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Campus News - January 28, 2002 |
Kauffman redirects energy to teaching
By Michael Padilla
Dave
Kauffman considers himself the corporate memory of the UNM School of Engineering
(SOE).
Ask him a question about UNMs engineering programs and not only will
he answer it hell prove it to you. Its the engineer in him.
Kauffman says he can remember just about everything that has occurred at SOE since 1977. At the very least, he will point you in the right direction to obtain the information.
After serving as SOE associate dean for 15 years, Kauffman will resume his
duties as a full-time professor in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Department
this semester.
During his tenure as associate dean, he worked with five deansincluding
interims, helped thousand of students, assisted hundreds of faculty, and taught
a course or two each semester, except for one semester. He also kept up with
the latest issues in chemical and nuclear energy.
Its been fun, Kauffman said. I felt that Id been
in the job long enough, and I felt it was time for someone else to get things
done.
Kauffman says he is ready to concentrate on teaching and focus on helping students
achieve and grow. The best part of working with students is seeing the
growth that takes place, he said. I enjoy seeing them as freshmen
then as seniors.
Its a great challenge to be a professor, he said, adding
that many students say that he is demanding yet accessible and helpful. The
biggest challenge is keeping up to date and keeping it exciting from year to
year.
Kauffman is most proud of three major accomplishments as associate dean. The
first is leading SOE in three major accreditation visits, second is helping
to establish the Waste-Management Education and Research Consortium (WERC) Program,
a group for environmental education and technology development, and third is
assisting in the start up of instructional television (ITV) at UNM.
When I first started as associate dean, the school had just begun its
accreditation review, he said. Getting ready for an accreditation
visit is a major process. I had to find out what the accreditation review board
wanted and I made sure that they got what they asked for.
Serving as associate director for education in the WERC Program, which helps
students receive degrees or certificates in environment, waste, or related engineering
areas, Kauffman was instrumental in working with New Mexico State, New Mexico
Tech and Dine College.
One of the most gratifying factors was that we had schools working together,
he said. We helped more than 500 students in receiving their degrees.
The efforts of ITV at UNM had just begun when Kauffman began his tenure as
associate dean. Kauffman said he worked with Los Alamos and Sandia National
Laboratories and other government and industry sites in the state.
Kauffman said that UNM is a great place to be and does a great job in preparing
students for the workforce. Many of UNMs students go on to Stanford,
MIT and other universities to continue their graduate studies, he said.
That really tells you something about UNM.
Kauffman has been singing with the New Mexico Symphony Chorus for 20 years and serves as vice president for the group. His wife is also a singer in the group. In addition, he is a member of the St. Johns Episcopal Church choir in downtown Albuquerque. He is also an avid skier and enjoys traveling. His daughter is a veterinary technician in Santa Fe.
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