Tech Inks Partnership With N.M. Junior College

SOCORRO, N.M. January 13, 2011 – New Mexico Tech has formed a new alliance with New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs to offer new opportunities to students at both institutions.

With an official agreement signed in December 2010, students in Socorro will have access to the Junior College’s introductory courses in accounting. Students in the Hobbs area will gain distance access to Master’s of Science for Teachers courses.

Tech Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Peter Gerity said the new partnership accomplishes several goals. In addition to expanded academic offerings for students at both schools, the arrangement also allows Tech to conserve resources and to recruit new transfer students.

“We want to give students a jump start so they have an edge when they finish at Hobbs and come to Socorro,” Gerity said.

Dr. Peter Anselmo, chair of the Management Department at Tech, said Tech has not offered Intermediate Accounting at the undergrad level, but will start to do so through the Junior College.

“The Junior College has many instructors. They have a large group of practicing CPAs who teach classes,” Gerity said. “This will be a good thing.”

Professors at New Mexico Tech will continue to teach higher levels of accounting – and those classes will be made available via distance education to students in Hobbs.

“Offering these opportunities through the Distance Education division is the most efficient and effective way to expand our offerings without incurring additional costs to the university or to the state,” New Mexico Tech President Dr. Daniel H. Lopez said.

New Mexico Junior College has more than 4,600 students and dozens of programs, including biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, math and physics and pre-engineering.

Gerity expects the Master’s of Science for Teachers program to see new students enroll from the Hobbs area.

“In their region, there’s a huge demand for upgrading teacher credentials in math and science,” Gerity said. “With this MOU, teachers can access M.S.T. classes via the Hobbs campus.”

Lopez said that the expansion of the Master’s of Science for Teachers program is part of the university’s larger mission.

“Upgrading the skills of math and science teachers at public schools is critically important to the future success of our students in these technical areas,” he said. “This agreement is a very good step toward launching an effort to upgrading those skills in southeast New Mexico.”

The initiative started at the top; Lopez and N.M.J.C. President Dr. Steve McCleery first discussed the concept during the summer of 2010.

“Within one semester, we got it done,” Gerity said. “Now, we want to facilitate further articulation efforts and increase the student opportunities.”

 

– NMT –

By Thomas Guengerich/New Mexico Tech