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Nuclear engineering student Emory Brown, 21, had trouble transferring from CNM to UNM a year and a half ago. Not all the courses he took during his two years there transferred to UNM to count toward his major.
“In my experience, I ended up taking three classes that didn’t transfer at UNM, and I did not realize until I was already taking the classes that they weren’t useful to UNM,” he said.
Brown said CNM students don’t have enough resources to guide them through the process of transferring to UNM.
“If I had somebody to talk to at UNM, that would have been great,” he said. “There wasn’t really any way you can talk to peers at UNM.”
Brown is now a peer mentor at CNM and UNM’s joint Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Undergraduate Pathways (STEM UP) program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and seeks to increase the number of Hispanic and low-income students pursuing STEM degrees in both schools.
On Tuesday, representatives from UNM and CNM signed STEM UP’s Engineering Transfer Articulation Agreement. The agreement requires both schools to provide clear information on class equivalents at CNM and UNM and about the transfer process.
STEM UP Program Director Carolina Aguirre said the new agreement aims to shorten the amount of time students in STEM programs need to finish college.
“This is done by ensuring that every class in the associate’s degree in CNM will count towards a bachelor’s degree in UNM. They will not be met with surprises when they get here.”
Aguirre said the engineering agreement was arranged by STEM UP’s Joint Advisory Council, which is composed of representatives from CNM and UNM. She said the council was assigned to evaluate courses to identify equivalents.
Aguirre said that through the agreement, peer mentors will be hired from CNM and UNM to assist CNM students when they want to transfer to UNM.
She said that although the program is focused on STEM fields of study, the peer mentoring will be available to all students.
“Students may already know how to go to college, but they do not know how to go to UNM,” she said.
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STEM UP established a center at CNM last year to provide more student advisers and peer mentors, she said. STEM UP aims to put a similar center at UNM by the end of February.
According to a press release from STEM UP, the agreement also aims to increase the number of students in Albuquerque seeking STEM degrees by providing students a smoother transfer process to UNM that will be less intimidating to prospective students. The agreement is also expected to increase the retention rate of students and the number of graduates in both CNM and UNM by providing students with more advisers and peer mentors.
Aguirre said the program has already helped many CNM students because CNM and UNM received a $3.5 million grant for the program from the U.S. Department of Education in 2011.
Aguirre said that in the future, the program aims to initiate similar agreements with chemistry and nutrition programs at CNM through STEM UP.
