The UNM Board of Regents approved recommendations for the establishment of a university-wide, sustainable, interdisciplinary Global and National Security Policy Institute.
The board also voted, on Thursday, for the creation of an interdisciplinary, nontraditional, module-based masters program in Global and National Security, an interdisciplinary undergraduate National Security Certificate (already in place) and an interdisciplinary graduate National Security Certificate (preliminary stages).
Emile Nakhleh, a political science research professor, made the recommendations.
He said the recommendations were a result of years of discussion with the senior faculty committee, provost and other academic leaders.
“The first major recommendation was the creation of global and national security policy institute on campus,” Nakhleh said. “The institute will be university wide and will not belong to any department or any one school.”
He said the philosophy behind the establishment of the institute is that there is a linkage between global issues and the United States.
“These issues not just include the traditional understanding of national security, but they include things such as nuclear issues, natural resources, energy independence, rule of law, social and economic issues, resiliency of infrastructure, technology management, cyber security and health,” Nakleh said.
He said the refugee issues, fight against Ebola and other health issues aren’t just foreign problems. They also affect people in the U.S.
“That’s why we call them a global and national security institution,” he said. “This name gives it a broader scope. People of New Mexico cannot live on an Island and in isolation from what is happening in the world. Good governance and democracy are not only important for people in the other countries, but also people in the United States.”
The institute will be established by the administration and will have a director and administrative assistant to work with departments and colleges on important issues, Nakleh said.
“The institute will help secure research and teaching grants. So it will be a win-win for the University, for the faculty and for the students,” he said.
He said the MA degree offered by the institute will be non-traditional. It will consist of long weekend team taught modules over 1-2 years.
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The courses will be taught by UNM faculty and a scientist from Sandia or Las Lomas, he said.
“It will benefit UNM at large. It will increase UNM students’ opportunity to get jobs overseas. It will help UNM faculty get grants. It will also introduce UNM on national and international maps as a national security university,” he said.
Regent Robert Doughty moved to authorize and approve leadership of the UNM Health Sciences Center to take the steps necessary to prepare an initial master development plan, which would include modeling of potential financing opportunities and alternatives, for the purpose of gathering information for an adult replacement acute care teaching hospital.
UNM President Robert Frank and associate vice president for Enrollment Management Terry Babbitt informed the Board of Regents about the current state of enrollment.
They told the Board of Regents that spring enrollment is slightly down, as expected, but they could see hints of a promising future.
“Initial enrollment numbers for the spring semester show a total of 25,299 students. During the February Board of Regents meeting, President Robert Frank reported that figure is down slightly from the prior year spring semester but right in line with projections based on fall enrollment,” according to a UNM press release.
According to the statement, a record number of freshmen, more than 3000, returned for their second semester, fueling an increase in retention for the third straight year.
Frank emphasized that retention rate is a positive sign for future enrollment projections.
“The growth in the number of freshmen and our improved student success initiatives are providing a solid foundation that should lead to more stable enrollment, as more students stay in school and move toward graduation,” Frank said.
Babbitt said the University administration was not only working to increase freshmen enrollment, but also increasing the quality of the students applying, “with more of them coming in better prepared for college work and thus more likely to stay in school.”
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at assistant-news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mianfawadshah.
