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The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE



Media contacts: Susan McKinsey, UNM, 277-1989
Brad Moore, CNM, 224-4423

August 14, 2007

UNM, CNM Approve Partnership To Provide Education

The Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico and the Governing Board of Central New Mexico Community College today have each approved a memorandum of agreement to work together to provide higher education, career development, skill development and lifelong learning opportunities for the citizens of New Mexico. This signals a new partnership between New Mexico’s flagship research university and the leading community college in the state.

As part of the agreement, UNM and CNM will also work together to provide for the higher education needs of Rio Rancho, including jointly establishing a Rio Rancho campus.

“Our bottom line is student success,” said UNM President David J. Schmidly. “Working with CNM, we can provide for the varied needs of New Mexico students while keeping focused on the ultimate goal of seeing they earn a degree.”

“For the state of New Mexico, this is an important and groundbreaking agreement between a university and a community college,” said CNM President Katharine Winograd. “This agreement is focused directly on student success and it will help move higher education in New Mexico in a more progressive and effective direction.”

Among the provisions in the agreement, UNM and CNM will work together to:

  • Develop joint initiatives such as 2+2 programs, dual enrollment collaboration and Gateway programs.
  • Embrace opportunities for creating seamless enrollment and financial aid processes.
  • Provide selected shared services.
  • Share data to monitor and address student success issues.
  • Develop a schedule of non-duplicated courses to meet the needs of Rio Rancho, with lower division courses offered through CNM and upper division and graduate courses offered by UNM.
  • Jointly establish a comprehensive facilities master plan in Rio Rancho and establish a higher education campus. The first instructional building will be built and owned by CNM with planned course offerings from both institutions.
As part of the agreement, the two institutions also commit to supporting each other in upcoming elections in Rio Rancho. UNM will actively support the election to expand CNM’s district to include all of Rio Rancho and CNM will support the gross receipts tax election to be held by UNM in Rio Rancho.

The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

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