On July 19, Regent Board President Jack Fortner named the members of the search committee who will help choose UNM’s next president, and a firm hired to find candidates, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates (SPA), began its search. Case Manager Alberto Pimentel said the search’s first phase uses web-based surveys to identify the qualifications UNM wants for its next president.
Lobo Village, UNM’s housing collaboration with American Campus Communities, has no vacancies, and main campus construction is ongoing despite questions about how much rent ACC will pay UNM. Lobo Village cost more than $39 million to build, and it opens Aug.
Student Kathryn Rios was studying abroad in Nicaragua when she died July 9 from complications of lupus. Rios, 22, went to Nicaragua with a UNM class, Sustainable Development in Central America: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in Nicaragua, taught by Matias Fontenla. The class arrived in Granada, Nicaragua, on June 14 and returned July 12.
Nelson Valdés, a janitor-turned-UNM professor emeritus, was honored with the Bernard S. Rodey Award, given to professors who exemplify leadership in education.
Gov. Susana Martinez announced plans last week for a program that would require foreign nationals with New Mexico driver’s licenses to prove that they are state residents. The Motor Vehicle Division sent letters to 10,000 foreign nationals who have New Mexico driver’s licenses last week, requiring them to schedule an in-person appointment to verify their residency.
New Mexico natives Sonnet and Ian McKinnon gave UNM’s Anderson School of Management and the Athletics Department $7.5 million, the largest financial contribution given to the University by living individuals.
Professors and future bosses could be one and the same for law students. UNM is the only law school in the nation with an active court system on its campus, the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
In UNM Interim Provost Chaouki Abdallah’s first month on the job, he reorganized the Provost’s Office and proposed a promotion and tenure plan for faculty.
When Rick Rennie and Chris Goblet saw the dirt lot that sits west of the downtown Albuquerque Rail Runner Station, they said they cringed to think it would stay barren and undeveloped.
Wildfires struck hard this summer, ravaging New Mexico’s dry forests from Silver City to the Arizona border, and leaving nature enthusiasts with few outdoor options in the state. Popular tourist and camping locations such as Jemez Springs have been shut down for more than three weeks, according to a Santa Fe National Forest news release.
UNM’s Health Sciences Center Board racked up a nearly $12,000 bill at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa during a May training session, leaving some faculty questioning the use of funds. The Bank of America corporate purchasing card statement for the HSC Board reflects $11,543.38 spent on a two-day training session for inaugurated board members and HSC leadership. HSC spokesman Billy Sparks said the board is a complex organization that demands its leadership to have a thorough understanding of its functions.
An anti-abortion group protested outside the UNM Center for Reproductive Health after an ambulance was called to the Center in February, and center physicians responded by saying patients’ rights are being violated. Lauren Cruse, Public Affairs representative for UNM Health Sciences, said Defending Life violated patient privacy when it posted a recording of the 911 call on its website.
UNM’s race car cruised to a top 10 finish at an international racing competition last month. The LOBOMotorSports team placed eighth in engineering design and ninth in autocross at the Formula Society of Automotive Engineering competition in California.
The UNM Cardiology Clinic opens this week, giving Westside residents access to a full range of cardiovascular diagnostic services.
When the largest fire in New Mexico’s history forced the evacuation of the city of Los Alamos, the UNM Medical Reserve Corps were on the ground to help. Luke Esquibel, a First Aid instructor at UNM Hospital, said medical volunteers donated more than 500 hours of their time during the first week of the blaze. He said he helped care for patients with special medical needs like high blood pressure, diabetes and respiratory problems.
Alcohol will be sold during Lobo football and basketball games this season. On Tuesday the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department granted UNM a liquor license for sales in suite- and club-level areas inside The Pit and University Stadium. “We have obtained the license, and we will move forward with our plans,” Sports Information Director Frank Mercogliano said. The action came after a contentious eight-month battle with the Albuquerque City Council. In November, the council cited public safety concerns when it denied UNM’s waiver request of a state law that bans alcohol sales within 300 feet of a school.
An anti-abortion group opened a pregnancy resource center across the street from the UNM Center for Reproductive Health on July 1, after an ambulance responded to the UNM Center for an abortion gone wrong. On Feb 15, a 911 call went out from the UNMCRH when a 35-year-old woman was “unresponsive” after surgical abortion complications. “We have a patient who is crashing right now,” a clinic worker can be heard saying in a recording of the 911 call.
The UNM Board of Regents is looking to amend the University’s per diem policies, which could mean traveling faculty would have to pay out-of-pocket for food.Regents Gene Gallegos and James Koch, members of the Regent Audit Committee, are concerned about following state law and making sure faculty have a clear per diem policy, UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said. “Regent Gallegos and Regent Koch believe that our current policy is inaccurate or doesn’t exactly reflect what state law intends, and they want to look into that,” she said. The Board of Regents discussed changes to the policy at a June 27 meeting, but the issue was tabled until August.
Former UNM president F. Chris Garcia’s office at the Social Sciences Building wasn’t just filled with academic documents. Albuquerque Police raided the office June 23 and found a briefcase and cabinet full of sex toys, 21 pornographic videos and nine sex books, according to an unsealed search warrant obtained by the Albuquerque Journal. Detectives confiscated a computer and other electronic storage devices, along with notebooks containing information related to prostitution and the alleged online prostitution ring, “Southwest Companions.” Detectives said Garcia was on the website while at UNM.
The search to find UNM’s next president is on, and the regents, charged with the final decision, are working to figure out what students, staff and faculty want. President David Schmidly will vacate the post in May 2012, and a search committee, chaired by Regent President Jack Fortner, has been tasked with getting UNM constituents’ input on the new president.
Solutions by The State News
