
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627
kwent2@unm.edu
July 16, 2007
University of New Mexico interim Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Viola Florez today announced two new appointments to her executive staff. Terry Babbitt has been named interim vice president for enrollment management and Rita Martinez-Purson has been appointed interim vice president for institutional diversity.
“We’ve been working hard to assemble a leadership team that can manage every aspect of academic affairs,” said Florez. “I’m very pleased that individuals of this caliber are willing to step into these critical roles.” She added that national searches for these positions would take place this fall.
As interim vice president for enrollment management, Terry Babbitt will lead a division that combines the present offices of admissions and recruitment, scholarship, financial aid, and the registrar. He brings over fifteen years of experience in enrollment management at the University of Oklahoma and the University of New Mexico to his new role, including his current service as associate vice president for enrollment management. During his tenure at UNM, the university has significantly increased its market share of New Mexico high school graduates and nearly doubled the size of its freshman classes. Babbitt holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of New Mexico.
As interim vice president for institutional diversity, Rita Martinez-Purson will help to create a new office at UNM charged with providing strategic leadership in initiatives related to increasing and maintaining diversity within the University system and community. Martinez-Purson brings to this position more than 22 years of senior administrative leadership, including positions as interim president of Santa Fe Community College (SFCC), human resources group leader at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and dean of continuing education and workforce development at both SFCC and UNM. As dean of continuing education at UNM for the past 4 years, she has managed 46 staff employees and more than 400 instructors while managing an annual budget of $8 million. Martinez-Purson has also been very active in diversity activities both on-campus as well as through statewide initiatives like the Diversity Leadership Council. She holds an Ed.D. in Education Administration and Leadership as well as a M.A. in Public Administration from UNM. She also held a year-long advanced leadership institute fellowship for minority-serving Institutions from 2005-2006.
Note: If you would like photos, please email kwent2@unm.edu
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