Sodexo, the company that prepares and serves food for Main, Montoya and Westside campuses will be ready to switch to more locally grown foods if it is requested by the administration, said Sodexo Campus Services General Manager Greg Fullmer.
Fullmer’s comments came after the New Mexico Grown Fresh Produce for Meals Bill, HB338 passed the committee and moved to the Finance and Appropriations committee.
The bill would mandate that funding be provided for New Mexico K-12 public and charter schools for the purchase of local fruits and vegetables for school meals beginning in 2014, according to the New Mexico legislature website.
Administration members of CNM control pricing and food choices in the cafeterias, so if they request a change in menu, Sodexo will make the changes, he said.
Instructors were recently asked by the Marketing and Communications Department to take a survey regarding past payroll difficulties in an attempt to streamline the payroll process.
The online survey was available to part and full time instructors from Feb. 11 to Feb. 22 as a way for instructors to give their opinions and ideas on how to better handle faculty payroll, said Director of Marketing and Communications Brad Moore.
Faculty members’ pay can be tricky because of added or dropped classes, special projects and added assignments, which have caused errors on some paychecks, he said.
“The project team is looking into the payroll process for possible areas for improvement to make sure all paychecks are accurate the first time to avoid having to make adjustments on the next paycheck,” said Moore.
New legislation to the Film Bill could raise the Tax Incentive cap for the filming industry, and film students as well as local members of the film industry could be affected by these changes for the better.
The “Breaking Bad bill” would raise the tax incentive for television shows filmed in New Mexico that hire New Mexico residents for 60 percent of their crew from 25 percent to 30 percent as an offset to the $50 million cap that was placed on the incentive in 2011.
The bill has already passed the House of Representatives and is moving onto the Senate, according to the New Mexico Legislature website.
Full-time Film Instructor and Local 480 Film Technician Union member Jim Graebner said raising the bill is crucial because it means there will be more opportunities for television shows to be filmed in New Mexico.
Admi n i s t r a t i o n should begin offering healthy food options in the cafeteria now, rather than waiting to consider the idea after the health food bill for K-12 students passes.
In “Healthy options may be coming soon to campus cafeterias” on the front page, Marketing and Communications Director Brad Moore was quoted as saying that CNM would discuss the possibility of healthier foods in the cafeteria only after the bill passed for public and charter schools. This is, at best, an irresponsible idea.
The cafeterias on Main, Montoya and Westside campuses offer no meals that are healthy and substantial in size.
Cosmetology graduate Molly Erickson is the proud owner of Brilliant Hair Studio, she said.
The full service salon was formed in 2010 by Erickson and her business partner Kerry Dickson, but it never would have happened were it not for the education she received at CNM, said Erickson.
“I probably would have never opened a salon had I never gone there. I wouldn’t know where to start and I know I wouldn’t be a third of the hairstylist I am if I hadn’t gone to CNM,” she said.
The Cosmetology program focuses on several aspects of the beauty industry, and gave her a well-rounded education that has impressed veteran stylists, she said.
The New Day Youth and Family Services organization is introducing a transitional living program for 17 to 21 year olds, said New Day Housing Continuum Director and Life Skills Academy Director Evone Zander.
To join the transitional living program, students are required to fill out a confidential online application form at http://www.ndnm.org and attend the life skills academy for one month.
While in the application process, students can elect to stay at the group’s shelter and will work with a specialist to determine if they are classifiable as homeless, she said.
“Helping people while educating them to survive in the world today is our main goal,” said Zander.
Main campus hosted more than 2,000 middle and high school students during a recent open house to promote the trades programs, said Hospitality and Tourism Instructor Dr. David Mack Jackson.
Tours were held throughout different buildings on campus during the Feb. 22 event to educate students on the various programs through hands on, visual learning, he said.
“The first goal is to increase awareness so the community knows what we do here. The second goal is to try to get them to come to CNM, so they’ll know the options that they have,” he said.
The Marketing and Communications Office put together the event with the help of dozens of volunteers that included staff and students, he said.
By: Jyllian Roach, Editor-In-Chief | Photo By: Scott M. Roberts, Art Director
While Miss Albuquerque, Stephanie Chavez will focus on child literacy.
Communications major Stephanie Chavez has won the title of Miss Albuquerque 2013.
Chavez won the title on Feb. 9 after previously winning the titles of Miss Doña Ana County 2012 and Miss Albuquerque 2012, she said.
“It feels great. It’s a little surreal, just getting used to the title, but I’m just staying in school and keeping things as normal as possible,” she said.
Chavez’s goal as Miss Albuquerque is to focus on child literacy because reading was something she struggled with as a child, she said.
To help children who struggle with literacy, Chavez visits Albuquerque-area schools and shares her story and how practicing gave her a love of reading.
“I just teach them that reading can be fun, it’s not just for school,” she said.
She has worked mostly with preschool and elementary school children because she understands the impact illiteracy can have on a student, she said.
Students who struggle with reading are often looked upon as bad students and do not always get the support they need, she said.
The next step in her pageant career is the Miss New Mexico competition on June 23, she said.
If Chavez wins the title, she said she will be taking her literacy project statewide so that she can help as many children as possible.
Should Chavez win Miss New Mexico, she said she would have the opportunity to compete in the Miss America competition.
Unlike television shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras” that give the impression that beauty pageants focus solely on physical appearance, Chavez said that the pageants emphasize service and intellect.
“Often on these televisions shows, we see parents pushing the children. It should be the child’s choice. Pageants teach good lessons about winning and losing, but at the same time, these kids don’t want to compete and it’s the mothers or the families pushing them to do so,” said Chavez.
She said the pageants also helped her with public speaking and confidence, but that it was always her choice to enter the pageants.
The Miss America organization is the largest women’s scholarship provider in the nation, she said.
The winner of Miss New Mexico will receive a $10,000 scholarship and the winner of Miss America is awarded a $50,000 scholarship.
“It is a huge help as a college student,” she said.
Chavez said that she realizes pageants are stereotyped as being only about looks, but that it is a stereotype she hopes to help break.
Chavez encourages any students that want to compete for a local title to do so by going to missnewmexico. org, she said.
CNM is one of five finalists in the American Association of Community Colleges 2013 Excellence Awards.
The school is a finalist in the new category of Student Success, primarily for the creation of CNM Connect, said Director of Marketing and Communications Brad Moore.
President Kathie Winograd said she is very happy for the school to be named a finalist.
“Being named as a finalist for the AACC Student Success Award is a highly appreciated affirmation of the great work that is constantly being done at CNM for the cause of student success. We are definitely honored to have been named one of five finalists for this esteemed national award,” said Winograd.
Moore said Connect, which offers both on-campus services like achievement coaching; scholarship information and workshops and off-campus assistance for food stamps, legal services, housing and even child care placement, has been emulated by more than 20 other colleges since it was created in 2011, and is credited with higher student retention.
The creative approach of CNM Connect has led to an increase in student retention, said Moore. About 80 percent of first-time students who used the programs in fall 2011 returned the following term, whereas only 71 percent of new students who did not use the program returned, he said.
Similarly, 75 percent of non-first-time students who spoke to someone at Connect returned, compared to only 67 percent of non-first-time students who did not speak with a Connect employee, he said.
Winograd said that this speaks well of the program’s success.
“The development of CNM Connect, which is a very innovative service with a fresh approach to serving students in a more holistic way, has led to great progress in how we support our students. There is great promise for this student-support model,” she said.
Connect was not the only factor in CNM’s position as a finalist, said Moore.
Increases to graduation, transfer and dual credit rates played a role as well, as have the 16 program-specific transfer agreements created between CNM and UNM, he said.
The winner of the Student Success award will be named on April 23, at the AACC annual convention in San Francisco, according to the organizations website.
Winograd, Vice President for Academic Affairs Sydney Gunthorpe and CNM Connect Executive Director Ann Lyn Hall will be in attendance to accept the award, should CNM win, said Moore.
Whether or not CNM wins, Winograd said she is happy that the school has been recognized.
“There is so much terrific work that goes on at CNM every single day in the name of helping students succeed. I say very often that I think CNM is one of the best community colleges in the country.
And I firmly believe that. We have so many devoted faculty and staff who care deeply about helping our students achieve their academic and career goals, and they work very hard to make it happen. That commitment is very evident in our increasing graduation numbers,” she said.
