Ivy Romero and Sharon Pacheco New Leaders for HU Alumni Association

 The New Mexico Highlands University Alumni Board has new executive leadership with Ivy Romero serving as president and Sharon Pacheco as vice president.
 

Romero earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from Highlands in 1990 and has served on the alumni board since 2007. In her new role as president, she is also a voting member for the New Mexico Highlands University Foundation Board.
 

Romero has also served on the Highlands University staff for nearly 15 years.

Since 2004, she has worked in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research as an associate. Romero is responsible for the university’s yearly reporting to the New Mexico Higher Education Department, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, and U.S. Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.  
 

Romero also collects and analyzes university data for statistical reports, and acts as a data resource for the university community.
 

Romero worked for the Registrar’s Office from 1996 to 2004, holding positions such as student data/special projects coordinator, student records specialist, and admissions assistant.
 

Romero said she wants to see more alumni involvement in alumni activities, and the Highlands University community. The Alumni Association is also seeking to expand its chapters.
 

“We currently have an active alumni chapter in Las Vegas, and we want to establish alumni chapters in Santa Fe and Albuquerque,” Romero said. “Then we’ll eventually move towards forming chapters in the Las Cruces and El Paso area.”
 

Romero said some recent Alumni Association initiatives include establishing a Parent’s Club this spring semester to increase interaction with parents of incoming students. Some parents in the new club are Highlands University graduates themselves.
 

The Alumni Association has also worked recently to improve data collection from graduating seniors to ensure they will be included in the association’s data base.

New Alumni Association vice president Sharon Pacheco earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Highlands in 1987.
 

Pacheco’s career in the Fourth Judicial District Court of New Mexico has spanned 23 years. For the past seven years, she has held the position of financial specialist. Pacheco’s accounting responsibilities include accounts payable and receivable, ledger maintenance, tracking inventory and assets, and more.

 

Prior to that, Pacheco served as the court/jury clerk for the Fourth Judicial District Court, which covers San Miguel, Mora and Guadalupe Counties.
 

“The Alumni Association gives me the opportunity to give back to the university I love, and it’s an honor to serve as vice president,” Pacheco said. “I received a good education at Highlands, and I attribute that to the smaller classes and the one-on-one attention from professors. This is a big advantage we offer our students.”