Albuquerque, NM – March 7, 2014 On February 28th, the University of New Mexico celebrated its 125th anniversary. To mark the occasion, President Frank gave a State of the University speech that outlined seven “transformative goals” the University has set out to accomplish to improve the quality of higher education and increase economic development in the state. See what the Editorial Board of the Albuquerque Journal has to say about the President’s address in its March 6th editorial, “UNM Looks Ahead on 125th,” reprinted below. To hear the President’s address, see below or go to http://president.unm.edu/.
Editorial: UNM looks ahead on 125th
By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board
The University of New Mexico is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a forward-looking state of mind and new leadership intent on reaching “tranformative goals.”
That’s good for the university and New Mexico, too.
UNM has been on a collaborative roll lately, working closely with the city, Sandia National Laboratories and the business community to improve its standing and the quality and quantity of higher education students with the intent of helping produce a better local economy that can support high-paying positions for its graduates.
Such partnerships include Innovate ABQ, which will place a center for innovation and entrepreneurship between Downtown and the UNM campus; Mission Graduate, in which a group of public and business concerns are attempting to produce 60,000 higher ed graduates in central New Mexico by 2020; and the Inter-Institutional Visitor Agreement, which grants UNM researchers access to Sandia facilities, as well as the award-winning partnership between Sandia and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
In his recent State of the University speech, UNM president Bob Frank outlined seven “transformative goals,” including making UNM a destination university; ensuring its financial integrity and strength; advancing and accelerating economic development; and advancing health and health equity in New Mexico. He also set a goal of raising $1 billion from the private sector by 2020.
Those are impressive goals, and reaching them would help put UNM on a firm footing for the next 125 years.
This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Source: STC.UNM
For more information, contact:
Denise Bissell
(505) 272-7310
dbissell@stc.unm.edu