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This file photo shows The University of New Mexico-�㽶��Ƶ campus on June 12, 2024.

UNM-�㽶��Ƶ reorganizes Academic Affairs

Categories: Students   Faculty   Staff   Community  

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New structure aligns similar programs, expands career opportunities, and equalizes workloads

By Richard Reyes, Friday, June 27, 2025

GALLUP, N.M. — The University of New Mexico-�㽶��Ƶ is reorganizing its Academic Affairs divisions effective July 1 to better align similar programs, to resolve current retention, promotion and tenure process issues, expand career opportunities for health science lecturers, and equalize workloads of division chairs and administrative assistants.

“This does require some change, and change can be really hard for people to accept, but because of how we’ve laid out this structure, we strongly believe it’s much better for the institution with folks in different programs aligned in a more logical manner,” Zimmerman said.

Previously, UNM-�㽶��Ƶ structured its academic programs into five divisions. Now, there are six divisions:

• Applied Technologies & Allied Health Sciences
• Math, Business, Science & Technology
• Liberal Arts & Education
• Nursing & Human Services
• Career & Technical Education
• Zollinger Library

“Change, no matter what it is, is hard,” Zimmerman said. “We fully understand that. We tried to work through this process in a way that was up front, open and empathetic. We had individual conversations with faculty and staff who were impacted and talked through their concerns and helped them understand what was going on.”

Reasons for reorganizing

One of the primary reasons for reorganizing the divisions was to create a more equitable structure, Zimmerman said. Previously, two of the four divisions housed almost 90% of UNM-�㽶��Ƶ’s academic programs. With the new structure, those numbers are more equal across the four divisions.

The new structure creates better promotion opportunities for lecturers in the career and technical education and health sciences programs, which are now organized together under the division of Applied Technologies & Allied Health Sciences. There will be a clearer path for those lecturers to pursue promotions and potentially become chair of their division in the future, if they have that interest.

Also, all of the programs in the Applied Technologies & Allied Health Sciences division can be funded through the federal Perkins V grant, formally known as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.

“Our business faculty, whose degrees can transfer to the Anderson School of Management, will now be supported alongside math and science faculty, and our education faculty will be organized with our liberal arts faculty, so that these related fields, programs and faculty are more closely aligned,” Zimmerman said.

Overall, the reorganization will result in cost savings for UNM-�㽶��Ƶ without losing any current employees.

New structure

The following is a breakdown of how UNM-�㽶��Ƶ’s academic programs will be organized under the new divisions.

Applied Technologies & Allied Health Sciences:

• Automotive Technology
• Construction Technology
• Cosmetology & Cosmetology/Barbering
• Criminal Justice
• Dental Assisting
• EMS Basic
• Fire Science
• Health Information Technology
• Medical Laboratory Technology
• Welding Technology

Math, Business, Science & Technology:

• Business Administration
• Business Principles
• General Studies
• Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Customer Service
• New Mexico General Education
• Office Specialist
• AS in Science

Liberal Arts & Education:

• Alternative Teacher Licensure
• Early Childhood Education
• AA in Liberal Art
• Teacher Education Secondary
• Teacher Education Elementary

Nursing & Human Services:

• Community Health Worker
• Human Services - Family Studies
• Human Services - Substance Abuse
• Nursing

Career & Technical Education:

• Center for Career & Technical Education (CCTE)
• �㽶��Ƶ-McKinley County Schools Career Pathways

In this February 2025 file photo, UNM-�㽶��Ƶ Assistant Professor Lowell Bautista works with nursing students in the simulation lab of the Nursing Career Center.