Michelle Hall: Why I’m Running For UNM-LA Advisory Board

By MICHELLE K. HALL, Incumbent
UNM-LA Advisory Board

The community of Los Alamos is a place I am lucky to call home. It has splendorous beauty and passionate and caring people. I cannot thank Los Alamos voters enough for their approval of the UNM-LA mil levy. With passage of the levy, it is critical for the campus to have strong advisory board members that bring a diversity of knowledge and experience to guide them toward a strong and vibrant future. I bring the skills and experience of a small business leader, former faculty member at the University of Arizona, and grant writer to help guide the institution.

I am running for the University of New Mexico – Los Alamos Advisory Board. While I am unopposed, I seek your vote of support so that I can work to ensure the taxes you pay provide the educational experiences you expect.

The past four years have been tough for UNM-LA. State budget cuts resulted in a loss of faculty and instructors, though the campus experienced the highest levels of growth in enrollment of any two-year school in the state. The new tax dollars will not arrive for some time, but it will be critical to work with UNM-LA CEO Dr. Cynthia Rooney, her faculty, and staff to be both restrained and creative in developing a budget that will restore critical positions. In this way, UNM-LA can provide the educational opportunities the community seeks.

We are fortunate to have a good relationship with the UNM Acting President, Acting Provost, and Dean of Engineering, who are all supportive of this campus and have engaged with the Advisory Board regularly over the past two years. UNM Main is seeking partnerships with UNM-LA that will strengthen both campuses. While the relationship between the two campuses has been strained on occasion in years past, the collaborative spirit we have experienced in the last year is very promising, and much of this credit must go to the leadership of Dr. Rooney.

Dr. Rooney has done an amazing job of engaging her faculty and staff in pulling together through the tough budget times. Her business acumen and passion for teaching have brought fresh approaches to most every department. I want to do everything I can to help her grow and revitalize UNM-LA in this new era.

At the same time, Dr. Rooney could not have succeeded without the outstanding faculty and staff. Year after year they seemed to double down in their efforts to maintain the high quality recruiting, student support services, instruction, and business units going strong despite the diminishing resources. We are fortunate to have such talented and dedicated people committed to this institution and community.

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