Commencement 2025

Nov. 15, 2024

Dr. Neil Woolf profile image

Dear NMHU Community,

The Extended Cabinet held a retreat on October 15-16, 2024, focused on envisioning the institution’s desired future culture. Facilitated by consultants James Burke and Linda Pierce, the retreat aimed to shift from past challenges to a strength-based approach centered on gratitude. Participants engaged in collaborative activities, including a “tree of attributes” exercise, to identify key elements of a healthy organizational culture. Themes such as integrity, accountability, community engagement, adaptability, and well-being emerged as pivotal. The participants crafted draft culture statements emphasizing shared values, intentional leadership, and a commitment to fostering a supportive, resilient community.

These themes were consolidated during the second day, and participants developed actionable strategies for embedding the desired culture. Suggestions included creating a unified culture statement, integrating it into university operations, and promoting accountability through regular progress check-ins. Participants also explored the need for training in conflict resolution and proposed roles like a campus ombudsperson to sustain cultural initiatives. As a final step, attendees made personal commitments to drive cultural transformation and discussed next steps, including campus-wide engagement and the development of a culture assessment to measure progress.

As we embark on the upcoming legislative session, one of our main themes is rebuilding the Las Vegas campus. Our athletic facilities and student residence experience are substandard, and we are already working hard with the legislature and Governor’s Office to invest at NMHU. We have the opportunity to reimagine the student living experience and integrate academic spaces into new or remodeled residence halls. We are also grateful for the recent passage of General Obligation Bond 3, which now provides over $4 million for infrastructure improvements to the Ivan Hilton Science Building.

Some Recent Highlights:

  • I headed to Las Cruces on Sunday November 3rd–right after HACU in Denver, so a busy weekend! While down there, we had a wonderful Foundation event and then an exhibition men’s basketball game against NMSU. Sal & Christine Wright generously hosted the “Meet the President” event at their residence, and many thanks to them–it was eye-opening to see how much support NMHU has in the southern part of our state. I’m definitely going to have to visit Las Cruces more in the future.

  • That was quite a snowstorm! Oregon’s weather isn’t quite as extreme: it seemed like we went from sunshine to blizzard back to sunshine in the matter of a week. It was definitely peaceful looking out on a snowy campus from my office.

  • I continue to host a number of dinners at the president’s residence–this past week I had dinner with HU Cares on Wednesday. A dinner with the International Student Club executive members is scheduled for January. I’ve valued these opportunities to get to know the members of our campus community on a more personal level. If you haven’t been over to the house yet, we’re planning on having a Holiday Open House on December 19; more details to come.
  • Tisha and I along with other NMHU colleagues participated in the annual “Residence Life Just Checking In” event on Tuesday of this week where we visited students in their living space. During the event, we received valuable feedback on several key areas and ideas for events and activities that students would like to see in the residence halls. Well done to Joe Dominguez, Jacinda Woodruff, and the Residence Life Team. Below is a picture of me and the lucky students who won some awesome prizes.

  • Nick Pappas gave a reading from his recent book Crosses of Iron in the Joseph E. and Nancy Montay Student Union Building on Thursday. Crosses of Iron is about the two Dawson mining disasters that took place in the early part of the 20th century. It’s a fascinating piece of history, and many thanks to Mr. Pappas for presenting on our campus and Provost Gonzales for organizing this event:

Upcoming Events:

  • It’s senior day for both football and volleyball this Saturday–this is your last chance this season to come and support those teams and our student athletes.
  • The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) will be on campus on Monday, November 18, and Tuesday, November 19, for their final review of our Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. If approved, this will be the first doctoral level degree to be offered by a comprehensive university in New Mexico, and we all know that Nursing and health care is an essential need here in Northern New Mexico. I know this has been a long process, and many thanks to everyone who has helped get us to this point, including Provost Roxanne Gonzales, AVPAA Ian Williamson, Nursing program director Jeanie Flood, and the many nursing faculty and staff who have contributed to this exciting project. I’d like to particularly thank Dr. Alice Davis and Victoria Stark-Romero, who have been the leads on drafting the proposal and organizing the visit.
  • On Friday, November 22nd, I will be making a visit to the Rio Rancho center to learn more about our Education programs and our partners such as SIPI. I’ve been to the Rio Rancho center several times before for meetings such as the Board of Regents, but this will be my first chance to interact with our students.
  • The HU Singers are set to perform this Friday in Ilfeld Auditorium at 7:00 PM.
  • We’ve got a good slate of upcoming holiday events–many thanks to Shawna Wangseng for helping to organize these:

Congratulations:

Well done to Kate Rayner, junior forward for our Women’s Soccer Team, who received an Honorable Mention for the All-RMAC Team. Additionally, Kate, along with her following teammates, were honored for the achievements in the classroom. The following were recognized as 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic Honor Roll:

Freshman Weldon Chebon of the NMHU’s Cross Country Team finished in 8th place in Saturday’s South Central Regional Championships at Denver’s Washington Park. He finished the snow covered 10k course in 31:32.7 (the fastest freshman in the race), which qualified him for the NCAA Division II Championships. Making the story that much more remarkable is that before this week Chebon, a native of Tombora, Kenya, had never seen snow, let alone raced in it.  According to NMHU Cross Country Coach Bob DeVries,  the trip up I-25 to Denver, which normally takes five hours, turned into an 11 hour adventure through western Colorado to get to the race.

Photographer: Edward Jacobs Jr.

Congratulations to Dr. Jodi Burshia, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Education in the Department of Teacher Education at New Mexico Highlands University and colleagues Dr. Robin Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn, University of Oklahoma; Dr. Shawn L. Secatero, University of New Mexico; and Dr. Catherine N. Montoya, New Mexico State University on their new book!

Indigenous Educational Leadership Through Community-Based Knowledge and Research highlights the Native American Leadership in Education (NALE) heartwork. The edited collection illuminates the beauty and essence of NALE, which uniquely conceptualizes Indigenous leadership identity, philosophy, community leadership, and research in ways that have empowered students and graduates to conceptualize and live out their ancestors’ prayers and legacy. The editors provide samples of how they have achieved this through the sharing of some of the NALE graduates’ and current students’ heartwork. Collectively, the chapters provide a lens through which we can view and center Indigenous educational leadership.​

If you have an item or event you’d like to be featured here, please forward that to your respective Vice President.

Respectfully,

Dr. Neil Woolf
President
New Mexico Highlands University