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International and Border Programs losing part of its 'heart and soul' with Baca retirement
"Retiring" is not an adjective one thinks of when meeting Ida Baca. "Energetic, spirited and goal-oriented" are far more likely to come to mind.
But on Feb. 1 Baca, who has been associate dean for NMSU's International and Border Programs since Jan. 2002, officially retired from the university after more than 30 years.
"Vital" was one word that came to mind for Everett Egginton, dean of International and Border Programs, when describing Baca's contributions to that department over the years.
"Ida has been indispensable to International Programs for many years," Egginton said. "While she has not focused solely on education abroad, international student and scholar services, office management, funded projects or special internationally focused initiatives, she has been absolutely vital to the success of all of these activities."
Baca received her master's in business administration from NMSU in 1977, and by 1979 was working for NMSU's Center for International Programs as assistant to the Egypt Major Cereals Improvement Project. From 1982 to 1984, she was campus coordinator for that project, which required travelling to Egypt and other countries to oversee the project's in-country operations.
In 1984, Baca became assistant to the director for the Center for International Programs. Over the next 26 years, she has coordinated and managed numerous outreach and training programs, including the $22 million National Agricultural Research Project and projects in Yemen, Niger, Bolivia and many other countries. From June 2001 to Dec. 2002, Baca served as interim associate vice president for International and U.S.-Mexico Border Programs.
Baca believes fervently that all NMSU students should be provided with international experiences and a global perspective, either directly through programs like Study Abroad or indirectly through their course work.
"Having a global perspective is necessary for students to succeed in the world today," Baca said. "It's important for jobs, but also for expanding students' minds. It helps them think about things they haven't thought about before. And for me, opening minds and expanding world views is a crucial part of an education."
Baca also knows that the majority of NMSU's students will not be able to study abroad. "It's expensive and it requires months away from families and from jobs, responsibilities that many NMSU students have. The university is only able to send between 400 and 500 students abroad each year, so it's important for the university to develop strategies that will give all NMSU students a global perspective," she said.
"For students who can't go abroad themselves, the best alternative is for faculty to build an international perspective into their teaching. This is the heart of the ‘internationalization' concept," she said. "It's the least expensive way to give students the global perspective that is increasingly important.
"Many NMSU faculty members travel to conduct research and to do training or consulting. Some are already building their international experiences into their teaching, but we need a more focused strategy for getting more faculty to do this. Providing workshops for faculty who want to learn how to effectively incorporate their international experiences into their teaching is one way.
"Another way might be through a small-grant program that funds faculty travel and then helps them build their international experiences into their teaching. Starting with small programs like this is one affordable approach."
Baca would also like to see the university focus on three or four cooperative agreements with other countries. "Cooperative agreements with other countries often include faculty or student exchanges. They facilitate outreach and consulting programs that give faculty many opportunities to work closely with international colleagues," Baca said. "A lot of learning and knowledge exchange goes on that can be brought back to NMSU and incorporated into teaching and transferred to students that way. And long-term relationships with those colleagues are created for future exchanges.
"We give students facts and information," she said. "But do we make them question? Giving students international experience and knowledge about other countries encourages students to ask questions and realize that there is a larger world out there to learn about."
And into that global classroom is where Ida Baca is headed next. Travelling with her husband is how she'll spend her first year of retirement.
After that? "Then I'll decide about working again. But it will most likely be part-time or temporary work, so I'll have time for hobbies. I want to expand my vegetarian cooking skills, start back on needlepoint and cross-stitching, and possibly start quilting."
Baca's 31 years of experience in international programs will be difficult to replace, said Egginton. "Ida has been the heart and soul of international programs during all my years at NMSU and before. To say that I will miss her sorely understates my feelings. The reality is that I cannot put into words just how much she has meant to this office. She is leaving a huge void, indeed a void that cannot be filled.
"Will we cope without her? Yes, because we have to and because international programs is vital to NMSU's mission as a world-class land-grant institution. Just how well we cope without her, only time will tell."
An important step into the future will be taken Feb. 12, when International and Border Programs and the Institute for International Relations will jointly host an "internationalization forum." Egginton and Ambassador Delano Lewis, International Relations Institute director, will co-chair the forum. They encourage those in the university community interested in contributing ideas about the future of international programs at NMSU to attend. The forum will be from 1-4 p.m. in the Corbett Center Senate Gallery, Room 304. To attend, contact Egginton at egginton@nmsu.edu.
As for Ida Baca and her "retirement" travels, the words of an Irish proverb express the sentiments of many at NMSU: "May the road rise to meet you; May the wind be always at your back."
Written by Christina Pheley.