Good Morning,

This is the beginning of a short week for many at UNM, with the Independence Day holiday to be celebrated this Friday. I hope everyone will take the time to reflect and celebrate. With so much turmoil in so many places around the world, we are very fortunate to live in a country where we can enjoy such freedom.

We received a lot of good news last week related to athletics, as 108 of UNM’s student athletes were named “Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athletes.” We only trailed Brigham Young (113) in total MWC Scholar-Athlete Awards among the nine schools in our league. UNM also led the way with 13 of our student-athletes carrying GPAs of 4.0 or better. No other MWC school had more than five. Congratulations to all of these outstanding students. We are proud of you!

Also last week, the State Board of Finance approved UNM’s 850-space parking garage planned for the northwest corner of Lomas and Yale. Construction of this facility will help to alleviate the parking challenges that we - and most urban universities – currently face. A second parking garage at Los Lomas and Redondo was not immediately approved. However, we were told we could bring this project back to the Board at a later date, once UNM’s Master Plan is completed.

Speaking of the Master Plan, we have been and are continuing to meet with UNM’s neighbors and community groups to better understand and address any concerns that aspects of the plan might present. We are on track to present the plan to the Board of Regents at their August meeting.

Enjoy the week, and take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate your rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

David J. Schmidly

Good Morning,

We had a busy week last week, on many fronts.  As you know, a devastating earthquake took place in Abruzzo, Italy in April, resulting in a tragic loss of life and massive destruction of buildings. L’Aquila University was severely damaged and had to close many of its facilities. The University of New Mexico has joined an initiative launched by the U.S. Department of State and the National Italian American Foundation to help the students who have been academically displaced by the tragedy.

Through the “Adopt-a-Scholar” program, several universities in the U.S. have stepped forward to ensure that these students can continue their studies. I am proud that UNM has joined this effort.  As a result, we will be welcoming several L’Aquila University students to our campus in the fall.

Last Friday, UNM signed a Memo of Understanding with Sandia National Laboratories and the City of Albuquerque to form the “Community Research Collaborative.” This initiative will enable us to join forces in complex areas of research that may ultimately result in economic development opportunities for our community and state. Specifically, we are looking at potential collaborations in areas such as energy infrastructure, alternatives, and efficiency; cyber security; digital film media and storage; and computer modeling and simulation.

Congratulations to UNM’s Communications team for competing against some of the best writers, designers, podcasters and editors in the country to win six awards in the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest.  For the second time in three years, UNM Today won a first place award in the four-color magapaper/tabloid category.  Other awards included a first place in instructional nonfiction books, second place in the prepared radio reports category, second place in web site development, and two honorable mentions in informational columns and news podcasts.  We know we have a talented communications group here at UNM, and it’s a great affirmation when our national peers recognize this, as well.

Finally, I want to thank all those who participated in the UNM Presidential Scholarship Golf Tournament, presented by Bank of America, on Friday. I especially want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make the event a success.  Proceeds will go to support some of our brightest students as they pursue their educational goals here at UNM.

Have a good week and enjoy the summer weather!

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

The news of the death of one of our graduate students in a tragic accident in the mountains above Santa Fe last week has been met with shock, sorrow and regret - the latter because many of us never got to meet Megumi Yamamoto.  By all accounts, she was a fine young woman and an exceptional scholar. Her friends and colleagues in Physics and Astronomy and the Office of International Programs and Studies have honored her with glowing tributes, and we join them in remembering Megumi in our thoughts and prayers.  On behalf of the University, we will be sending condolences to her family in Japan.

Benefits

As it is the middle of June, new medical and prescription drug cards will soon be sent to home addresses of participating employees.  It is a good time to remember that by converting to a self-funded insurance plan, UNM has been able to offer the same great benefits without raising insurance premiums.  And that comes at a time when market trends for 2009 show an average increase of 9.7%.

If you are enrolled in a UNM medical plan, you will receive two new cards: a medical insurance card and a prescription drug insurance card. Express Scripts will administer prescription drug benefits for all employees enrolled in either medical plan.  For more information about Express Scripts or your 2009-1010 benefits, please visit

http://hr.unm.edu/benefits/2009_Benefits_General_Information.php.

Voluntary Furlough

I would like to thank all the faculty and staff who took the time to provide input in the development of the UNM Voluntary

Furlough Program.  The comment period was hugely successful and brought forward some excellent suggestions that have been incorporated into the final version.  If you find that the program is right for you, you may begin to submit requests for the July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010 fiscal year by accessing the UNM Budget Impact website at

http://www.unm.edu/budgetimpact/.

Kudos to the Tennis Team

UNM’s women’s tennis head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz recently received a letter from NCAA President Myles Brand,

informing her that her team has once again been named a recipient of the NCAA Public Recognition Award.  This honor goes to teams with an NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate in the top 10% of all squads in their respective sports. We add our congratulations to that of the NCAA.  Kathy and her team of student-athletes demonstrate a commitment to the classroom and to their sport.  They are an inspiration to us all.

Kudos to the Trainers And speaking of inspirations, congratulations to the UNM Sports Medicine staff and head trainer Dave Binder who’ve won the George F. Curtis ATC Award as the best in the Mountain West. The New Mexico sports medicine staff is divided up into 38 student trainers, nine graduate assistants, four assistant athletic trainers and one head trainer - all of whom show professionalism and quality of care now recognized as next to none.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

Welcome back and congratulations to each of you on the first day of summer semester. I say “congratulations” because taking summer classes is a way to reduce the cost of a college education and expedites the process toward graduation. 

One of our objectives at UNM is to improve what educators call our “graduation rate” – that is, the amount of time it takes for our students to obtain their diplomas.  As many of you know, at UNM, too many students take too long to graduate, and it’s a University priority to help more of our students graduate more quickly.

Over the coming years, we hope to expand the range of summer school options to our students, to provide added incentives to them to keep pursuit of a degree on track. 

On Friday, I joined members of the Board of Regents, Dean Brenda Claiborne of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Alejandro Aceves, the distinguished former chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and others in breaking ground for UNM’s new Science and Mathematics Learning Center.

Once completed, this innovative new facility will provide interactive, state-of-the-art classroom facilities and teaching laboratories to engage future UNM freshmen in mathematics and science courses taught by faculty in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics. These Arts and Sciences departments consistently comprise the highest enrollments for undergraduates within the University.

Many thanks for the generosity and forward thinking by taxpayers of the State of New Mexico, the Bank of America and all the donors who are making this project possible. 

Although the UNM community faced some difficult moments last year, we accomplished a lot and I am grateful to the Board of Regents for their favorable evaluation last week. 

In their Goals for the President in the coming year, the Regents stressed the importance of accountability, communication and ongoing campus-wide dialogue in the year ahead. 

Each of the Regents’ 13 Goals is available for you to examine online, and can be viewed at:

http://www.unm.edu/president/documents/Regents_Goals_Key_Indicators_FY09_rev8-12-08.pdf.

We’re now in the process of amplifying the Regents’ Goals with a set of benchmarks for their fulfillment – what I call our “Adelante Objectives.”  “Adelante,” of course, means “forward,” and it was the theme for my installation remarks when I was sworn in as president.

Let’s use the year ahead as an opportunity for each of us, the entire UNM community, to learn from our experiences. 

Here’s to a successful and productive summer semester!

David J. Schmidly

Good morning.

Happy first day of June!  As we prepare for the upcoming summer session, I’d like to take acknowledge colleagues taking on new responsibilities in the university and who are being recognized for their ongoing work.

New Regents

The University welcomes back Santa Fe attorney J.E. “Gene” Gallegos to the UNM Board of Regents.  With two degrees from UNM and serving on the Board of Regents here from 1991 – 1996, he brings a wealth of knowledge.

We also welcome Emily “Cate” Wisdom as our new student regent. Cate is a junior working on a dual major in Biology and Chemical Engineering.

On behalf of the university, we acknowledge the outstanding service of Mel Eaves and Dahlia Dorman on our Board of Regents.  They leave UNM a stronger and better institution. It is our fervent hope that we will once again have the privilege of working with them.

UNM-Gallup Director

On August 1, Sylvia Rodriguez Andrew begins her service as director of the UNM-Gallup campus. Dr. Andrew comes to us from Antioch University in Los Angeles where she served as provost and vice president for academic affairs.  Prior to that, she served as dean and professor in the College of Social Work at San Jose State University.  We welcome you to the UNM community.

Again on behalf of the university, we thank Dr. Barry Cooney who has served as interim director for our Gallup campus for more than a year, and we commend him for his innovative and thoughtful leadership.

Regents Professors

Arts and Sciences Dean Brenda Claiborne announced the appointment of three Regents Professors – a title that acknowledges senior faculty for their accomplishments as teachers, scholars and leaders in university affairs, as well as their work in their national and international scholarly communities.  Congratulations to Professors Linda Hall of History, Zachary Sharp from Earth and Planetary Sciences and Margaret Werner-Washburne from Biology whose appointments are for 2009 – 2012.

CARC Director

Vice President for Research Julia Fulghum has appointed Professor Susan R. Atlas to serve as the Director of the new Center for Advanced Research Computing, formerly the Center for High Performance Computing. The new CARC will focus on a broader range of research computing and faculty support with the goal of increasing and improving research

activity on campus. 

Atlas is a member of the UNM Department of Physics and Astronomy, with a secondary appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She currently serves as director of the UNM Cancer Center Shared Resource for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Atlas replaces Professor Thomas P. Caudell, who will be spearheading new initiatives and

collaborations with the UNM ARTSLab. 

Athletic Academic Achievement

Lobo men’s basketball recorded an outstanding report in the recent NCAA Academic Progress Rate and has been showing marked academic progress over the past couple of years.  Credit and congratulations go to Athletics VP Paul Krebs, Coach Steve Alford and his assistants for their leadership,  to the academic advisement staff for their persistence and of course to the hard working athletes. 

Track titles

Lobos Katie Coronado and Anthony Fairbank both took the javelin title at this weekend’s NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships. Overall, the Lobo women set school records with a 13th place finish.  The men finished tied for ninth - the first time UNM has won a top 10 regional finish.

Lobo All-American

Last but certainly not least, Lobo senior second baseman Mike Brownstein has been named to the Louisville Slugger All-American Team. He’s honored along with two other Mountain West players, both from San Diego State - pitching ace Stephen Strasburg and relief pitcher Addison Reed.  Congratulations, Mike.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly