College Council Meeting Minutes

Monday, April 14, 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

This meeting was recorded in order to be available to UNM-LA community members. It should be available through Microsoft Teams to everyone who was invited to the meeting by Beth Rue.

Meeting Agenda Items

UNM-LA Strategic Plan Review (Beth)

The Council called this special meeting to have the writing groups present their goals and request feedback from the UNM-LA community. The UNM-LA community will receive an online form through which they can provide feedback on any specific goals or metrics or on the Strategic Plan as a whole. The feedback will be turned over to the writing groups for consideration and revision on Monday, April 28. Writing Groups will make edits to the original spreadsheet of goals, in red font, by May 1. The final versions will be presented for approval at the regular College Council meeting on May 5.

Writing Group 1 (Grace Willerton)

The theme that guided this writing group was “Enhancing and Engaging Our Community.” The group was made up of Grace Willerton, academic and career advisor; Ivette Jimenez, administrative assistant to Academic Affairs; Greg Scargall, recruiter and dual credit liaison; Janice Krish, coordinator for the Small Business Development Center; and Audrey Marroquin, former coordinator for Community Education and Continuing Education.
The first goal in this theme is to make UNM-LA a community hub by increasing facility rentals, customized training, certifications, Community Ed. programs, and collaborative events on campus. Another metric is to create a daycare center and training center for parent-students in the early childhood development program, soon to be extended to academic certificate and associate degree programs, and for parent-students and community members to use. Other goals focus on supporting local business economies through the Small Business Development Center’s services and workshops, targeting outreach and collaboration with neighboring Pueblos, and strengthening our HispanicServing (HIS) reputation and student support.

Writing Group 2 (Beth Rue)

Group 2 included Beth Rue, Marketing Manager, Danielle Gonzales, Student Services Director, and Crystal Gonzales, Business Operations Director. It previously included Cindy Leyba, Human Resources tech, and Ingrid Goldsmith, Admissions specialist, but these two left UNM-LA during the group’s meeting times.
The theme for this writing group was to invest in and develop our campus. The goals focus on improving internal communication, connection, and collaboration across all UNM-LA stakeholders—faculty, staff, and students. One goal lays out a plan for weekly updates from all departments on campus. identified housing needs and will be measured by researching options within the community. Another goal includes improvements to the campus buildings and facilities. This group also targeted opportunities to build relationships between staff and faculty and to provide more professional development opportunities.

Writing Group 3 (Anne Jarrett)

Group 3 was made up of Anne Jarrett, Title V Grant coordinator, Coco Rae, Student Success Manager, and Paul Allen, Dean of Instruction. Paul also left during the time of this group’s meetings, so the group added Irina Alvestad, Associate Dean, and Jef Bateman, Sr. Student Success Specialist.

The theme of focus for this group was improving student experiences and outcomes. The goals they identified include strengthening our academic programs; increasing retention rate of students in high-demand and high-impact programs; and enhancing student support services like academic coaching, curriculum alignment, and targeted advising. This goal will require significant data recording and tracking. Another goal focuses on increasing students’ mental health support, engagement on campus, and career readiness. Measures for this goal include student satisfaction rates, expanded number of resources, and the utilization of these resources. Related to current retention initiatives, Anne referenced the Early Alert system of support for struggling students, where faculty initiate the alert and advisors reach out to the students. This initiative has a 60% positive outcome for students, according to the Title V grant research from last year. This group also identified the need for a full-time staff member to manage our Accessibility programs and services across campus and bring us into compliance with federal laws.
Fundraising and building alumni networks were also included in the goals from this group to bolster outreach, support, and networking for current students, too.

At this time, the spreadsheet of goals will be sent out again, along with a Microsoft Form through which UNM-LA constituents will be able to offer feedback on these goals. The feedback form will be open through Sunday night, April 27. On Monday, April 28, the feedback will be sent to the Working Groups for consideration. Any changes to the goals will be entered on the original spreadsheet in red font by the end of the day on Thursday, May 1. The final spreadsheet, with recommended changes, will be distributed to the UNM-LA community one final time, so we can review it and bring it to the College Council to vote on it during the last meeting of the year, May 5.

End of Meeting Items

Council requests for agenda items

Approve both March and April 2025 meeting minutes

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

Adjournment at 3:39 PM

College Council Meeting Minutes - April 14, 2025