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CONNECT  |  Wednesday, Dec. 4 |  Message from the VP

Dear Student Affairs Colleagues,

 It’s hard to believe we are in the last week of classes and that our semester will soon come to an end. It has been an incredible year of growth and success for the Division of Student Affairs and collectively we should be very confident in celebrating our work and accomplishments.

Our first new employee orientation was a smashing success, and our strategic planning working groups have engaged in iterative dialogue across the division and campus to further hone our draft strategic plan. We have also recently taken delegations supported by the professional development committee to two of our partner campuses, UNM Valencia and UNM Los Alamos. These visits fostered thoughtful and innovative conversations about mutual learning, support, and collaboration opportunities.

 Concurrently, several of our teams are searching for new leaders including the Accessibility Resource Center and the Asian American Pacific Islander Resource Center. I would ask that you activate your professional networks to help ensure strong candidate pools for these critical leadership roles which provide important advocacy and support to students.

 Finally, I want to offer a very special thanks to Natalie Brigance, executive assistant for the VPSA. Natalie has served UNM for over 40 years and has been a critical support in my transition to UNM and New Mexico as a whole. I have found her to be kind, understanding, responsive, and deeply committed to the success of our students. Natalie has made the decision to retire at the end of this year. We will celebrate her and her extraordinary professional journey with UNM over the course of the next few weeks. 

Even as we celebrate, Natalie’s departure will leave a void in the VPSA office, and while we’ve developed some interim plans, we are also launching a search for a new executive assistant. I hope that you will share this opportunity with capable, motivated, and innovative administrative professionals who might be looking for their next step. I’ll see you around campus as we celebrate the commencement and holiday season!

With appreciation,

Eric