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CONNECT  |  Wednesday, Nov. 20  |  Message from the VP

Dear Student Affairs Colleagues,

I want to begin my message this week by expressing extreme gratitude to American Indian Student Services director, Andrew Yazzie, for his inviting, thoughtful, informative message in last week’s Connect. Hearing directly from Andy on his thoughts regarding how to best understand and mark Native American Heritage Month was both helpful and inspiring. Thank you, Andy, for sharing with us and representing the Division of Student Affairs so well. 

It’s hard to believe, but we are already in the final stretches of the semester and finals week and commencement will be here before we know it. As we celebrate graduates, we will also center our new students with the Class of 2028 banner reveal today in the SUB. Speaking of graduates and their futures, a special shout out to Marty Apodaca for his efforts to have November recognized in New Mexico as National Career Development Month.

Moving into the holiday season, I am looking forward to one of my favorite traditions, Hanging of the Greens. I am also excited for the second year of the Little Lobo Holiday Wish Fund, helping provide gift cards to students with children so their little ones can have an extra something special this year as their parents continue to move through their educational journeys.

In these last few weeks of the semester we are also busy recruiting new leaders in the division for the Accessibility Resource Center, in anticipation of the retirement of director Amanda Butrum, and for the Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Center, with the announcement of a new leadership position following the departure of Farah Nousheen. Please help us promote and recruit for these critical leadership roles!

Finally, I am excited to announce that our first two branch campus visits have been scheduled and are coming up soon. First, a delegation from Student Affairs will visit the UNM Valencia Campus this Friday and a second delegation will visit UNM Los Alamos on Monday, Dec. 2. These visits will provide an opportunity for our team to better know these campus environments and the needs of students coming from them, as well as strengthen dialogue and exchange of professional practice between these campuses and UNM Albuquerque. A special thanks to the DSA Professional Development Committee who, in addition to organizing these trips, also recently facilitated the first ever DSA New Employee Orientation. Continuing to invest in the professional growth and personal development of our staff will only strengthen our service to students, so I commend the volunteers on this committee for their outstanding efforts. 

We will take a brief break from the CONNECT during the shortened week heading into the holiday and will return with updates and greetings in December.

With appreciation

Eric