Expanded funding will open more doors for Honors students through experiential learning opportunities such as collaborative research stipends and travel, study abroad scholarships, and participation in Scribendi, our award-winning student-edited arts magazine. This support would:

1. Attract promising new students to the College and University.

2. Help enrolled students succeed and thrive.

3. Boost student success by reducing financial barriers at critical moments.

By easing financial pressure and reducing the need for outside work, this fund would help more students fully engage in the distinctive, transformative experiences that define the UNM Honors College.

Querencia means “care of the whole person.” Through the Querencia initiative, the Honors College will provide students with academic and psychosocial support, skills, and a sense of belonging to help them complete an Honors Pathway and build a holistic, community-minded ethos.

Evidence supports “sense of belonging” as a key factor in retention. Many people perceive a false dichotomy between the challenges facing UNM students – mental health concerns, first-generation and low-income status, and family demands – and Honors students, who are often seen as successful without effort. In fact, data suggest that Honors students face many of the same challenges as the broader student population:

• 32% of our students are food insecure, with 14% experiencing very low food security.

• 45% are financially independent, 44% have jobs, and more than 20% work 10-40 hours per week.

Moreover, Honors students’ commitment to academic success can contribute to high rates of anxiety, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome.

The Querencia initiative brings these supports together through our open-access “Brain Fuel” food pantry, which also provides hygiene products; counseling and case management through Student Health and Counseling (SHAC), with the long-term goal of embedding a counseling or social work intern in the Honors College; student success workshops tailored specifically for Honors students, such as sessions on imposter syndrome, reading for Honors, and conquering procrastination; and emergency scholarships. Together, these resources would advance UNM’s commitment to inclusive excellence while helping Honors College students build stronger connections with one another and with the broader campus community.

Outstanding and productive faculty are essential to UNM’s core academic mission, and this fund would provide vital support for their research and scholarship. In 1995, UNM’s Rosalie Otero became the first professor in the United States to be tenured in Honors. Thirty years later, our Honors College is almost unique in having research-active faculty members tenured specifically in Honors.

Our faculty composition is a tremendous asset for our students, who take small, interdisciplinary classes from research-active faculty where they get to know their professors and peers. Students can also become active in faculty research, co-teach Honors seminars, or participate in honors-specific study abroad programs, such as Conexiones or “Write to Roam” in Scotland. These benefits to student success reflect our faculty members’ commitment to high-level research activity in their respective fields, high-impact Honors pedagogical practice, and engagement with the regional, national, and even international Honors community.

UNM’s Honors College is nationally recognized in the Honors community; our faculty frequently serve on or chair National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) and Western Regional Honors Council committees, and four UNM Honors deans/directors, including the current dean, have served as NCHC president. Supporting the unique asset of UNM’s Honors faculty requires additional funding for faculty attendance at both discipline-specific and Honors conferences, such as the NCHC Conference, as well as a program manager to support the logistics of research or study abroad travel for faculty and their students, obviating the need to support such efforts through expensive course releases that take our talented faculty out of the classroom.

Faculty support is one of the most difficult areas to fund in the Honors College. This support would allow our faculty to advance their research and the reputation of our College and the University, while helping the Honors College attract and retain the faculty our students deserve.

$30,000 per year ($2,000 for each faculty member) would help us achieve this priority.

The Center for Academic Excellence and Leadership Development (CAELD), housed in the Honors College but serving students throughout UNM, provides programs to enhance the academic, personal, and professional development of high-achieving students, aligning with the university-wide goal of attracting and retaining the best and brightest. CAELD’s primary mission is to prepare students for the next steps after graduating from UNM by strengthening each student’s potential to become a competitive candidate for graduate schools, nationally prestigious scholarships, and professional opportunities. CAELD also serves graduate students and alumni who wish to apply to scholarships and fellowships such as the Fulbright, Rhodes, Marshall, etc., and manages UNM’s Mellon Mays Program.

CAELD benefits include:

• Resources that link students to research, internship, scholarships, study abroad, and mentoring opportunities

• Information sessions on nationally competitive scholarships

• Preparation for graduate or professional school applications

• Information about eligibility for Honors Societies

Since 2009, CAELD has brought more than $2.7 million in national scholarship dollars to UNM students. Fellowships received by our students include Rhodes, Fulbright, Goldwater, Gilman, and Truman, among others. The office has contributed significantly to making these nationally prestigious awards viable for our students, as well as attracting new students. CAELD is housed inside the Honors College, but the services it provides are available to all students.

By creating additional programming and expanding services at CAELD, UNM will reach additional students while also maintaining its reputation on a national level with prestigious scholarship recipients. These scholarships are often very complicated, and some require students travel for interviews. Therefore, funding is critical to help expand services, provide staff professional development, recruit students, and fund travel.

$20,000 in philanthropic funding would help us realize this initiative:

• $2,000 for orientation and training

• $4,000 for student travel

• $4,000 for staff professional development

• $10,000 for operations