UNM to close distance learning center
04/22/2016
At the same time Taos’ community college is growing by leaps and bounds, the University of New Mexico (UNM) will close its Taos distance learning center that has helped students get advanced degrees without leaving their community.
For the past 23 years, the UNM Bachelor and Graduate Programs in Taos have given students a way to complete their degrees without moving to UNM’s flagship campus in Albuquerque.
The UNM Office of the Provost announced April 14 it will be closing the center in Taos and in five other communities around New Mexico as of July.
The “complete restructure” of the university’s extended-learning offerings was fueled by changes in technologies, growth of the branch campus and the financial climate of higher education.
Terry Babbit, associate vice president for UNM’s enrollment management division, told The Taos News Wednesday (April 20), “There’s no doubt budget cuts came into play and shaped this transition that was already taking place.”
When the university first launched distance learning, students sent papers and coursework via mail. Then came the days of cable TV, where students in Taos would gather in a classroom and listen to a main-campus lecture in real time. But with today’s run-of-the-mill technology, students can sit on a computer anywhere at a time of their choosing to do coursework at a personalized pace.
He said with those technological transitions, it no longer makes sense to maintain the physical and technological infrastructure of the centers.
Students will see no changes in offerings of classes and degrees, he said. The face-to-face benefits of the stand-alone center — like help with financial aid and enrollment — will be absorbed into the UNM-Taos branch campus. Last year, UNM-Taos unveiled a newly built Student Services Center, which houses all such administrative advising at the Klauer campus on County Road 110.
The UNM Graduate and Bachelor Programs were not previously affiliated with the local branch campus of UNM. But Babbit said UNM-Taos “has really enthusiastically taken on the support of student services. They are well staffed.”
Academic advising will move online and be run out of offices in Albuquerque. Mary Lutz, operations manager of the Taos distance learning center for 23 years, received a termination notice last week. She told The Taos News that in the life of the Taos center, more than 600 students were able to finish their bachelor’s or master’s degree, or even their Ph.D., without having to leave their families, cultures and communities.
“This is their home, their livelihood, their jobs. Whether they have a farm or are from Taos Pueblo … for whatever reason, this is where they live,” she said, noting community leaders, doctors, scientists and academics have emerged from the Taos distance learning center. While Babbit said the decision to close the centers in Taos and around the state was part of an “ongoing discussion,” Lutz said the announcement came “as quite a shock.”
According to a press release from UNM Provost Chaouki Abdullah, “The decision involved extensive consultation and input from Academic Affairs and University leadership.”
The university’s decision came down to “optimizing and making more efficient course delivery … and improving our recruitment and student support model in general,” according to the release.
The revamped distance education program will be run by the UNM Division of Enrollment Management, but specifics on the look and feel of that arrangement are scant. The UNM Office of the Provost said those details “are being developed and will be communicated to the impacted community in the coming weeks.”
“We have to make sure we’re not abandoning distance learners,” Babbit said.
By Cody Hooks