Spotlight
Ryan holds open Admissions door
By Carolyn Gonzales
Associate Director of Admissions Robin Ryan stood ready to
pinch hit for Director Cindy Stuart who was out of town. It
appeared a trip to Santa Fe to speak out against lowering admissions
standards for student athlete transfers was in order.
We are very much opposed to it. We maintain one set of
standards for all students. There are both constitutional as
well as NCAA concerns associated with lowering the standards,
Robin said. 
Talking to legislators demonstrates that working in Admissions
is not all about sitting behind a desk.
Although UNM is a big machine, the system itself is made up
of individuals.
We are a bureaucracy, but we are here to help the students
navigate through it, she said.
If a student must be denied admission, we work with them
to take courses at TVI or other two-year schools to boost their
skills, she said.
Robin recently helped a staff member whose son was attending
UNM while still in high school. A student can be enrolled
concurrently at UNM and in high school, she said.
A concurrent enrollment student must re-enroll each semester
and then apply for admissions when ready to attend UNM fulltime.
A native of Silver City, Robin has personal and family connections
around the state and to UNM.
She earned her undergraduate degree in English from the College
of Santa Fe. The City Different had been her home
away from home for many years. She earned a masters in
public administration from UNM in 1989.
Robin had twin brothers, Kerry, and Kevin, a 1984 graduate
of the UNM School of Architecture and Planning.
The running story in the family was that Kevin would
design a house and Kerry would build it, she said.
That was not to be. Kevin died of AIDS in 1991 (see accompanying
story below).
Her father, Murray Ryan, served in the State House of Representatives
for 30 years. Every year, mom and dad and the youngest Ryan
children plus the family dog trekked to Santa
Fe and lived there during the legislative session.
It was a wonderful growing up experience. I think we
were very fortunate, Robin said.