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Eliseo Torres 277-0952 Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920

March 13, 2002

TORRES NAMED CHAIR OF NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

University of New Mexico Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Eliseo "Cheo" Torres, was recently named chair of the Minority Undergraduate Fellows Program (MUFP) advisory board. MUFP is a program of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). NASPA is the voice for student affairs administration, policy and practice.

"I am honored that my colleagues at other universities in the country believed that I could lead the MUFP advisory board at a national level," said Torres.

The purpose of MUFP is to increase the number of ethnic-minority members or individuals with disabilities in student affairs and higher education.

"UNM is a major player in MUFP," Torres said. "We need more minorities in university administrative positions." Eight UNM staff will each mentor one or two students, or Fellows, providing them with a chance to see what a career in student affairs or higher education would be like.

Torres has personally worked with one or two fellows annually since 1997. "The fellows go with me to conferences, shadow me, attend meetings, and generally get exposed to the field," Torres said.

Another MUFP initiative is the Summer Internship Program. Fellows participate in paid internships at another institution to broaden their experience and perspective. "Twenty institutions are active in this eight-week program. We will have two fellows coming to UNM to work with the Summer Bridge Program, LOBOrientation and more. We also have UNM fellows who will go to work at another campus," he said.

Fellows are also invited to participate in the Summer Leadership Institute, to be held this year at Duke University and next year in Hawaii. With travel, room and board paid by MUFP, Fellows will take part in a four-day workshop focused on skill building and career development.

"The advisory board will work with our peers and NASPA at other universities to expand MUFP," said Torres.
He said that Congress recently awarded NASPA $250,000 to enhance MUFP to allow the program to include more fellows and mentors as well as increase the visibility of MUFP and NASPA. "We will be looking for additional funding from Washington and to the possibility of adding MUFP to existing congressional programs," he said.

Torres said the board will be conducting surveys of MUFP's effectiveness as well as marketing the program and looking to high schools to get students interested earlier.

"I encourage staff to be mentors to students on campus. We need better representation of all minority groups and the disabled in administrative positions in higher education," Torres said.

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The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981