The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

Contact : Carolyn Gonzales, 277-5920
cgonzal@unm.edu

March 12, 2008

UNM Parent Association Recognized as Official by Board of Regents

Parent Association President Maria Probasco with Dr. and Mrs. Schmidly

The University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents voted to approve UNM’s first official Parent Association today at its full board meeting.

Regents’ President Jamie Koch signed a memorandum of understanding with the association giving parents a role in university governance. The Parent Association president will give a report on behalf of all parents at each full Board of Regents meeting.

UNM’s new association is dues-free and empowers families to play a supportive role in higher education, promotes initiatives to increase student success and provides a forum for parent and student networking.

Parent Association officers are parents of current students and hold two-year terms. The recently elected board has 19 members, including President Maria Probasco, Vice President Heyam Kassicieh, Treasurer Angela Koury, Treasurer-Elect Cathy Kidder, and Secretary Denise Tessier. Janet Schmidly, former classroom teacher and wife of President David J. Schmidly, is the president’s voting designate. Alexandra Roark was elected the voting student designate.

Upon her arrival at UNM, Janet Schmidly joined UNM’s fledgling, grassroots Parent Advisory Board and the president made it a strategic goal to support the group. The Schmidlys formed a Parents Association at Oklahoma State University, which became nationally recognized.

“My goal in the coming year is for the association to establish three Parent Clubs in New Mexico, perhaps in Farmington, Hobbs and Gallup. This will keep our parents connected and in touch with one another,” Schmidly said.

Probasco is a former president of the Alamogordo School Board and ushered two students through the UNM system. She is currently parenting a sophomore.

Goals for her term as association president include:

• Increasing association membership in partnership with organizations such as ENLACE ( ENgaging LAtino Communities for Education initiative) and GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs)
• Advocating on issues directly affecting student success
• Assisting in realizing the university’s one-stop-shop concept
• Generating funds for association operations and scholarships

The association has eight standing committees active in event planning, mentoring, multicultural issues, student recruitment and persistence and fundraising. Chairs include parents Maria Acosta, Aaron Baca, Christina Kitsos, Tom Root and Nieves Torres.

The Parent Association is a non-profit organization working in accordance with the university and in compliance with UNM policies and procedures. Division of Student Affairs Vice President Eliseo Torres serves as administrative liaison. Parent Relations Office Manager Laurie Mellas serves as the association’s executive director.

“Parents and families are an integral part of our students’ lives. We’ve incorporated family support into many of our student affairs initiatives,” Vice President Torres said. “The association will boost parent participation to levels that will make a visible difference in student education at UNM.”

For more information, call 277-5915, email parent@unm.edu or visit http://parent.unm.edu.