Year in review: Higher education is a shifting scene in rural Taos landscape

Higher education in Taos saw the convergence of several transitions in 2016.

Some were gradual, like the long-term rebranding and refocusing of a program that was once focused solely on GEDs. Others were abrupt, like the closing of the Taos Distance Learning Center. Not all were painless, but the role of higher education in Taos is trending toward more integration and collaboration of programs, reflecting broad changes in the state and country.

“Things are changing,” said Dr. Marty Hewlett, interim executive director of the University of New Mexico-Taos (UNM-Taos).

For 23 years, the UNM bachelor and graduate programs were housed in the Distance Learning Center at the Harwood Museum of Art, giving upper-level students a way to complete their degrees without moving to UNM’s flagship campus.

The decision to close the distance learning center in Taos (and several other communities throughout New Mexico) was made in the administrative offices of UNM main campus in Albuquerque. Hewlett called the decision in April “very sudden.”

The decision to completely restructure distance learning at UNM — ending face-to-face contact in lieu of almost exclusively online coursework — responded to both money woes and rapidly changing technology.

Terry Babbit, associate vice president for UNM’s enrollment management division, told The Taos News in April, “There’s no doubt budget cuts came into play and shaped this transition that was already taking place.”

When the university first launched distance learning, students sent papers and coursework via mail. Then came the days of cable TV, during which students in Taos would gather in a classroom and listen to a main-campus lecture in real time. But with today’s mobile technology, broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity, students can work anywhere, anytime and at their own pace.

“Main campus is looking at the bigger picture of online education, looking at other Southwest institutions that have a major online presence,” Hewlett said.

Even though he thinks the end result of the closure will ultimately be better access to upper-division courses, Hewlett said the reaction in Taos is similar to all the communities impacted by the change — people “need and miss that face-to-face connection.”

While UNM-Taos is a community college that can only offer associate degrees and certificate programs, it has absorbed some of the administrative duties of the former program, meaning students still have an office locally where they can sit down with an adviser.

Taking on those responsibilities from main campus coincides with a long-term plan for UNM-Taos to solidify both its physical campuses and its role within the community.

The Health Careers Training Center in the former Taos Convention Center on Civic Plaza Drive officially opened its doors this fall, following a year of extensive renovations.

Much has gone according to plan, but Hewlett told The Taos News that a surprising development in the past several months is the degree to which students from different programs are cross-pollinating.

“Some programs, like nursing and EMT, were designed to interact. But we didn’t have a clear enough picture of how all the pieces would fit together. The interactions are just dynamite,” he said.

The integrative medicine, yoga and other health programs are now forming new connections that didn’t exist before.

Hewlett said he’s excited by students forging relationships across medical disciplines that are traditionally siloed, even in a small community like Taos. The benefits of that collaboration, he said, will hopefully prove useful once those students are working in the medical profession.

The only hitch to how well utilized that space is, he said, is that administrators have had to find ways to keep the building open past hours and during the weekend.

UNM-Taos is also working even more closely with the Taos Education and Career Center (TECC, formally the Adult Learning Center). TECC has shifted from mostly helping students get their GED to offering a broader scope of services, from traditional literacy to professional skills.

While that transition is being guided by federal legislation and funding, Judy Hoffer, director of TECC, says that a broader focus also directly responds to needs in Taos County.

Even as the national outlook is often dreary, Hewlett said that positivity prevails at the local level.

“This is a great town and we can do great things,” he said.