WNMU holds annual Bash to welcome students to the fall semester 081718

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 21 August 2018 21 August 2018

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy, unless otherwise noted.

Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard gave his annual state of the university speech at the Welcome Bash for students coming for the first time or returning to the university for the fall semester.

"What's going on at the university?" Shepard asked and answered. "This year begins my eighth year as president of Western. Every year there is the rumor that I'm going to leave. Guess what? I’m still here. Each year I stay, it becomes more exciting. We are a university making progress. What have we done? The pool was closed down because of a 9,000 gallon leak a day when I came. Now we have the fitness center and a salt-water pool. Light Hall was basically abandoned. Now it's a movie theater, with refurbished classrooms. Parking lots got paved. Chino and Juan Chacon were under construction. They are now finished. All the lights were replaced with LEDs. And that's just on the outside."

He talked about what was happening underneath. "When I came we had bandwidth of about 40 Mb. Now we have more than 1 Gb of bandwidth. We went from having about 12 percent of our classes online and now it's about 47 percent. We have gone to now having students who live in Mustang Village and take all their classes online. We changed athletic conferences from the Rocky Mountain to the Lone Star Conference."

"In 2011, we were using financial reserves to pay for the operating budget," Shepard reported. "Now we have about $6 million in reserves."

He said one of his most memorable moments when he was interviewing was that he was in the car with then-Regent Tony Trujillo driving. "He rolled down his window when he saw two people with books. It was the Southwest Festival of the Written Word happening. I said I presumed it was held at the university, and he said, no, it wasn't. Now, we have special relationships and partnerships between the town and the university. Concerts start again in September. A university isn't just for academics, but also culture. What if WNMU wasn't here? What if the legislators said New Mexico has too many universities? We don't need Western. The university is part of the community and the university brings culture to the community."

Shepard talked about the construction along College Avenue and that some drivers are probably frustrated by it. "To me, it's not frustrating, because that is progress. We will have landscaping, trees with twinkle lights around them. You will know you're in the university district. It's a collaboration of the university with the Town Council. We also collaborate with Grant County. The big board on the Conference Center has our ad on it. The county joined with us to do more. We can do more with collaborations and partnerships."

He continued highlighting projects. "Where the Mustang is now, we are creating a fountain, with a waterfall feature flowing. It's a place to take photos, for instance, after graduation."

Eckles Hall will get torn down. "First, we'll put grass there, then it will become a multiple use building for volleyball and basketball. We want an improved stadium with lights. If you move up the hill, and you have not had an opportunity to go to the museum, do so when it reopens. It is a transformation bringing back the old and tying it in with the new. It has the most fantastic collection of Mimbres pottery in the world. It's our treasure. It's a community treasure. Behind the museum, we built a chemical building, which will be used to store the chemicals for the science classes. We will have a conversation space with a pedestal for a raven sculpture near Light Hall. I want to turn the campus into an arboretum."

Shepard said he gets the question, "'Why, if everyone is taking online classes, are you making the campus beautiful?' We are becoming an Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences College. That includes dialogue and critical thinking. The majority of that happens outside the classroom. We have political division because we hide behind screens."

An Einstein's Bagels is coming to the campus. "You can buy a bagel and have it with a cup of joe and conversation."

"We want to turn Old James Stadium into an entertainment amphitheater," Shepard said. "Students are coming from all over the world."

As for enrollment, he said it is basically flat with the number of students up and the number of credit hours down. "But UNM is projecting a 5 percent loss of students. Others in the state are also projecting decreasing enrollment."

"Each year, we replace about one-third the student population," Shepard said. "Some graduate and some stop going to college. We lose about 1,000 students annually. Other universities are the same. Thanks to our marketing team, who are putting up billboards, online ads and advertising in local papers, we are not a university in crisis. We're not having to cut sports."

He said his No. 1 priority is to get more compensation for the university. "Our faculty is at the lower end of the pay scale. We need to pay them more to build up the local economy. "

"Another way to acquire specialized funding is the general obligation bond, which comes up for a vote every two years, and it's this year," Shepard said. "It it's passed, no one's taxes go up. If it fails, they go down a few dollars. If it passes, we receive about $6 million, which would let us finish the science building and complete infrastructure improvements. We hire local contractors, who go to Diane's to eat lunch, which pays the server, who goes to Albertson's and buys groceries. It's about economic development and support of the community."

He said if the university were to shut down, it would have a negative impact on the community. "It's the collaboration between the town and the university that have made College Avenue's improvements possible.

"Thank you for a wonderful journey," Shepard concluded. "I'm privileged to be here, and I thank you for your support."

Nick Seibel, Silver City Daily Press publisher, asked about Ritch Hall.

"We are renovating it for Aldo Leopold to hold high school classes starting Sept. 1," Shepard said. "Many of the students are in dual enrollment, so it puts them closer to those classes, too. That's another community partnership. College Avenue we expect to be complete in November."

Seibel asked how much is being renovated at Ritch Hall.

"As much as we can and still use it as a dorm for international students when they come to town for programs," Shepard said.

He also recognized Rep. Rodolpho "Rudy" Martinez. "He sits on the state appropriations committee. Our university has received a higher percentage of funds because of Rep. Martinez. You are changing the face of the university."

Shepard encouraged those attending his speech to go outside and participate in the games and activities.

{{{_source.title}}} {{#_source.showPrice}} {{{_source.displayPrice}}} {{/_source.showPrice}}

WNMU holds annual Bash to welcome students to the fall semester 081718

Content on the Beat

Submitting to the Beat

Editor's Notes