Good morning.

The end of this school year is looming large, so everyone is focused on getting every project, paper and book review done.  However, let’s pause just for a moment to celebrate the achievements of several of our colleagues.

National Academy Recognition:  We learned last week that Eric Charnov, UNM Distinguished Professor of Biology, was elected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  This is one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and Professor Charnov joins a class that includes Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and MacArthur Fellows.  Congratulations for this well-deserved recognition.

Silver Horizon:  A man who is truly beloved by all is being honored for his lifetime commitment to the community.

F. Chris Garcia, former UNM president and distinguished professor emeritus in political science, is among the Silver Horizons New Mexico, Inc. 2009 Senior Hall of Fame inductees.  Those of us who are privileged to know Chris know this

award is greatly deserved, but it cannot come close to recognizing his many contributions to UNM and to New Mexico.

Teaching Excellence:  UNM ‘s College of Arts and Sciences has announced the recipients of its 2009 Awards for Teaching Excellence.  Join me in congratulating Margaret Connell-Szasz, professor of history, and Mary Domski, assistant professor of philosophy, both of whom have demonstrated instructional excellence at the undergraduate and graduate levels through their work in the classroom and with student research.

In addition, graduate students are evaluated for the quality of their undergraduate teaching and for their contributions to their department’s teaching mission.  This year, Jennifer Richter of American Studies and Leigh Johnson from English are being recognized.  Congratulations.

Student Recognition:  The Student Employee of the Year Awards Ceremony recently recognized student contributions to community and campus service. The Student Employee of the Year is Jessica Engelke from Si Se Puede Learning Centers. Congratulations to Jessica and to the other students honored:  Mary (Jessa) Bunker, ENLACE NM; Charles Parker,

Housing and Residence Life; Jose Villar, Recreational Services; Aldeboran “Noel” Rodriguez, University College Advisement Center; and Max Roberts-Zirker, University Honors.

Press Women Awards:  UNM had a fantastic showing in the New Mexico Press Women’s 2009 Communication Contest, taking home 14 awards, including six first awards.  Congratulations to Africana Studies Director and Law Professor Sherri Burr, KUNM associate producer Megan Kamerick, Communication & Journalism Associate Professor Richard Schaefer, and from University Communication and Marketing – Carolyn Gonzales, Matt Carter, John Sumrow, Benson Hendrix, Karen Wentworth, Sari Krosinsky and Jana Fothergill.  In addition, UNM junior Vanessa Sanchez and senior Jennifer Vieth received NMPW scholarships.

Research Symposium:  The 2nd annual spring ethics symposium sponsored by UNM’s Office of the Vice President for Research will focus on “Fostering Integrity in Research.”

It takes place tomorrow, April 28, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the auditorium of Centennial Engineering Center (CEC 1041).

This should prove to be a worthwhile event for faculty and graduate students who want more information on the foundation of scientific integrity as well as practical experience gleaned by researchers at the top of their fields.  I ‘m honored to kick off the event with my own reflections on integrity in research, along with Provost Suzanne Ortega, Vice President for Research Julia Fulghum and HSC Vice President for Translational Research Richard S. Larson.

Academic and Job Fair:  Students trying to get a grasp on life after finals should go by the SUB Ballroom B today (noon – 5 p.m.) for the “Explore a Major Fair.”  There you will be able to make academic and work connections in a one-stop environment.  Should be time well spent.

Alumni and APS Supply Drive:  The UNM Alumni Association has joined Albuquerque Public Schools to collect donations for the third annual APS/UNM School Supply Drive and they would greatly appreciate your help.  Contributions are used to purchase school supplies en masse at huge discounts, which are needed by an estimated 20,000 APS students. 

Superintendent Winston Brooks says having these supplies available will lift an expensive burden from many parents during these tough economic

times.

Please go to www.unmalumni.com to make your donation and help our future Lobos today.  You can also mail checks to the Alumni Association, 1 University of New Mexico, Hodgin Hall, MSC01 1160, Albuquerque, NM  87131.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

Congratulations, Students:  It was a privilege to be on hand last week for the annual Student Recognition Ceremony, to meet and greet the scores of outstanding students who have proven to be the best of the best.  We are proud of each and every one of you.  We especially want to recognize the Clauve Outstanding Seniors who have devoted their

collegiate careers to UNM and to service in their communities – Desbah Ahtsoaq Bill Benally, Michaela Brown, Chris Chavez, Joseph Dworak, Ashley Fate, Molly Maguire Marshall and Alex Riebli.

More Student Recognition:  Two teams of UNM engineering students did the University proud in the annual WERC Environmental Design competition – a national challenge for engineering undergrads.  The team of Norma Wells, Shelly Karlin, Toi Carden and Danielle Rivera placed first on their task, which was sulfate removal from groundwater.

UNM’s other team of Cynthia Douthit, Jonathan Paiz, Marta Cooperstein and Anne Hellebust placed second in their task of brackish water treatment.  Great job!  This is a tribute to your hard work.

Up and Coming Students:  Vice President for Enrollment Management Carmen Brown and I paid a visit to Amy Biehl High School, which is located in downtown Albuquerque.  They do impressive work!  The school wants to transform young people from all walks of life into civic-minded college students, and they’re succeeding.  Attrition rates of over 50 percent six years ago have plummeted to 8 percent, while their composite ACT scores have risen from 19.7 to 22.5.  Most

importantly, 98 percent of these students go on to college.  We’ll work hard to recruit them to UNM.

Kirtland Connection:  Last week, I also had the privilege of speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Battlespace Environment Laboratory at Kirtland AFB. Its mission can be summed up in two words –  space weather.  Its work will focus on the mapping and predicting of the space environment in order to protect and enhance our satellite, communication and global positioning systems.  UNM will do its part by preparing the physicists, engineers, chemists, mathematicians, astronomers and other scientists to take on these important tasks.

Communication Meeting:  I want to thank Provost Ortega and her team for organizing last week’s meeting with Deans and department chairs as we go about the business of strengthening our communication and engagement processes.  We all realize the importance of this initiative and will work hard on the follow-up and follow-through.

HACU Meeting:  Toward the end of this week, I’ll be in Guadalajara, Mexico to attend the Joint International Conference of HACU and to chair one of the plenary sessions titled “Financing of Education:  The Role of the State, Fundraising and the Private Sector.”  The finance panel consists of five individuals representing institutions from North, Central and South America.  I’ll look forward to sharing what I learn about this timely topic, as well as information from my other

conference experiences.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

Budget:  Now that UNM Regents have approved the tuition and fee increases for 2009 – 2010, we can go about preparing the budget, which has to be approved and delivered to the state by May 1.  The tuition increase of 5 percent includes the 2.5 percent tuition credit imposed by the state.  So the Regents squeezed as much out of the budget as they could to keep tuition as low as possible while still allowing us to do the important work of teaching, research, patient care and public service.

Accreditation:  I want to once again thank all of you who worked so diligently over the past three years to assure that the University of New Mexico is accredited in good standing for the next 10 years.  Though UNM will have to produce a couple of interim reports, the Higher Learning Commission Site Team is issuing a very positive report to its Board.  The official report will be issued in a couple of months, but Board decisions usually follow the team report pretty closely.

Kudos for Pharmacy:  There is remarkably good news to report from the annual meeting of the American Pharmacists Association.  UNM’s Kim Neff was recognized as the champion in the National Patient Counseling Competition – the first UNM student to win this prestigious award.  Kim, who’ll be getting her Doctor of Pharmacy degree this spring, bested student pharmacists from the 107 other colleges of pharmacy in the country.  In the competition, the student pharmacists work with mock (and difficult) patients on the appropriate use of a complicated medication regime.

Meanwhile, Adriane Irwin, another of our doctor of pharmacy students, was installed as the national President of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists, which is a 33,000-member organization.  She too is the first UNM student to be elected president.  Finally, UNM’s student pharmacy chapter won the Most Improved Chapter award, which recognizes their creativity and hard work over the past year. Good job and congratulations to our College of

Pharmacy students!

Kudos for Law:  The results of the February bar exam are spectacular!  The 19 UNM law students taking the New Mexico Bar for the first time had a 100 percent pass rate.  That’s a first time achievement.

It was also a good run for the UNM School of Law Mock Trial team.  After winning the regional American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy tournament last month in Albuquerque, the team traveled to West Palm Beach, Florida to compete in the finals.  The team of second-year law students Amanda Connor, Charles Kalm, Ryan McKelvey and Erin McSherry faced off with teams from Suffolk University, University of Akron and Baylor law schools before being eliminated.

International Festival:  What has become a vibrant tradition on our campus is the annual International Festival hosted by the Office of International Programs and Studies.   It will be this Thursday, April 16, from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Cornell Mall.  There will be representation from every continent with food, crafts, country presentations and performances.  It promises to be a grand time.

Celebrate Student Employees: Student employees in all of our departments and units keep us up and running.  So we’re taking time to celebrate their great work with a Carnival this Wednesday, April 15, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. in the SUB Atrium.  Then on Friday, the Student Employee of the Year Awards Ceremony will recognize their quality of work and their contributions to community and campus service.  It will take place on April 17 at noon, also in the SUB Atrium.  Please take the time to celebrate your great student employees and show them how appreciated they are.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

Accreditation Visit: Please join me in welcoming the members of the Higher Learning Commission Site Team to campus. Yesterday evening we got UNM’s site visit off to a good start with a brief tour of our distinctive campus and an informal reception for the team at University House. Today they’ll begin their work in earnest, conducting more than 100 separate interviews with members of our UNM community.

At the conclusion of their visit on Wednesday, the team will present their initial findings. They’ll give us a preliminary indication of any contemplated reports, additional visits, etc., but the HLC Board will make the actual decision on those actions some months from now. Of course we’ll let you know as soon as we do, what those team recommendations are.

As Provost Ortega underscored in her memo to participants, the visit will go better if we are thoughtful and candid about both our weaknesses and our strengths. We need to be as forthcoming as we can be about all aspects of life at UNM: the great work we do here, our pride in the institution, and yes, our concerns about what could be better. If we do that, while extending our trademark New Mexico courtesy and hospitality, I’m confident the review will go well and that we’ll emerge a stronger and better university.

Budget Hearing: At this Thursday’s special meeting, UNM Regents will approve tuition, fees and salary guidelines for the coming fiscal year as well as review the budget plans of the university and the recommendations of UNM constituency groups. I don’t envy them. This is going to be an excruciating decision for our Regents, having to balance academic excellence while still keeping tuition affordable during the worst recession in 50 years.

As background, tuition was increased last year by 4.85% for incoming resident undergraduate students. The upcoming FY 2010 budget currently includes a 2.5% in-state tuition credit and an 8% out-of-state tuition credit. We will do all we can to hold tuition beyond that as low as possible.

Goldwater Scholars: Please join me in congratulating our UNM students recently named as Goldwater Scholars - Jessica Martin, a senior pursuing her B.S. in Biology, and Anna Vestling, also a senior pursuing a B.S. in Biochemistry. Junior Abdullah Feroze, working on a B.S. in Biology, received an honorable mention in the tough national competition for this scholarship. We’re proud of you all for showing the nation once again that UNM students stand with the best and brightest.

Slam Dunk: And speaking of attracting national attention, we watched with awe as UNM Lobo Tony Danridge claimed the College Slam Dunk Championship last Thursday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit. He won it by one point in a sudden death dunk-off with Charlotte’s Charlie Coley III. It was quite an impressive performance that shared with the nation Tony’s talent, athleticism and remarkable grace under pressure.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly