Candidate Elva Telles Thursday promised a thorough assessment of UNM's needs giving students "high priority" if she is chosen to head the Office of Equal Opportunity.
"The University of New Mexico will pose a challenge because of the University's large size," Telles said. "Yet, I know that I have something to offer to UNM."
For 24 years Telles has been director of Equal Employment Opportunity, Americans with Disabilities and Employee Relations at New Mexico State University. NMSU has not lost a discrimination case during that period.
Telles developed forms for grievances and established a training component for the university.
She said she received the NMSU Martin Luther King Racial Harmony Award in 2002. The student population nominates this award recipient.
"I am tuned into the needs of the students," she said "Sometimes students do not understand their rights and do not understand the procedures. I will give student problems high priority."
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Telles received her Bachelor of Business Administration in 1973 and her master's in counseling and educational psychology in 1989, both from NMSU.
The OEO director at UNM monitors University activities to ensure compliance with local, state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination. The office is currently headed by Interim Director Theresa V. Ramos.
The new director will be responsible for developing a comprehensive affirmative action plan, serving as the coordinator for Americans with Disabilities Act and Title IX, of the Educational Amendments of 1972, and investigating complaints.
"If I am selected, the first order of business would be to sit down and assess what the University has in place, concerning the department," she said. "Without proper assessment you can compound a problem."
Each of the OEO director candidates will be allowed to make a presentation to the University at individual forums.
The last forum will be 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Roberts Room at Scholes Hall. The next candidate will be Doralia Martinez Freudiger, from the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
The forum is open to the public.
