College Council Meeting Minutes

Monday, April 7, 2025 | 2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. via Zoom

Call To Order at 2:35 PM

There were not enough Council members present to meet quorum.

Attendance: Anne Jarrett, Citla Nava-Gaxiola, Grace Willerton

Minutes from March 2025 have not been received or reviewed; they cannot be approved today.

They will be included with the review and approval of April’s meeting minutes in May.

Announcements

Business Scholar Luncheons and Workshops (Anne Jarrett)

The upcoming Business Scholars Luncheons will include afternoon workshops related to the presentation topics. The next luncheon is scheduled for May 28, discussing how to handle a crisis that disrupts business. The presentation will be held at SALA Event Center from 11:00-1:00, followed by the workshop at 1:00. The luncheon is funded by our Title V grant and is free to all attendees. Please RSVP.

Update: Council email (Grace Willerton)

New information has been added to the College Council website, https://losalamos.unm.edu/campus-life/college-council.html: current Bylaws; current
members, their contact information, term length, and constituency group; graphic for the Council Feedback form; upcoming meeting information, and an archive of previous meetings’ agendas and minutes.
College Council has also obtained a unique email address, which will fall under the Chancellor’s purview: UNMLACollegeCouncil@unm.edu

Meeting Agenda Items

Enrollment/Census Update (Danielle Gonzales)

The Executive Cabinet made a decision to offer more face-to-face classes in this spring 2025 term, and they anticipated a decline in headcount. The decline was more dramatic than they first estimated, with student headcount currently down 30% from last spring at the census date, February 7. The total spring headcount is 960 students. Student credit hours are also down 22.78%. To negate some of the impact of this decline, several latestart courses were added to the class schedule, most of which are online. Only one did not “make,” indicating that the other courses received enough enrollment to sustain their own cost. As the Executive Cabinet reflects on this decline, they believe it to indicate a preference from students for online course options. The summer 2025 schedule will offer almost all courses online. The fall schedule includes some first-half and second-half courses in sequence, like SPAN 1110 and 1120, offered online.

Dean Search Update (Irina Alvestad)

The search committee has hired an external company (standard procedure for a national search) to market and collect applications for a new dean. They have created a profile for the ideal candidate, and applications are already coming in. The search committee intends to start conducting virtual interviews with candidates through April and early May. Then they plan to invite a selection of candidates to campus to meet with various stakeholder groups and hold in-person interviews. Their goal is to select and hire a new dean by the beginning of the new fiscal year, July 1.

CCCSE Student Surveys (Anne Jarrett)

The Title V grant is funding UNM-LA’s participation in the CCCSE student survey again this year. The surveys will be distributed by paper in face-to-face classes and returned to Academic Affairs by April 25. Surveys will also be distributed by email, but students need only to fill out the survey once. Valida, our instructional researcher, is reviewing and organizing last year’s data. This year’s survey data is expected to come back in approximately six months.

Update: Communications Working Group (Anne Jarrett)

This working group identified concerns and needs across UNM-Los Alamos, as expressed by faculty, staff, and students anecdotally. The group will present recommendations to address these concerns and needs at the College Council meeting in May. The group plans to continue meeting and reviewing concerns on an ongoing basis.

Strategic Plan Update (Beth Rue)

The three writing groups tasked with creating goals for UNM-LA’s Strategic Plan were going to present their final drafts at this meeting for the UNM-LA community to review. Since we did not reach a quorum and had a small number of other attendees, Coco Rae recommended waiting until another time to present these goals. According to the original Strategic Plan timeline, these goals need to be reviewed, edited, and approved by the Council at the meeting on May 5. The Council called a special meeting on April 14 to have the writing groups present their goals and request feedback from the UNM-LA community. The feedback will be turned over to the writing groups for consideration and revision, and the final versions will be presented for approval at the next regular meeting.

Celebrations

My Favorite Lecture (Karen Williams)

An invitation-only lecture series has been created to thank donors for their support of UNM-LA. The first lecture in this series was given by Peninah Wolpo. The lecture received very positive, unsolicited feedback from the attendees. This series will also promote UNM-Los Alamos as a contributor to the intellectual stimulation and engagement of the community. The next lecture may be offered on a different day and during the evening. The topic will be presented by UNM-LA’s music appreciation instructor. The meal is funded by the Title V grant and will be opened to staff and faculty, too.

End of Meeting Items

Council requests for agenda items

Next meeting: SPECIAL MEETING called for Monday, April 14, 2025, at 2:15 PM by Zoom

Next regular meeting: Monday, May 5, 2025 at 2:15 PM

Adjournment at 3:31 PM

College Council Meeting Minutes - April 7, 2025