UNM’s Relationships with K – 12 Schools

• UNM has an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of education in New Mexico and needs to make an institution-wide commitment to high quality teacher preparation initiatives
• UNM needs to strengthen its capacity to support professional development of teachers and administrators
• UNM should initiate a teacher preparation advisory council involving faculty and school personnel to address teacher preparation issues and statewide needs
• Establish formal institution/collaboration mechanism to define academic competencies required for success at UNM
• Implement proposal for increased freshman admission requirements as approved by the Admissions and Registration Committee
• Expand the Concurrent Enrollment program

• Define role and relationships of the Branch and Main Campus
• Address curriculum articulation issues between the branches and main campus
• Institute the proposed model for “Joint Admission”
• Institute a formal mechanism to inform academic advisors of established articulation agreements and course equivalencies to provide improved academic advisement for transfer students

• As more demands are placed on state resources, UNM must inventory its degree programs and consider partnerships with other institutions to meet new and changing degree programs
• Systematically identify and publicize collaborative research and grant projects and their benefits to the State of New Mexico and beyond

• UNM needs to be aggressively at the forefront of changing technology and the delivery of education statewide

Membership:  Cynthia M. Stuart, Chair; Ignacio Cordova, Associate Provost; Liz Jenkins, CHE; Manny Rodriguez, Associate Superintendent, Rio Rancho Schools; Diego Gallegos, Assistant Superintendent, Albuquerque Public Schools; Peter Winograd, Director, Teacher Education, College of Education; Jane Bradley, Associate Dean, TVI; Viola Florez, Dean, College of Education – Liaison to Task Force

The charge of this committee was to address UNM’s Relations with Other Educational Institutions.  The committee approached its charge by addressing four broad areas as follows:  UNM’s relationships with K-12 schools; UNM’s relationships with two-year institutions; UNM’s relationships with other four-year institutions; and, finally, the role of technology in UNM’s relationships with other educational institutions.

A basic recurring theme which surfaced throughout this committee process was the need for collaboration and formation of innovative partnerships from K – 16 and beyond.  While demand for available state resources will intensify and funding for higher education may become more restricted, UNM, nonetheless, has an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of education in New Mexico by establishing new partnerships and relationships with other educational institutions.
 

I. UNM’s Relationships with K – 12 Schools

  A. Preparing Students for College
Each year the University of New Mexico enrolls a freshman class comprised of   80% to 86% graduates from New Mexico high schools, with 55% from APS or Rio Rancho school districts.  Academic preparation and the transition to higher education do not begin in the junior year of high school nor end with acceptance to the University.  It begins in middle school (if not before) and successful admission means success in college.

In order for students to be adequately prepared to enter college by the end of their senior year, it is imperative that they enroll in college preparatory courses beginning their freshman year in high school.  As the University continues to contemplate increased admission requirements, the institution has an obligation to work in concert with school districts to ensure that all students have an equitable opportunity to prepare for college.  The University has an obligation to collaborate with APS and Rio Rancho school districts to help set standards for learning that culminate in student readiness for post-secondary education or the workplace.

It is incumbent upon the University to develop partnerships with the faculty and administration charged with curriculum compliance and development to involve these individuals in conversations regarding curriculum alignment and vertical linkages.  Inherent in these partnerships is the need for engagement of parents in the planning of their student’s success.

Recommendations:

1. Create curriculum partnerships with UNM and school faculty and administrators to define academic competencies required for success in college courses.  Since initial course placement at UNM is determined on the basis of ACT scores, ACT’s “Standards for Transition” should be utilized as an initial baseline for discussion.
2. Pursue proposed changes to freshman admission requirements as recommended by the Office of Admissions, the Admissions and Registration Committee and Core Retention Committee
3. Provide more opportunities for high school students to engage in college level coursework by expanding UNM’s “Concurrent Enrollment” program.
4. Support AP New Mexico’s efforts to expand Advanced Placement course offerings in New Mexico high schools.
5. Provide regular feedback to high schools regarding their students’ performance in university courses and retention to degree completion

B. Preparing High Quality Teachers and Administrators
While all New Mexico institutions prepare approximately 1300 new teachers each year, the state, nonetheless, faces a shortage of about 1500 teachers annually.  An estimated 25% of New Mexico graduates accept positions in other states or choose not to teach.  Thus, New Mexico imports about one-third of its new teachers each year from other states.

Recent legislation establishing full-day kindergarten will double the number of kindergarten teachers needed in the next 3 to 5 years.  Based upon class size and projected student enrollments, New Mexico will need approximately 3626 more teachers in 2003 and 5034 teachers in 2008.  These factors, coupled with teacher retirements, suggest an annual teacher shortage of approximately 1500 teachers.
Preparing educators is a continuum that includes recruitment, initial preparation, induction, and professional development.  The most effective means to prepare educators is through partnerships.  UNM has created partnerships for teacher preparation through a variety of vehicles.  Examples include:

• Teacher preparation modules with all New Mexico two-year institutions;
• The articulation APS, UNM, TVI Pipeline Partnership in the Elementary Education AA degree program;
• Similar pipeline partnerships with SIPI and UNM Valencia;
• Teacher Education Program at UNM Gallup/Farmington;
• Title II Grant to Improve Teaching in New Mexico;

However, there remains great opportunity for institutions of higher education as stated in To Touch the Future:
The quality of the nation’s schools and teachers greatly matters to the public.  The performance of graduates of teacher education programs is increasingly visible.  Because of this heightened attention, the public’s impression of entire institutions will be influenced by the perceived quality of teacher education programs and graduates.  P. 17

However, teacher education programs can only be successful when all colleges of the University accept responsibility for teacher preparation.  Recent NCATE results point to severe deficiencies in students’ general education proficiency, or the Arts and Sciences courses. This fact supports President Gordon’s agenda for resurgence of undergraduate education.  Thus, it is imperative that the University make an explicit commitment to high quality teacher preparation from the institution as a whole.

UNM’s strengths have been to create partnerships for pipelines to prepare teachers to meet the growing demands for New Mexico.  However, there are more immediate needs expressed by our colleagues from the public schools.  UNM, as a research institution with a history of forming successful partnerships, has the capacity to provide expertise and resources to school districts to meet critical needs.  UNM needs to strengthen its capacity to support induction and professional development of both teachers and administrators.

• technology,
• special education,
• teaching to state and national content standards,
• teaching reading,
• teaching math and science,
• evaluation and alignment of curriculum,
• teacher evaluation,
• evaluating whether students have acquired the skills necessary to transition to the next grade level in content areas,
• understanding State accountability standards;
• training in a multi-cultural perspective;
• working with second language learners,
• strategies for teaching children of poverty;
• instructional strategies and teaching across the curriculum;
• data disaggregation for diagnostic and prescriptive procedures

II. UNM’s Relationships with Two-Year Institutions
New Mexico supports a unique educational governance structure in that it supports two parallel two-year educational systems:  one being the branch community colleges (of four year institutions), and the other being the independent community colleges.  This dual structure  presents both unique opportunities and challenges.

A. UNM Branch Campuses
The UNM Branch Campuses are ambassadors of UNM in their respective communities, and, often, the point of first contact with the Main Campus.  Through these Branches and Educational Centers, UNM increases its services to New Mexico and serves the higher education and training needs of local communities.  However, the governance structure presents challenges as well.  While branch campuses function much like community colleges in their need to be responsive to their constituencies, they are sometimes hampered by the governance structure of the University.

Individual academic departments have developed strong partnerships for program articulation, such as; Speech & Hearing, Early Childhood Education, the Upper Division Teacher Education Program, and others.

Areas which require attention include:

• The role and relationships of the Branches and the Main Campus requires definition and mutual agreement;
• Branch campuses must be included as partners with Main Campus initiatives conceived for communities where a UNM branch is located;
• Academic departments and faculty at the Branch Campuses and Main Campus must work together more cooperatively on general curriculum articulation, and faculty hiring.

There are several efforts which UNM should pursue to help strengthen partnerships with two-year institutions, to provide seamless movement from two-year institutions and to facilitate accessibility to higher education:

• Institute the model proposed for “Joint Admission”
• Institute a formal mechanism to inform academic advisors of established articulation agreements and course equivalencies efforts to provide better academic advisement to transfer students
• Involve more faculty in statewide articulation
• Expand the partnership with TVI to offer developmental courses to admitted freshmen during the summer instead of waiting until they enter in the fall.  Also, consider linking developmental courses to other regular freshman courses.
• Provide feedback to all two-year institutions on their students’ performance at UNM

UNM engages in numerous collaborative research partnerships and grant projects with other four-year institutions which benefit students, the community, the State of New Mexico and beyond.  The Committee recommends that these efforts be more systematically identified and publicized.

UNM also participates in collaborative efforts to encourage students to pursue graduate education and research through programs such as the Ron McNair Scholars Program and the Research Opportunity Program.

As more demands are placed on state resources, it is important for UNM to inventory its degree programs and consider partnerships with other institutions to meet new and changing degree program needs.  Collaboration on both traditional degree program delivery and emerging degree program needs is essential for UNM to sustain adequate resources to meet student needs.

IV. The Role of Technology in UNM’s Relationships with Other Educational Institutions

A thread running throughout the discussions of this committee was the recognition that in order to meet the demands for educational services new delivery models will be required.  Technology offers the potential to transform how educational opportunities are offered throughout New Mexico.  UNM must pursue these new models of delivery offered by evolving technology.