Then & Now
UNM alumni-faculty talk about changes they've seen at UNM since their student days here.
Four UNM faculty who were undergraduates at UNM took time away from papers, exams, and final grades to answer our questions about changes on campus—and in their outlook.
1. What changes have you noticed at the University since you were a student?
2. From a faculty perspective, has your assessment of UNM changed since you were a student?
Enrique Lamadrid, '70 BA, professor, Spanish & Portuguese; director, Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies
Here are some changes since I was an undergrad at UNM:
1. More ducks, more books, more students! And the Fallout Shelter signs were removed from Mitchell Hall. Seriously, UNM really is home for my family, who have been a part of the UNM family for three generations! In my classes, students often report that they are treated like family…
2. UNM is finally paying attention to undergrads and the concept and practice of learning communities. In 1966 I was discouraged by the huge classes. If it weren't for the 15 student seminars offered by University Honors (then called General Studies), I would have dropped out, been drafted, and sent to Viet Nam. Honors literally saved my life. Professors and senior teachers cared how my thinking and writing were developing. The other highlight was international studies, the Centro Andino that Professor Ulibarrí started. I have been dedicated to international studies ever since, and have led groups all over Mexico, Spain, and the Caribbean.
Baker Morrow, '69 BA, '97 MA, adjunct associate professor, Architecture & Planning
The answers to your questions might be as follows:
1. I now can see quite clearly how hard the university attempts to do what state universities do well: fulfill the very demanding social, developmental, and creative needs of their states and communities. For instance, UNM now has a first-class medical school; its engineering programs are comprehensive and far-reaching; its art history and photography programs take back seats to no one; and its architectural, planning, and landscape architectural teaching takes good design out into the community (from a brand-new building) on a statewide basis. Our research in molecular biology is prodigious. The law school is well known for—among other things—its Native American legal programs.
UNM does all this while maintaining a very strong emphasis on undergraduate liberal arts education, assisted by the almost too-good-to-be-true lottery scholarship. We certainly never had that in the sixties.
2. I always thought that UNM was a wonderful institution when I was a kid, but I grow more and more impressed these days at how dedicated a faculty it has. My colleagues engage their students with great enthusiasm and care; they enjoy passing on the collective knowledge of the human race to the next generation and they encourage their students to develop a strong interest in doing the same during their own productive years.
Rosalie Otero, '77 MA, '84 PhD, associate professor, University Honors Program; associate dean, University College
1. The changes at UNM have been huge. First of all, we're gone through numerous administrators, so there's been little stability at the top levels. On the positive side, we've gone through a building boom—UNM Hospital, architecture building, student residence centers, bookstore, remodeling of the SUB, the Frank Hibben building, a parking garage, and the new engineering building to name a few big projects. The requirements for students have changed as well with the addition of the core requirements, and new programs have been established such as Environmental Studies, a major in Native American Studies, and many others. Many of my former professors have retired. The campus remains beautiful with its unique architecture and parking is even more at a premium.
2. Yes, certainly. As a student, I was concerned about myself—getting into required courses with good faculty and completing my assignments well. I was concerned about making sure I completed all of my requirements and kept up a good GPA in order to graduate. I was anxious and sometimes downright vexed in trying to find a place to park.
As a faculty member, I'm interested in the students, wanting to make sure that we offer challenging courses and other educational opportunities that will help them to become well-educated. I'm concerned about the environment and milieu on campus and the governance of the university. I want UNM to be a fabulous place so that students can get an excellent education. So as faculty, I'm much more aware and concerned about the myriad academic issues that relate to the university community and, as always, finding a place to park.
Chuck Paine, '81 BS, associate professor, English
1. Students have much more money (or credit) than we did in the early 1980s—or at least they spend more money than we did. Nobody I knew had enough money to buy food at the SUB on a regular basis, let alone a decaf mocha latte every afternoon. America is just more prosperous now, and so our students. That's a good thing. There are more choices at the La Posada, and the portions are unlimited. It's more like a food court than the cafeteria-style eatery we had.
There's the new Student Union Building. Of course, there's no more bowling alley, but the SUB is now a great place to hang out with friends and faculty.
2. And of more real importance, are the exciting innovations in teaching that my colleagues are continually developing and using. Students have more choices, and professors are using an array of technology to engage students more deeply in disciplinary content and develop their critical thinking capacities.
There was nothing like the Freshman Academic Choices when I was a first-year student. There were no Freshman Learning Communities, Freshman Seminars, Freshman Interest Groups, or Living and Learning Communities. The Freshman Learning Communities (FLC) are especially rewarding. They give incoming students the chance to work with faculty members in small classes on a topic in the professor's area of expertise. I've participated in an FLC, and I can attest to their ability to inspire, engage, and explore the course material in exciting ways. Living and Learning Communities group students with similar academic interests together in special sections of the dorms.
Many professors are now using new media and other technologies to enhance the classroom learning experience. Hundreds of classes are enhanced with WebCT, which means students can participate in virtual discussions outside of class or work collaboratively on projects. This not only better prepares students for today's workplace but also makes learning more enjoyable. It also means, simply, that students spend more time engaging with the material. Other classroom technologies include "clickers." Each student has his or her own clicker, which they bring to class every day. Professors can use them to take roll, but more important they allow us to make any class—even a very large class—quite interactive. With clickers, the professor need not and should not lecture the entire sessions. Basically, the professor asks the whole class a question, gives them a moment to "vote," which provides instantaneous assessment of students' understanding, which gives the professor information about whether to move ahead or take a little more time on a topic. I've also seen professors use them to engage students in active engagement in "ill structured problems" that require students to gather together many ideas, perhaps consult with one another, and think through the problems, then perhaps think through them once again. Students need not and in fact cannot sit passively through long lectures. They participate.
To your last question about my overall assessment of UNM, well, it's a little hard to compare because our expectations were far different from today's students' expectations. However, I think UNM is overall a much more exciting place to live and learn. Don't get me wrong. I loved my undergraduate education here. I made lifelong friends, and because of the quality of my UNM education, I was admitted into a graduate school whose reputation was so good that UNM wanted to hire me years later. I just think the academics and student services have improved a great deal. It was a great place to be an undergraduate back then, but now it's a great place to come and study.