Although it is tucked away a mere two miles from UNM's Main Campus, South Campus houses all athletic facilities, including the office of Athletics Director Paul Krebs.
Coincidentally, what may seem to be just two miles can be viewed as just a place for the athletics department. Or, as critics see it, a symbol of isolation representing a widely held assumption: a chasm exists between athletics and academia.
Challenging that assumption, Krebs said that he, as well as other members of the Athletics Department, go to great lengths to ensure UNM will never be slapped with the athletics-trumps-academics stigma.
"Our student-athletes, by large, are very good students," he said. "I think it's important that an athletic program not act in isolation - that our students ride mainstream with the rest of campus, that we're integrated into the life of the campus."
While some ADs might stand behind a smoke-screen and blow puffed-up, sugarcoated generalizations about the academic performance of their athletes, Krebs is taking a proactive stance to uphold academic integrity at the University.
"I carry the title of vice president for athletics," he said. "I sit at a lot of University meetings. I'm involved in a lot of discussions far beyond just athletics. I was on the search committee for the provost. We need to be integrated. I think a strong athletic program - done the right way, with the right checks-and-balances - helps a university.
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Krebs said the prosperity of an athletics department creates a better atmosphere for the entire institution.
"It creates greater attention, national exposure," he said. "It helps with recruiting students; it raises the profile (of the University); it can raise alumni donations; it engages alumni back into the life of the University; it can create a morale and an energy and an attitude around campus that can be very positive and healthy.
But Krebs added that athletics must go hand in hand with academia.
"I'm a big believer in intercollegiate athletics, but I recognize that if it's not done (the right way) - and if it's not integrated into the life of campus, if it's isolated and stands alone - that's problematic. And that's not the model we're trying to use here."
Krebs' determination to make sure certain academic achievement takes precedence at UNM should come as no surprise. At Bowling Green, where Krebs was AD from 2000-07, the school achieved a 78 percent student athlete graduation rate.
Considering the current landscape of professional sports, where the prospect of million-dollar contracts and endorsements lure athletes away from college and to leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, a 78 percent graduation rate is a remarkable feat.
The national average is 66 percent.
Right now, Krebs said the graduation rate for UNM athletes is upwards of 50 percent. However, he said he wants that number to reach at least 60 percent in his tenure at New Mexico.
"It all starts with graduation," he said. "That's the most visible way you measure a successful athletic program, aside from the championships you're winning."
In an effort to reach that 60 percent mark, Krebs said that the Athletics Department is striving to establish more programs for student athletes to be successful.
Because of constant travel, practice and the necessary dedication student athletes have to put toward their sport, Krebs feels it's up to the Athletics Department to give them the best chance to succeed in the classroom.
