UNM recently received the first two installments of a multimillion-dollar grant aimed at reducing the threat of nuclear and terror strikes against the United States.
The UNM Extended University was awarded $550,000 in late October to help update instructional techniques at the Defense Nuclear Weapons School, which operates out of Albuquerque's Kirtland Air Force Base.
The work will take place over two years and will focus primarily on integrating Internet and distance-learning techniques into how the weapons school distributes teaching methods to its workforce, said Richard Howell, the project's co-principal investigator.
"What they're trying to do is identify the best way for them to move their training out," Howell said.
The University signed on with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which operates within the U.S. Department of Defense, in April to improve business functions and train new personnel for the agency.
The money UNM is receiving is a portion of a larger grant awarded to both the University and New Mexico State University, which work together in proposing projects to the agency. Pennsylvania State University and New Mexico Tech University make up a second team, which competes for bids with the first team.
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The grant could give UNM up to $50 million over the next nine years.
UNM has "on-the-ground experience" with the Defense Department, Howell said. That factor made UNM the more attractive candidate for the award, he said.
"We're already doing something similar to what they need," Howell said.
Some of the work with the weapons school will be classified, prompting the need for security clearances for some University employees, Howell said.
"What we're doing is on the defensive end," Howell said. "We're not participating in offensive programs. It's important to keep the dialogue alive about what research the University does. But this is a program that will keep us, as citizens, safer."
Extended University is hiring two full-time program coordinators and several consultants to assist on the project.
"We're looking for people who understand instructional design and distance learning," Howell said. "With the labs and the Air Force base being nearby, there are quite a few local people qualified."
The University also has received an award for $302,056 through the program. That money will go toward travel and brainstorming meetings for University and Defense Department personnel who are collaborating on various projects, said Terry Yates, UNM vice provost for research.
UNM has submitted three or four more proposals to the agency, which Yates said he couldn't discuss because they are still under consideration.
