
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Media contact: Greg Johnston, 505.277.1816 or gregj@unm.edu
August 9, 2006
The University of New Mexico was recently awarded $100,000 by the McCune Charitable Foundation to support the Research Service Learning Program at University College. McCune funds will support community groups with whom the university will partner through July 2008.
McCune Foundation spokesman Norty Kalishman noted that McCune was impressed by the RSLP goals of combining meaningful research opportunities with community engagement. He said that Dean of University College Peter White's track record in producing successful, innovative undergraduate programs also played a role in McCune's decision to fund RSLP.
Albuquerque Community Foundation is a funding partner in the grant and will act as the re-granting agency for the RSLP community partners. The Research Service Learning Program is operated entirely with private funds, including over $200,000 this year from the UNM President's Club and $30,000 over three years from PNM.
Through RSLP and for the first time during a regular academic year, UNM undergraduates will conduct community-based research and simultaneously learn to respond to important social needs.
Five courses offered through the Research Service Learning Program share a common goal of moving students to respond to real-life human needs and concerns. The program is seen as an effort toward more socially relevant learning that should serve students well as they seek career employment or continue their learning in graduate programs.
“Employers and graduate programs want students who have a have a sense of the real world: how to work in it, the complexities of it and how to overcome obstacles,” said Dan Young, RSLP director. “These will be students who will have a wider range of practical skills and practical knowledge. I think they'll be more assertive and in a good sense, more worldly.”
Three Albuquerque neighborhood organizations are RSLP partners - La Mesa, Santa Barbara-Martinez Town and Barelas - and two non-profits – Project Share and the Endorphin Power Company, a rehabilitation center and program for alcohol and substance abusers created by UNM emergency medicine physician Sam Slishman.
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