Good morning.

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday.  This is one of our rare Tuesday morning messages, and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you as we start moving toward summer.

I’m four days away from completing my first full year as President of the University of New Mexico.  Tomorrow, the Regents and I will be talking about how this year has gone.  I can tell you it has been both challenging and rewarding.   Janet and I and our family have found a wonderful home in New Mexico and we’re as delighted to be here now as we were a year ago.

As I reflect on this past year at UNM, there are many accomplishments to celebrate.  I take sole credit for none of them, for all that we achieve at this university is the result of working together as a team. This week and next, I will share with you what I think are UNM’s major accomplishments of 2007-2008.  These are in no particular order.

Everyone on campus had the opportunity to observe the creation and launch of the UNM Strategic Framework, which will guide our planning for the coming years.  Most importantly, a great many people actively engaged in the process – building on the spirit of community that underlies all of our great achievements.  This is an active process and one I promise will continue.

My executive leadership team has evolved and stabilized, with veterans in UNM leadership positions balancing a new crop of talented and skilled administrators, including new vice presidents for academic affairs, enrollment management, equity and inclusion, and Rio Rancho operations.

In order to make good on our commitment for a student-centered environment at UNM, we established the Division of Enrollment Management to streamline the recruitment, admissions and financial aid process, among others.  We wanted to eliminate the undue barriers our students encounter on their journey to graduation.

As of mid-May, I can report this will be another record-breaking fundraising year.  We’ve exceeded the totals of 2006-2007 and are closing in on our $80 million goal. As successful as UNM fundraising has been, we will have to ramp up the efforts significantly as we approach our comprehensive campaign.  So in preparation, we have reorganized the UNM Foundation, making it an independent, self-supporting, full-service entity whose focus will solely be on raising funds, investing and distributing them.

I’ll share more thoughts on our accomplishments next week.  In the meantime, how about that Lobo baseball team making it into the Mountain West championship game!  Great season.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

We’re all recovering from the whirlwind that is Commencement.  It’s a wonderful time of the year for our nearly 2,500 graduates as they celebrate a remarkable achievement. It’s equally special for faculty and staff because we can celebrate a job well done.

I was honored to attend the UNM-Gallup commencement exercises last week at Red Rock State Park – a magnificent setting despite the cold and wind.  Our commencement ceremony at the Pit on Saturday was, as always, a festive occasion.  Whether the ceremony is on main campus or at one of the branches, it is so rewarding to experience the sheer joy of the graduates and their families.

Now that our students have departed for a few weeks, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank faculty and staff for all of their work this academic year.  Though a number of issues may confront us through the year, we never lose sight of the fact that our students are our priority and their graduation is our primary goal.  Again, thank you, UNM faculty and staff.  Time to take a breather before the summer session.

This Wednesday, UNM Alumni will host a Memorial Day observance to recognize alumni who have died serving our country, as well as the alumni, faculty and staff who died in 2007.  You are all invited to participate.  The event will be held at the UNM Alumni Chapel from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21.  I commend the UNM Alumni Association for making this opportunity available so that we can reflect and remember our colleagues.

Also on Wednesday, the University will host the International Fellows Field Study Program. Approximately 70 individuals from more than 50 countries have been touring the United States, visiting everything from casinos in Las Vegas to farms in the Midwest.  During their campus tour, they will tour the Mind Research Network, Maxwell Museum and Zimmerman Library. We welcome them.

I’m joining my family to take a few days off this week.  I hope you will likewise take the time to recharge after what has been a busy, busy year.  And again, thanks to everyone for a job well done.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning!

This week marks the end of the Spring semester and on behalf of the entire UNM community I want to wish everybody good luck on their finals.  As well, I think I speak for everyone when I congratulate those that will be graduating on Saturday.  Commencement is a time for graduates to reflect on the years spent working towards a goal: your college degree.  It’s a time to celebrate with friends, family, professors and your peers.  And it marks the moment in time when you are declared prepared to enter the workforce, equipped to address the most critical needs of the 21st Century.  We all look forward to your future endeavors and wish you nothing but the best.  Just like the “Golden Grads” of the class of 1958 will be joining us this Saturday at commencement, we look forward to seeing all of you in 2058 to celebrate a lifetime of achievement.  Good luck, class of 2008!

Last week I had the opportunity to visit my alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and deliver the convocation address to the school of Integrative Biology.  It was great to be back in my old stomping grounds and see some of the wonderful changes that have taken place since I last went to school there.  As with anything, some changes are good and some are bad, but one thing remains constant: change happens.  The idea of change and adapting to change was the cornerstone of my comments to the graduates there.  It is something that is unavoidable.  I have found that an individual’s ability to succeed oftentimes hinges on one’s ability to adapt to change.

I also spoke to the graduates of U of I about the changes that are occurring on our planet.  I am proud of the initiative that the University of New Mexico has taken to help to address some of these issues.  This week is “Strive Not to Drive” week in Albuquerque and I’ve been encouraged by the number of people that I’ve talked to who plan on participating.  The city is sponsoring a number of great events to encourage people to use alternative methods of transportation.  In an effort to reduce the number of single occupant vehicles on the road, they will be highlighting various alternative methods each day of the week. Visit http://www.cabq.gov/transit/strivenottodrive.html for more information.

As part of our ongoing efforts to provide information regarding cultural diversity, equal opportunity, and the issue of sexual harassment, the University will soon begin offering two on-line courses, titled ‘Preventing Sexual Harassment’ and ‘Preventing Employment Discrimination’.  This training will provide faculty, staff and students with valuable information, help them learn their rights and responsibilities, and help to preclude future incidents.  The ‘Preventing Sexual Harassment’ course will be available beginning May 19th and will be mandatory training for all faculty and staff.  I am asking you to give serious attention to this initiative and take away from this training a personal commitment to comply with our policy of zero tolerance.  Further details regarding this training will be forthcoming from the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO).

Have a great finals week!

David Schmidly

Good morning.

I want to once again thank everyone who made the past week so inspirational for this campus.  In a memorable exchange of ideas, more than a quarter of the UNM faculty showed their passion for their university and its future.  I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion, which showed once again that UNM should always be a place where we listen to one another with respect and seek common ground.   Then we were inspired in our Town Hall by examples from departments that have used the strategic framework to guide their future planning.  It was heartening to see the many ways an engaged campus can carry forth its mission, contribute to the vision and live its values.

We continue the journey this week by beginning to build capacity, specifically strengthening a culture of openness and communication.  I’ve invited deans, directors and chairs to join my leadership team in a seminar and workshop focused on communication through the media.  We’ll be hearing from a number of top-notch editors, reporters and public relations professionals about their expectations in what is a two-way process.

In the spirit of communication, here’s a note to faculty from the UNM bookstores:  Please remember that your textbook orders are due.  By turning those orders in now, the bookstore will be able to offer students more money for their textbooks during Buyback. This helps put money into our students’ pockets now and also next semester when more used books are available.  Let’s work together to keep the costs down.

Please join me in offering campus-wide congratulations to the UNM College Bowl Team for their outstanding performance in the National College Bowl Tournament.  Team members Jason Zuffranieri, Vanessa Gatsch, John McCulloch, Chad McCoy and John Ogren showed the nation that our students can compete with the very best.  They came in second behind the University of Rochester but smoked the rest of the competition, including Ohio State, Arizona State, Florida State, Rice and the University of Wisconsin- Madison.  Great job!

Finally, even in death our great friend Terry Yates is still raking in awards.  The American Institute of Biological Sciences posthumously awarded Terry its Distinguished Scientist Award, which honors individuals who have made significant scientific contributions to the biological sciences.  You’ll remember that he was best known for his groundbreaking research that isolated the source of hantavirus.   Terry’s wife Nancy will accept the award at the AIBS annual meeting in Virginia on May 12.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly