On a normal morning, Gary Bertholf would be selling newspapers at the Mountain Run Shopping Center, but Wednesday morning he was able to learn about a different profession.
UNM had its first job shadowing for people with disabilities as part of National Disability Mentoring Day and Disability Awareness Month.
Bertholf was paired with Shawn Penman, a geographic information system specialist in the Earth Data Analysis Center.
Penman used GIS software to show Bertholf where his house was located from satellite images. She also gave him a tour of the office.
Bertholf said the experience was exciting.
Twenty-five pairs participated in the job shadow across campus.
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Joann Perrine, a staff recruitment specialist in the Human Resources Department, said it was put together as part of the University's strategic diversity plan. People with disabilities are part of the diversity goal.
Those who participated could have any type of documented disability, including a physical, emotional, psychological or developmental disability.
Perrine said the event encouraged education and employment.
Jennifer Montoya said if she were not attending Wednesday's event, she would have been out looking for a job.
Montoya has Type I diabetes. The Albuquerque Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has been helping her pay for medication and searching job opportunities.
The division was one of the agencies participating in the shadowing event and part of the UNM Human Resources Disability Advisory Group that puts together shadowing opportunities.
The advisory group was created last November and is made up of agencies that advise the University in employing disabled adults.
Human resources marketed the event this year to faculty and staff. Mentors registered on a Web site and were matched with the advisory group.
Montoya said the mentoring program gives people a chance when they would normally get the door shut on them.
She said she has been to interviews many times only to be turned down. She said interviewers typically ask if she has health problems.
"I can see that look in their eyes when I tell them," she said.
But she said she got a big chance for the first time through the mentoring program.
Montoya was paired with Patricia Beery, a senior project manager at the Department of Family and Community Medicine.
They went over a project Beery is working on and took a tour of the Health Sciences Center and family and community medicine.
"In the process of dealing with disabilities, sometimes you get the idea there's things you can't do," said Beery, who has a mobility disability.
She said the program tells the community the University is in favor of being supportive of integrating individuals with disabilities.
"It's a good opportunity for people who need help with jobs," Montoya said.
UNM is the second-largest employer in the state.
Perrine said 60 to 70 percent of disabled adults are unemployed.
