NAFSA: Region II

New Mexico

Most Recent NAFSA Region II Annual State Report

This report summarizes the activities, events, and other news of each state of NAFSA Region II and will be posted on the Region II web site, after the annual Fall Conference. The following information must be provided under the section headings as indicated:

Academic Year: 2004-2005

Representative: MYRIAM MUNOZ

Representative’s Contact Information:
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
INTERNATIONAL ADMISSIONS
STUDENT SERVICES BLDG SUITE 300
ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87131

(505) 277-7603
FAX (505) 277-7603
myriam@unm.edu

PART I: Briefly list and describe events (including dates) that took place in the state during the past academic year. Include events such as conferences, workshops, meetings, or other noteworthy events related to international education.

Events:

Hispanic association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) International Conference-Santa Fe, New Mexico. Spring 2005
International workshop for overseas and U.S. advisors AP (Advance Diploma)-Montezuma, New Mexico. Summer 2005
International meeting CONSUPE. Representatives from Latin American institutions and the Organization of Americas States for virtual education. Albuquerque, NM. Summer 2005
Trilateral Consortium International Reunion- Representatives of educational institutes from Mexico and Canada to promote international bridge programs at UNM. Albuquerque, NM. Summer 2005
UNM, NMSU, NMIMT named in America’s top 100 best college buys (2005)

PART II: List and briefly describe on-going activities of the state related to membership services, advocacy, governance, outreach, or any other effort related to the strengthening of international education and exchange.

Governor Richardson signed the proclamation for International Education Week. November 2005
NMIEC and a student group at UNM - the Study Abroad Association are actively working to get the NM State government to adopt a policy on international education. On going

College of the Southwest:
Cultural PRIDE is the international student club on campus. Students from all foreign nations on campus as well as American Indian/Native American students join together for activities and cultural exchanges

New Mexico Highlands University

International Education Week events

Gathering of Nationalities shows.
This will be the third year. The theme will be "World Safari". Students will perform, do short skits. We will hand out
Binoculars to each person who attends. We will decorate the theater in a safari theme; ushers and MC's will be dressed in Safari outfits. We will also hold an international bake sale during intermission.
National Mix it Up at Lunch Day.
Ice cream social in the cafeteria. The objective of the day is that staff and students will need to sit at a table with people they don't know.
Foreign film movie night.

New Mexico Tech

Foreign film movie series
International potluck for students, faculty and staff.
In April we plan to hold our international week by having the Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble (SYTE) come to Tech and having a international sports night to introduce sports that may not seem to be played as much here in the NM. We plan on having Cricket, Table Tennis, Badminton and others. We plan to open it to the whole community. Other plans are to have a learn to dance night. We will wrap it up with Dinner on Friday night followed up by the SYTE and then Saturday having a Global Village Day. We have also made arrangements with the Food Service Dept. to serve an international theme for that week as well. All of these events will take place in April of 2006 but will be held in Nov. 2006 to coincide with International Education Week.

New Mexico State:

March 4-5, 2005 hosted the annual International Festival, which included 16 country & regional displays, music and dancing, and international food samples. Friday, March 4th was School Day, which was visited by 350 students from local schools. The second day of the Festival is open to the community.
September 11th was the second annual international student welcome picnic sponsored by the local Rotary Clubs and the Office of International Programs.
This year's Homecoming theme is "Aggies Around the World" and the NMSU international students are the honored grand marshalls at the parade on October 29th. International student associations and the Study Abroad Office will also set up displays in the student union during Homecoming week. NMSU also had two recruiting trips to Chihuahua, Mexico and additional recruitment was done through the Grad School.

The University of New Mexico:

Annual International festival first week of November- Featuring dances and food from around the world.
Approximately 1,500 people attended last fall.
Weekly social hour- Games, activities and food for international students and friends. Approximately 50 students per week meet.
Organized trips - Taos, San Francisco, Grand Canyon, Acoma and the International Balloon fiesta for International students. Aprox. 40 international students participate.
International couples monthly events-Cultural and social activities for spouses and families of international students.
Global Learning Community- 25 former exchange programs participants (domestic students) and international students share housing at UNM apartments.
Garage give away- Members of the community donate items for international students
Friendship Family Program- International Programs matches families in the community with international students to share life events such as Thanksgiving, picnic etc.
Freshman track international curriculum- Ken Carpenter teaches a class with emphasis in the international area. This class became part of the core curriculum for students as one of the strategies for campus internationalization.

PART III: Provide any other news that highlights individual or institutional accomplishments or issues in the state, i.e., travel grants, other awards, retirements, mention in media, contributions to the Region II or NAFSA, etc.

University of New Mexico:

UNM received a grant for Latin American recruitment. Thanks to Senator Shannon Robinson for his advocacy.
VP of Student Affairs, Dr. Eliseo Torres created the International Bridge Programs: Groups of students, professors and public employees from overseas spend 2-3 weeks at UNM learning about college life in the U.S. and they also participate in research projects. Mexico, El Salvador and Colombia are some of the countries currently participating in these programs.
Mavel Moreno (Special Programs LAO) traveled to Mexico to give orientation talk to prospective participants for the International Bridge program
Myriam Munoz (International Admissions) traveled with LINDEN to 9 countries in Central and South America for recruitment. International Admissions also participated in the ITESM international college fair around 7 cities in Mexico, and The American School and Jefferson School college fairs in Mexico and Guadalajara.
Robyn Cote (Latin American and Iberian Institute) participated in the CONACYT College fair in Mexico City and Queretaro. She also traveled to Spain, Peru and Bolivia to promote the exchange programs
Cindy Stuart, Director of Admissions, retired after more than 28 years of service at UNM. Cindy and Dr. Torres are the first people who started the international recruitment efforts at the Admissions Office.
Terry Babbitt was appointed as Interim Director of Admissions. He is also Director of Recruitment Services.
Cynthia Radding was hired as the Director of Latin American and Iberian Institute
Ivette Goldfrank was hired as an international advisor. She also traveled to Venezuela to recruit students
Linda Melville is the NM liaison for Government issues and advocacy regarding international education
Paul Nathason created and currently coordinates the international task force group at UNM
Ken Carpenter and Robyn Cote organized the first Study Abroad fair at UNM
UNM has 228 international scholars and 857 international students representing 87 countries.
25 international agreements have been signed in 2004-2005.

College of the Southwest:
CSW received new international students for FA-05 from: Romania, Ireland and Canada CSW also has international students from: Serbia, India, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Mexico, Korea, Japan

Institute of American Indian Arts
From Kyoto to Santa Fe
Traveling 6155 miles from his home in Kyoto, Japan, a city of 1.5 million residents, to the IAIA campus in Santa Fe, a city of 65,000 residents was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for exchange student Taketo Yamashita. Terri Sjoblom, IAIA’s registrar, said that attracting overseas students like Taketo is one of the Institute’s recruitment goals. “Our International Program is on its way to being established,” she says. “It’s a program that will bring diversity to the IAIA campus. This year we’ve had students from China, Japan, Canada and South America. Next year we’ll continue to have international students, including at least one more Japanese student.”

IAIA Hosts Russian Visitors
In April, a group of visitors from west Siberia were welcomed to the IAIA campus as part of a tour of Indigenous communities sponsored by the Buffalo Trust. Representing the Khanty and Mansi cultures, five Siberians and one Russian comprising the group sought to gain an understanding of how Native cultures in New Mexico work to maintain the integrity of their Tribal languages, ceremonial traditions, and familial structures.

Santa Fe Community College:
Admitted three students for the fall 2005 semester from the following countries: Nigeria, England, and Nepal. SFCC Helped two students transfer from SFCC to UNM for the fall 2005 semester. Two international students graduated with an Associate of Science Degree in Computer Science and Associate in Applied Science in Computer and Information Technology.

New Mexico Tech
Has over a 140 international students and over 45 faculty/staff from more than 50 countries.

New Mexico State:
There are 755 International students from 76 countries enrolled at NMSU for the Fall 2005 semester. This represents a 1.5% decrease from Fall 2004. The International Programs Office had two recruitment trips this year to Chihuahua, Mexico and additional recruitment is through the Grad School.

Special thanks to the people who helped me to write this report:

Terry Sjoblom, Institute of American Indian Arts
Karen L. Workentin, College of the Southwest
Anna Tupler, Santa Fe Community College
Tina Clayton, New Mexico Highlands University
Samter, Brandon New Mexico Tech
Mary Jaspers New Mexico State
Robyn Cote, University of New Mexico
Linda Melville, University of New Mexico
Eliseo Torres, University of New Mexico