ALBUQUERQUE

JOURNAL
ESTABLISHED
1880

September 18, 2016

Higher education

2 HIGHER EDUCATION
CONTENTS
State schools

Online education

Mission: Graduate

Whos hiring

Film programs

10

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

SCHOOL

SPIRIT
BY CHRIS QUINTANA

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

STAFF
Section editor:
Helen Taylor
Designer: Tim Bahr

ith nearly 30 colleges, New

Mexico has something for
every potential student across
the state.
Heres a quick look at the state colleges
offering four-year degrees.

UNM
ON THE COVER
Illustration by
Cathryn Cunningham
of the Journal

Located in central
Albuquerque, the University of
New Mexico is the largest higher
education institution in the state
of New Mexico.
Its also home to the only level one
medical trauma center, University of
New Mexico Hospital, which means
patients from all over the state go to the
university for their most dire of medical
emergencies. UNM is also home to the
only law school, and many firms statewide
have UNM grads in their ranks.
In addition to its regular operation,
UNMs academics research everything
from new methods to prevent the spread
of mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus to
developing technology that can map out

States four-year
colleges offer
something
for everyone

landslides before they happen.

UNMs branch campuses in Gallup,
Los Alamos, Taos and Valencia County
provide regional education opportunities
for the communities removed from
Albuquerque.
Though New Mexico has no major
league football or basketball teams, many
instead cheer for UNMs student athletes,
the cherry and silver Lobos. Basketball
is a perennial favorite on both the mens
and womens sides. And the womens
cross country team seized the NCAA
championship in 2015.
Men also compete in baseball, cross
country, football, golf, skiing, soccer,
tennis and track and field. Women
compete in the same sports save baseball
and football, and additionally compete in
beach volleyball, swimming and diving,
softball and volleyball.

NMSU
Down south in Las Cruces,
youll find New Mexico State
University.
Sheep and other livestock
roam portions of the campus. And

JOURNAL FILE

Students packed the atrium in the

student union to celebrate the University of New Mexicos 127th birthday earlier this year.

Burrell College of
Osteopathic Medicine

Welcome
Inaugural Class
of 2020
Making a transformative
change in healthcare,
education and research.

162 new medical students,

improving peoples health
and lives
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WWW.BCONMN.ORG
WW
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HIGHER EDUCATION 3

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

seasonally, hawks may
make their home on the
main campus, dive-bombing
inattentive passers-by.
The school is known for
its agricultural research,
and it recently secured a
$4.4 million grant to breed
more productive pecan trees,
according to an August
news release. The campus
is home to The Chile Pepper
Institute, which according
to the groups website, is the
only nonprofit organization
dedicated to studying chile
peppers. The institute
recently made public a new
pepper researchers have
been working on since 2001.
The school also has several
branch campuses in the
southern New Mexico towns
of Alamogordo, Carlsbad,
Dona Ana County and
Grants.
Men and women students
compete in basketball, cross
country, golf and tennis. Men
also compete in baseball
and football, and women
additionally compete in
equestrian, soccer, softball,
swimming and diving, track
and field, and volleyball.

N.M. Tech
New Mexico Institute of
Mining and Technology is in
the small town of Socorro,
about an hour and 15 minute

0001309561-01

CONTACT INFO
University of New
Mexico: unm.edu
New Mexico State
University: nmsu.edu
New Mexico Institute of
Mining and Technology:
nmt.edu
New Mexico Highlands
University: nmhu.edu
Northern New Mexico
College: nnmc.edu
Eastern New Mexico
University: enmu.edu
Western New Mexico
University: wnmu.edu
drive south of Albuquerque
along I-25.
The smallest of the states
research universities, Tech
has a large reputation
throughout the state
and nation having been
consistently ranked as one of
the best value colleges.
The university also
conducts private explosives
research in its Energetic
Materials Research and
Testing Center. On the
blast range, theyll blow up
letters, briefcases and even
cars. The Mythbusters, a
popular TV show focused

on science, has visited the

school to blow stuff up.
Tech also recently
underwent a change in
leadership. Former president
Dan Lopez retired from his
post after nearly a quarter of
a century at the school. His
successor is Steven Wells,
a former professor at the
University of New Mexico
and more recently the head
of the Desert Research
Institute in Nevada.

Highlands
New Mexico
Highlands
University calls
Las Vegas, N.M.,
home. The university
is home to an eclectic
gathering of academics
one professor even travels to
South America to study and
capture anacondas.
The school is also home
to the Paleomagnetic-Rock
Magnetic Laboratory, a lab
that studies magnetic fields
recorded in rocks. And some
students learned to create
interactive exhibits that
allow people to experience
ancient pueblo life.
The mens athletic teams
compete in baseball, football
and wrestling, and the
women compete in soccer,
softball, track and field and
volleyball.

Northern
In the northern
New Mexico
town of Espaola
lies Northern New Mexico
College. Its base is in the
rural community of El Rito,
but many classes take place
at the large campus in the
rural town of Espaola. Over
the years, the college has
expanded its focus to include
two- and four-year programs.
And it claims on its website
to have the cheapest tuition
among four-year colleges in
New Mexico.
Northern also has student
athletes who compete in
basketball and cross country.
Female students can also
compete in cheer and dance.

Eastern
Eastern New Mexico
University calls Portales
home. The small school has
seen a steady increase in
enrollment for nearly 20
years, which is impressive
given many other schools
have seen fewer students in
recent years. Its also been
recognized by many college
monitoring sites for offering
affordable online degrees in
education, nursing and even
theology.
And the Chronicle for
Higher Education recognized

Eastern as the 14th fastest

growing college that offers
masters degrees.
Eastern competes in
basketball, cross country,
soccer and track and
field. Men also compete in
baseball, football and rodeo.
Women compete in softball,
spirit squad and volleyball.

Western
Western
New Mexico
University is in
Silver City, about a two-hour
drive west of Las Cruces.
Started in 1893, Western was
home to about 4,500 students
on main campus in the past
fiscal year.
Western also recently touts
its acceptance of Deferred
Action for Childhood
Arrivals eligible students.
The school also recently
signed an agreement with
the Mexican university,
Universidad Tecnologica
de Camargo, that called
for the exchange of faculty
and students between the
universities.
The mens and womens
athletics teams both compete
in basketball, cross country,
golf and tennis. Men also
compete in football, while
women compete in softball
and volleyball.

4 HIGHER EDUCATION

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

Keyboard
scholars

New Mexico colleges are expanding

online programs to answer demand
BY GLEN ROSALES

FOR THE JOURNAL

raditional brick-andmortar universities are

responding to students
looking for alternatives to
not only complete a degree in a more
convenient manner, but do so more
affordably, as well.
Couple that with a desire to meet
the needs of a generation virtually
hard-wired to its information
devices, and theres a revolution on
campuses across the state to offer as
many online courses as possible.
They have actually done studies
nationally, looking at trends, says

Debby Knotts, executive director of

Strategic Initiatives and Extended
Learning at the University of New
Mexico.
As far as the trends, theyre all
saying were going to see all of the
growth in the online environment,
she says.
And thats particularly true
for colleges and universities in
New Mexico, which has a smaller
population density that most
states, so potential students may be
significantly more distant from a
learning center.
In addition, Knotts says, many
students in the state even at UNM

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ILLUSTRATION BY CATHRYN CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL

fit into the nontraditional category

in that theyre older, dont live on
campus and may already be in the
work force.
There are a lot of students going
part time, trying to fit in classes
and pursuing a degree while
working, she says. They may be
in a geographical location thats too
cost prohibitive to go to be a resident
student.

Explosion of interest
UNM has been offering online
courses since the early 1990s, Knotts
says, but in recent years universities

and colleges across the country have

been making a big push in the area,
even going so far as to advertise
locally for out-of-state institutions
with national cachet.
To offset that, UNM has been firing
up its lineup of online programs, now
with more than 20 degree-track areas
of study. And the university is trying
to tap into its natural advantages by
going heavy into the engineering and
sciences sectors, even partnering
with local entities to provide handson lab work.
Central New Mexico Community
College, which caters even more to

HIGHER EDUCATION 5

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

the nontraditional student, has
had an absolute explosion of online
interest, says Audrey Gramstad,
CNM administrative director for
Distance Learning.
Just during this decade, the
number of students taking at least
one online class has jumped by
more than two-thirds, from 6,652
students in 2010 to 11,249 in the
current fall semester, she says.
Many of those subjects are
beginning courses that may be
difficult to get into at one of the
campuses around the Albuquerque
metro area, but the available
coursework runs the gamut,
Gramstad says.
I think that CNM is being more
strategic in how and what were
delivering to capture what the
students want online and what they
want to learn, she says. This is
a generation of learners, used to
access by phones and mobile devices
for everything. So mobile learning
is something they want. They want
access mobility on any device they
want.
The more difficult areas to
develop online courses concern the
trades as students have to rely on
hands-on experience to gain the
necessary knowledge, Gramstad
says.

Post-grad work
New Mexico State University
is taking an aggressive attitude
toward its online programs as
provost Daniel Howard has targeted

1309101-01

THIS IS A GENERATION OF
LEARNERS, USED TO ACCESS BY
PHONES AND MOBILE DEVICES FOR
EVERYTHING. SO MOBILE LEARNING
IS SOMETHING THEY WANT. THEY
WANT ACCESS MOBILITY ON ANY
DEVICE THEY WANT.
AUDREY GRAMSTAD
CNM ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR FOR
DISTANCE LEARNING

it as an area of emphasis, says

Susan Ceppi-Bussmann, NMSU
director of Instructional Innovation
& Quality.
The schools board of regents
reduced the number of credit hours
needed for an undergrad from 128 to
120, she says, so some students have
been looking to fill that training gap
with additional online courses at
the post-graduate level.
Its to make college more
affordable and so students can
get through in four or five years,
but that does cut back on their
preparation at bachelors level,
Ceppi-Bussman says. Professionals
are going to need to continue their
education and learn some things
at a masters level that they might

have picked up as bachelors.

In addition, the development of
professional, online degrees has
moved rapidly forward, and theres
even a new MBA program thats
drawing significant interest.
Weve had a very enthusiastic
response, she says. Its a new
program that fits peoples needs.
The school has also created a
generalist engineering masters and
will continue to seek ways to create
additional post-graduate work
online to meet the needs of diploma
holders who want to continue their
education after joining the work
force.
Even smaller universities like
New Mexico Highlands are seeing a
greater need for online studies, says
NMHU spokesman Sean L. Weaver.
Many undergraduate courses,
particularly in the core, required
classes, are being offered online
and Highlands also is exploring
online opportunities in the masters
areas, particularly in the areas of
education, as well as a RN to BSN
nursing program, he says.
Its all just a way for universities
to continue to try and serve the
needs of all the many different types
of students who take classes for
a variety of reasons, says UNMs
Knotts.
Its really new, she says. Its
just an alternative delivery method
for students, working adults, and
other students with all kinds of life
conflicts.

College fair
brings schools
under one roof

ore than 85 colleges and

universities will have
representatives on hand
at the New Mexico College
Fair from noon-3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16.
The fair, free for parents and
students, is at the Albuquerque
Convention Center, 401 Second NW.
The fair is sponsored by the Rocky
Mountain Association for College
Admission Counseling.
Among the schools represented are
Arizona State University, Colorado
State University, the Fashion
Institute of Design & Merchandising,
Scripps College, Notre Dame, Texas
Tech University, UC Berkeley and
Vanderbilt University.
There will also be college
counseling and financial assistance
representatives in attendance.
For a fee, students can pre-register
at gotocollegefairs.com, creating
and printing out a barcode that will
utiltize the scanner technology most
of the colleges will have.
For information and complete list
of colleges attending, go to rmacac.
org/college-fairs/fall-college-fair-inalbuquerque-nm.

6 HIGHER EDUCATION

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

Number of degrees awarded is on the rise

But, Mission: Graduate
says increase is too slow
to reach its goal
BY RICK NATHANSON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

he good news is that

more students in
central New Mexico
are graduating
with college degrees or
certificates each year; the
not-so-good news is that the
rate of increase is not enough
for the Mission: Graduate
program to reach its goal
of having 60,000 additional
graduates by the year 2020.
Thats according to All
Systems Go, the third
annual data report from the
organization, which was
released in July.
While the data lags a
bit, said Mission: Graduate
executive director Angelo
Gonzales, there were 12,716
new graduates from 2010
through 2014 and, based on
2014 figures, we are about
one-fifth of the way toward
our goal.
The 60,000 goal is for
degrees over and above

the number that would

have been earned by 2020
without the initiative in
the four-county metro area
consisting of Bernalillo,
Sandoval, Torrance and
Valencia counties. The goal
was to make the area more
competitive with other
cities in a knowledge-based
economy.
More specifically, in the
2010-11 school year, 13,491
degrees and certificates were
awarded. By the end of the
2013-14 school year, the most
recent statistics available,
that number had increased to
15,510 graduates.
Mission: Graduate, an
initiative of United Way
of Central New Mexico,
is a cradle-to-career
partnership of educators,
local employers, educational
support providers,
government leaders and
citizens all committed to
the goal of having 60,000
graduates by 2020 in central
New Mexico.
They accomplish this
by working with families
and students at all grade
levels, including pre-

school, to provide in-school,

after-school and summer
school programs, as well as
mentoring programs with
Mission: Graduate partners
in the community.
The other part of Mission:
Graduates goal is to keep
those graduating college in
central New Mexico from
relocating, and to provide
enough good paying jobs
that are appropriate to their
degrees and certificates, he
said.
Our institutions of higher
education in central New
Mexico are increasing
graduation outcomes the
trajectory is headed in the
right direction but the
challenge is to accelerate
that progress and address
the underlying factors
hindering it, Gonzales said.
The data report indicates
that three trends are slowing
progress.
First, although many
school districts have made
gains over the past few years,
the number of students
graduating from some local
high schools remains well
below the national average of

82.3 percent. The most recent

graduation rate from APS
was 61.7 percent, compared
with Rio Rancho Public
Schools graduation rate of 82
percent.
Second, fewer people are
enrolling in central New
Mexicos post-secondary
institutions, thereby
decreasing the pool of people
available to earn certificates
and degrees.
Finally, while the overall
degree attainment rate for
central New Mexico has
increased slightly from
38 percent in 2010 to 38.8
percent in 2014, central New
Mexico is still struggling
to retain and attract people
with post-secondary
education to this region.
Among the reasons,
Gonzales said, are the
availability of jobs,
mismatches between peoples
education and available jobs,
and the competitive pull
from other states with more
jobs, which often pay more
money.
To address these
challenges, Mission:
Graduates more than 300

partners are organized

into Collaborative Action
Networks that have formed
strategies to move the
needle on a number of core
outcomes.
The strategies focus on
such areas as early childhood
and family supports,
early literacy, attendance,
summer learning, staying in
school, career exploration,
adult transition to college,
graduation and workforce
alignment.
Additionally, the All
Systems Go report highlights
10 Mission: Graduate
partners as Bright Spots
for programs in which
children or adults were
measurably better off after
participating.
Mission: Graduate operates
under a Vision Council that
includes a representative
from the Albuquerque
Journal. Co-chairs are
Presbyterian Healthcare
Services President and CEO
Jim Hinton, and Central New
Mexico Community College
President Kathie Winograd.
This story originally published on
July 15, 2016.

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HIGHER EDUCATION 7

8 HIGHER EDUCATION

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

In
demand
NM experience mirrors national
trend jobs and money are
mostly in science and tech

BY ROSALIE RAYBURN

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

degree in the highly

sought-after science
and technology fields
and taking advantage
of contacts made through
internships are the best
recipe for job-hunting success
among recent graduates in
New Mexico.
Thats the picture that
emerges in responses from
2016 bachelors degree
graduates of the University
of New Mexico, New Mexico
Institute of Mining and
Technology and New Mexico
State University surveyed
earlier this year about their
employment plans and
prospects.
New Mexico Tech focuses
solely on the science,
technology, engineering
and math (STEM) degrees
that are currently in hot
demand in todays world.
Nationally, high-tech
industries have created 65
percent of new jobs since the
2007 to 2009 recession and
STEM graduates working
in New Mexico have the
highest salaries outside
health fields, according to
a report on STEM degree
production and employment
outcomes presented to the
state Legislative Finance
Committee in May.
The top 10 bachelors
degrees by salary potential
are all in engineering or
mathematics, according to
the 2015-2016 Payscale College
Salary Report.
However, the glut-driven
decline in oil prices that
has forced cutbacks in the

petroleum industry has

dampened prospects in a
field that has traditionally
provided lucrative job
opportunities for recent N.M.
Tech graduates.
Petroleum companies
have tightened up their
hiring hopefully thats a
temporary situation, says
Tech spokesman Thomas
Guengerich.
Other than that, he says,
graduates of the Socorrobased university are not
having trouble finding
employment.

responded to the survey,

41 percent had jobs and
35 percent were going to
graduate school.
Guengerich says the
graduating class of 2015
averaged just more than
$50,000 for starting salary
while the 2016 graduates
who responded to the survey

Valuable degree
Generally, a bachelors
degree in engineering
from New Mexico Tech is
a valuable commodity. The
typical Tech graduate earns
more than $100,000 after 10
years into his or her career,
Guengerich says.
Tech graduates typically
get jobs as scientists,
engineers and educators.
They work for private
industry, in academia,
national laboratories, and at
other government agencies.
N.M. Tech surveyed the
381 individuals it awarded
one or more degrees in 2016.
Of those, 331, or 87 percent,
responded; 35 percent had
jobs lined up while 31 percent
were headed straight to
graduate school.
Just 117 of the 2016 survey
respondents answered the
question about where they
were working; 58 of them, or
50 percent, had jobs in New
Mexico.
In 2015, 355 individuals
received degrees, 90 percent

1308779-01

ILLUSTRATION BY CATHRYN CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL

HIGHER EDUCATION 9

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

RECENT COLLEGE GRADS IN NM
3,587 or 46.61% of the 7,696 bachelors
degree students who graduated in the
academic year 2013-2014 from New Mexico
universities were working full time one year
after graduation.
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces

Grads
Median
working
salary
full-time estimate*
918

$31,798

1,952

$28,776

84

$41,326

New Mexico Highlands University

Las Vegas

213

$29,408

Eastern New Mexico University

Portales

289

$34,206

Western New Mexico University

Silver City

88

$32,093

Northern New Mexico College

Espaola

43

$33,579

University of New Mexico

Albuquerque
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Socorro

Source: New Mexico Higher

Education Department

Creating Opportunities
for you
Affordable Tuition
Associate Degrees & Certificate Programs
Transferability of Courses

*Median means half are

above and half are below

Online Classes

C. CUNNINGHAM/JOURNAL

mostly reported salaries in

the $50,000 to $60,000 range.

gaining employment after

graduation, Carr says.

Networking pays

Other job offers

UNM, the states largest

university, in July surveyed
the 2,005 students who
graduated in May this year
but only 164, or about 5
percent, responded. Of those,
48 percent were employed
full time, 6 percent had parttime jobs, 20 percent were
continuing their education,
18 percent were looking for
jobs and 8 percent were either
planning to continue with
school or not then seeking
employment.
Employers they mentioned
included UNM, the cities
of Albuquerque and Rio
Rancho, Sandia National
Laboratories, Lovelace
Health System, Presbyterian
Healthcare Services, legal
offices in New Mexico,
Jaynes Corp. and Google Inc.
Responses showed 23
percent of those who were
working had annual salaries
of $60,000 or more, 19 percent
were earning between
$50,000 and $59,999, 9 percent
had salaries of $40,000 to
$49,999, 32 percent had
salaries of $30,000 to $39,999.
The remaining 18 percent
were earning less than
$30,000.
Of those who were
working, 36 percent secured
their position through a
professional contact and 25
percent through internships,
says UNM spokesman Steve
Carr.
This shows the
importance of experience
(internships) and networking
for our students on

New Mexico State

University in Las Cruces
surveyed 2,538 graduating
students six weeks before
graduation in May and 685,
or 27 percent, responded.
Of those, about 38 percent
reported having a job or job
offer.
Another 35 percent were
still searching and 25 percent
were planning to continue
their education.
Engineering positions
accounted for 16 percent of
the jobs or offers, 15 percent
were in business and 14
percent were in the education
field, says Judy Bosland,
assistant vice president for
Institutional Analysis.
Of those who were
employed or had offers, 20
percent said salaries would
be at least $60,000; 30 percent
said salaries would be
between $40,000 and $59,999
and 30 percent said their
salaries would be between
$20,000 and $39,999.
New Mexico Highlands
University in Las Vegas,
N.M., and Eastern New
Mexico University in
Portales do not yet have
a system in place to track
employment of recent
graduate but career services
representatives from each
university say they expect to
have such a system in place
in 2017. Western New Mexico
University in Silver City did
not return a call asking for
information.

1.800.588.7232
or 505-454-2500

www.luna.edu

1307540-01

Be Here.

Silver City, NM

1308517-01

Fully Online Programs Affordable Tuition www.wnmu.edu

10 HIGHER EDUCATION

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

On-set
education
Community colleges offer skills and training,
as well as connections to film industry
BY KEIKO OHNUMA

FOR THE JOURNAL

hanks to a unique set of

circumstances, New Mexicos
film crew training programs
offer one of the quickest
entries into a well-paying career
field, according to Jim Grubb
Graebner, who heads the Film
Technician Program at Central New
Mexico Community College.
With the passage of financial
incentives for the film industry
starting in 2002, New Mexico has
spent more than a decade courting
the industry to shoot in the state,
resulting in dozens of high-profile
productions. One of the benefits for

1309037-01

job-seekers has been a requirement

that productions hire 60 percent of
their crew in New Mexico to qualify
for these incentives.
That meant we had to expedite a
training program, Graebner says,
because in 2004 we only had about
250 members in (the film crew union)
IATSE Local 480, so we could barely
crew one movie.
Starting with Santa Fe Community
College and CNM (then called the
Technical Vocational Institute),
the state poured resources into a
fast-track training program that
now includes Eastern New Mexico
University, Doa Anna Community
College and Northern New Mexico

COURTESY OF CNM

The state has poured resources into a fast-track training program for
behind-the-scenes jobs as New Mexicos film industry has taken off. This
photo shows WGNs Manhattan filming in northern New Mexico.
College.
The two-year, 28-credit Film
Technicians Training Program
provides entry into below-the-line
positions, meaning all jobs except
writing, acting, directing, producing
and others involving creative or
financial control. Within this
category are more than 100 crafts,
ranging from camera work to set
building to costumes.

Waiting list
The first term we teach you the
whole work-flow process, and in the
second term we guide you toward
where your aptitude would lead,
Graebner says. The second year
involves on-set training that helps
qualify workers to be on the union
overflow list and start working.
Alternative trajectories offered

HIGHER EDUCATION 11

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

at CNM are two-year certificates
in camera work (transferable to a
four-year program), construction
and post-production, for those who
already have a chosen focus.
The biggest challenge we have is
keeping people in classes, Graebner
says, since demand for workers
continues to be high as multiple
television and film productions shoot
in New Mexico at once. Entry-level
wage in union jobs is around $25 an
hour, he said the states highest
in the manufacturing sector and
almost always includes overtime
hours, since shooting generally
means 14-hour days.
Not surprisingly, there is now
a waiting list to get into the film
programs.
After the 2008 recession, many
people signing up for the training
program had been laid off or failed to
find work in other fields, Graebner
says, from Eclipse Aviation to home
construction to oil-field workers. The
program gives such career-changers
a way to transition their skills
quickly and make the connections
needed to find work.

Transition jobs
But it is not the only route, says
Nick Maniatis, director of the New
Mexico State Film Office. I didnt go
to school for that. I got a job as a P.A.
(Production Assistant) and found
an area that I liked and went from
there.
According to the film office
website, nmfilm.com, the P.A. is an

Were looking for the ability to have

stamina in an intense schedule.
Thats what weeds most people out.

Starting point

Jim Grubb Graebner, in red shirt, works with students in Central New Mexico Community Colleges Film Technicians Training Program.
industry go-fer, the only position
that generally does not require
prior experience. Applicants can try
their luck applying directly for such
jobs, though competition is stiff and
they need to find a way to stand out,
Maniatis says.
Another route into the industry is
through fast-track training programs
offered by some film industry
contractors that help workers
transition their skills, such as in
construction. Approved programs
qualify for state reimbursement
under the Pre-Employment Training

Program.
Surprisingly, many in the film
training program are recent
graduates from four-year colleges
who have not been able to find work,
Graebner says.
Most people, their families tell
them to go to the four-year college to
get a job. But four-year schools really
dont have the connections to the
industry, he says. We dont have
those people working in the movie
business. We need you energetic and
having a certain kind of personality
adventure instead of home-bound.

Each year, about a third of the

students in the film training
program decide to pursue careers in
above-the-line positions instead,
such as writing or directing. That
means additional training in a
media arts program, such as at the
University of New Mexico, Santa
Fe University of Art & Design, New
Mexico State University or one of the
community colleges.
But people on the creative side of
television and film also can benefit
from working in the industry first,
Graebner believes. Thats really
what this program at CNM is about
getting the job first so you can
pursue your dream later.
Maniatis believes the New Mexico
film industry which just had its
second straight record-breaking
year will continue to grow as long
as the financial incentives remain
in place. It really is tied to the
tax incentive, so more than likely
without it the work goes away.
But this also creates a fall-back
position for trainees, according to
Graebner. If they cant get a job in
New Mexico, they could get a job
tomorrow in Georgia, he says a
state that offers much larger filmindustry incentives. Thats what I
tell my students: Im not saying its
the career for the rest of your life, but
its a starting point.

WE GREYHOUNDS
ARE

AUGUSTUS

SIERRA

BAILEY

JAREN

La Cueva High

Volcano Vista High

V. Sue Cleveland High

Sandia High

Sophomore

Sophomore

Senior

Sophomore

The people at ENMU are great

and everyone goes out of their
way to be polite to you.

I love the friendly and

welcoming atmosphere here
at ENMU.

Each and every one of my

professors knows me by my
name rather than a number.

ENMU allows for a hands-on

experience in every field
of study.

forensic biology

accounting

COME WHY
SEE

1308783-01

biology

enmu.edu/Visit

communication

12 HIGHER EDUCATION

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016

T H E

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

N E W

M E X I C O

WE ARE A COMMUNITY OF UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES EMBRACING OUR DIFFERENCES.

BUT WERE MORE THAN JUST A CONTRAST OF CULTURESTHIS IS A CULTURE OF
CONTRAST. THOUSANDS OF VIEWS IN THOUSANDS OF HUES. UNAFRAID TO LET
OUR COLORS RUN AND BLEND AND LET THE THINGS THAT DIVIDE US BECOME THE
THINGS THAT UNITE US. SO WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE, COLLECT AND
SPREAD KNOWLEDGE ABOUT EVERYTHINGEVERYWHERE. THROUGHOUT THE STATE.
THE COUNTRY. THE WORLD. WE ARE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICONEW MEXICOS
FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITY. WE ARE INDIVIDUALS, TOGETHER, SHARING OUR STRENGTHS.
LIVING, LEARNING AND BECOMING STRONGER. AS A PACK. AS LOBOS.

unm.edu

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