College Council Meeting Minutes - May 7, 2024

1. Call to Order, Confirmation of a Quorum

Coco Rae called meeting to order at 10:02 a.m.

Council Members Present

Cindy Budge (Zoom)

Coco Rae

Grace Willerton

Irina Alvestad

Ivette Jimenez (Zoom)

Kristian Godt

Peninah Wolpo (Zoom)

2. Routine Business - Council Action Items

a. Approval of College Council meeting minutes - April 2, 2024.

i. Motion made by Coco Rae to approve the minutes. Motion passed.

3. Announcements

a. New Hires (Paul)

i. Paul Allen reported successful hiring of fulltime faculty for the fall. Dr. Mohamed Abuhegazy will be our Mechanical Engineering Lecturer and program coordinator. Dr. Virginia (Ginny) Grant will be our tenure-track English faculty. Dr. Citla Nava-Gaviola will be tenure-track Math faculty and Lorraine Bowman will be joining us as our Physics and Astronomy tenure-track faculty.

b. Welcome Danielle (Coco)

i. Coco Rae introduced and welcomed our new Director of Student Affairs, Danielle Gonzales.

c. Open Positions/ Duty Fulfillment (Mike)

i. Mike Holtzclaw informed College Council that Marketing Manager, Sarah Jimenez, has resigned and her position has been posted. Marketing
Assistant, Tracy Bailey, has been temporarily taking over Sarah’s duties until the position is filled. Currently reviewing candidates for the position. Director of Business Operations, Bob Harmon, has retired and his position will soon be posted. John Elliott has announced his retirement. Mike stated that UNM-LA is working with UNM Albuquerque for various supports and resources during this transitional phase of filling positions and fulfilling duties.

d. Finals Fuel this week (Coco)

i. Coco Rae announced that snacks and drinks are available for students in the foyer of building 1 to help power through finals.

e. Accounting/ EOY (Joanne)

i. Joanne Kozuchowski informed College Council that there are currently 4 candidates for the Fiscal Services Tech position. Requested that everyone please be patient with purchasing and to expect delays. May 17, 2024 is the end of year purchasing deadline. Reminded everyone that reimbursements should not include a home address, that Uber receipts need to be submitted separately, not to include a link to the Amazon item but rather the ASIN, and that she now has travel authority. She encouraged people to ask her questions and seek help as needed.

f. CIC graduation May 7 (Brittany)

i. Brittany Carpenter announced that CIC graduation will take place today at 4:00 pm in the lecture hall of building 2. Students will be giving a presentation on the effect they’ve had on the community. Mentors have been invited and there will be refreshments.

g. Coco, Ivette, and Irina terms are up; call for Exempt, Non-Exempt, and faculty nominees forthcoming (Coco)

i. Coco Rae reminded everyone that nominations will take place in August and the importance of having representation on College Council. 

h. LANL on campus during summer (Mike)

i. Mike Holtzclaw shared that LANL will be using rooms 203, 208, 214, 220, and 230 in the upper level of building 2 from May 23, 2024 through August 11, 2024.

i. Building 6 Renovation Updates (Mike)

i. Mike Holtzclaw announced that the new carpet is coming next week to be placed in the lecture hall, conference room and classrooms of building 2. In June we are expecting new lighting and audiovisual equipment. Furniture for academic affairs is arriving tomorrow. IT will begin setup and classroom furniture will be coming later this month. Stair and parking lot construction will happen this year. There is a full design of the entire
outdoor space and the construction of the courtyard will happen in another phase.

ii. Mike Holtzclaw encouraged everyone to fill out the survey that was sent out for campus renovation feedback so that UNMLA can come up with renderings, and ideas based on this feedback.

Celebrations

a. Job Fair record-setting success (Grace)

i. Grace Willerton reported a record success for the spring job fair in which 40 employers signed up and they received over 120 participants. The job fairs are gaining momentum and in coordination with the Chamber of Commerce, they are planning to have another fair in the fall.

ii. Mike Holtzclaw announced that Sandy Jones has resigned from her position at UNMLA with SBDC and will now be the new Director of the Chamber of Commerce.

iii. Mike Holtzclaw informed everyone that the Los Alamos public school district is closing the back parking lot of UNMLA on May 22, 2024 due to an event taking place on Sullivan field. Please plan accordingly. Linda Nash offered parking passes to park in the lot at the Ark.

b. Other

4. New Business 

a. Bylaws wording update- draft text, feedback due by 5/10/24 (Coco)

i. Coco Rae communicated the proposal to update the bylaws for clarity. College Council members met twice to draft bylaw proposed revisions.  Asked the community to take a look at these and compare them with the original bylaws. Feedback, questions and concerns are welcomed and need to be sent to Coco by this Friday, May 10, 2024. Will review feedback with College Council members in a separate meeting. When College Council meets in September, they can move forward with language changes made to the bylaws.

b. Academic Program Updates (Audrey/ Paul)

i. Audrey Marroquin described the work she has been doing in putting together the summer program for students. Reported a successful enrollment and high enough demand to be able to open it up to 120 students with a waiting list. The program involves experiential learning which includes coding, cryptography, rocketry, anatomy, and pre-vet medicine. Able to give 12 scholarships to students in need thanks to
LANL’s generosity.

ii. Paul Allen announced that they have just been approved to teach an Academic certificate in early childhood education starting in the fall. Put in to also get an AA in early childhood education in January. Have posted adjunct positions and already have community interest.

iii. Paul Allen submitted for a credit to prior learning policy for UNM. UNM does not have such a policy in place. Stated that this policy will particularly help branch campuses give students credit for experiential learning or learning in non-credit certificates.

iv. Audrey Marroquin has developed a non-credit cyber security certificate through Comptia that starts on May 20, 2024.

v. Paul Allen shared that they are investigating a broadband certificate to train students in the installation of broadband which is a big initiative in New Mexico.

vi. Linda Nash, Adult Education Program Manager, provided an overview of adult education and the use of certificate credits towards a degree. Piloted IET, integrated education and training, program this academic year. Piloted welding on the credit side and early childhood education on the non-credit side. Expanding to certified nurse assistant and emergency medical services. Instruction is contextualized. Described the workforce preparation skills and workforce training that IET provides and how it is the guided pathway to UNMLA degrees.

d. Strategic Planning Committees Updates (Mike)

i. Mike Holtzclaw shared that the Employee Organizational Development consultants from UNM Albuquerque conducted breakout sessions that did focus groups with faculty, staff, and advisory board. They brought together key themes and ideas. Explained that our strategic plan eventually needs to tie into the UNM 2040 vision. We want to enhance and engage community, support business ecosystem in our region, support community through targeted community opportunities, and increase partnerships with pueblos.

ii. Outlined the goals, which are to invest and develop our campus, focus on campus culture, employee growth and development, improve student experience and outcomes, strengthen academic programs and engage students in where they are now and where they need to go.

iii. Announced that in the fall we will be forming writing teams around each of these goals and will need cross representation from faculty, staff, students, and community members. There will be training, expectations, parameters in place, etc. Each group will present to College Council. A plan needs to be formally adopted by end of fall semester 2024.

e. Commencement (Lori)

i. Lori Tepley announced that UNMLA graduation takes place this Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Crossroads Bible Church. Announcement is out in the press. Los Alamos Police Department will be doing traffic control. Advised those planning to attend, to please arrive early. A map will be sent out to everyone. Student, Paul Alcazar, will be presenting the national anthem on the piano. Christopher Ryan will be the student speaker. Liddie Martinez will be the keynote speaker and Thom Mason will be the special guest. Lori thanked everyone for their efforts.

5. Council Requests for September Agenda Items

a. Retention Initiatives (Grace)

b. Challenges communicating with & engaging students on campus (Grace)

6. Next Meeting

TBD, September

7. Adjournment

11:01 a.m.