agricultural, natural resource and environmental challenges facing the arid region of the West. The building also will provide laboratory facilities for science departments university-wide. Passage of a state bond issue in 1996 was the last step toward gaining nearly $22 million in matching state and federal funding for the arid lands center.

Helping displaced workers ...

Doņa Ana Branch Community College is offering classes for more than 300 people who will lose their jobs with the closing of the Sara Lee plant south of Las Cruces. DABCC's Customized Training program was contracted by the Department of Labor to provide the classes, intended to help the workers obtain other employment. Classes meet on-site at the Sara Lee plant before and after shifts.

...and smoothing the transition from welfare to work

NMSU also is playing a key role in helping New Mexicans make the transition from welfare to work. The Cooperative Extension Service received a grant to help train and prepare people for jobs in Eddy, Otero and Doņa Ana counties. About 5,000 people in these counties receive some kind of public assistance and are required to participate in a welfare-to-work program during the next year under the New Mexico Works Act of 1998. NMSU's branch colleges in the three counties will be responsible for testing, assessing and training people for jobs.

Making their mark

Recent reminders that New Mexico State's faculty and students are among the best:

Former associate dean of agriculture I. Miley Gonzalez, now U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture, has been named among the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the nation by Hispanic Business magazine. Gonzalez, who is on leave from his NMSU position, was recognized in the magazine's October 1998 issue.

"Hyssop," the latest novel by NMSU English professor Kevin McIlvoy, has been selected by the national Borders bookstore chain as an "Original Voices" pick for February. The book, narrated by an 87-year-old man, draws in part on the author's 16 years of working with elderly writers at Munson Senior Citizens Center in Las Cruces.

Office of the President
New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
505-646-2035  wconroy@nmsu.edu  http://www.nmsu.edu
Volume 1/Number 4/December 1998