Empowering Creativity, Celebrating Achievement

November 6, 2021

At UNM education happens within the context of discovery and creation.  For a student learning psychology here, you can learn psychology from someone who not only knows the field, but who actively uncovers new insights into how the human mind functions.  For a student learning history, you are learning from scholars who not only know history, but are actively reshaping our understanding of the past.  Learning in this environment focused on discovery is different – richer, deeper – than learning in an environment focused only on transmission.  

UNM already has many programs that provide students with direct access to this environment of discovery.  Undergraduate research programs, design projects, engagement in artistic creation, a campus farm, internships, and more.  For our students, these represent a set of opportunities you must seek out and engage with – these experiences will make your education more complete and support your future success.  For our faculty and staff, developing these opportunities not only enrich our students’ learning, but provide a vital source of creative energy that can further energize our research and community engagement efforts.  We have previously taken some steps to articulate the learning objectives that students might take into these opportunities in the UNM-5, which was created by a team of faculty and staff led by Director of Career Services Jenna Crabb, but we can do more to organize and make visible the opportunities for student-led original research and creation, and the reasons why these opportunities are important. 

To promote and increase student engagement with our UNM environment of discovery, we are launching the Undergraduate Research, Arts, and Design Network – URAD.  URAD, directed by Dr. Tim Schroeder, is designed to build on and amplify the wonderful work already ongoing across UNM to provide undergraduates with early involvement in original research, the creation of artistic or design projects, engagement with internships, and other forms of experiential learning that build on UNM as a creator of knowledge.  URAD is also dedicated to facilitating equitable access to opportunities, coordinate communication, and amplify existing efforts while respecting their integrity.  URAD coordinates with the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) and consults with the Division of Equity and Inclusion (DEI).  The goal of URAD is to help students navigate to find these important opportunities, to foster faculty in developing additional forms of engagement, to help all of use clearly articulate the value of these experiences, and to celebrate all this work across the university.  

Sincerely,
James Paul Holloway
Professor of Nuclear Engineering
Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs