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Vera Norwood, candidate for dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, waits for students to show up for their meeting with her Thursday in Dane Smith Hall.
Vera Norwood, candidate for dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, waits for students to show up for their meeting with her Thursday in Dane Smith Hall.

Q & A: Vera Norwood

Candidate for dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

by Jeremy Hunt

Daily Lobo

Alumna Vera Norwood met with about 20 staff members Thursday to discuss her achievements as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and her plans for the future if selected as dean.

Norwood got her bachelor's, master's and doctorate from UNM.

She grew up in Albuquerque's South Valley and came to the University as a first-generation college student, so she understands what it's like to be a student at UNM, she said.

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Norwood said she is interested in being dean of the College of Arts and Sciences because the dean is a key leader at UNM and has the opportunity to make an impact on the University and state.

Norwood has been interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since 2005. She was the senior associate dean and associate dean for faculty at the College of Arts and Sciences from 1999 to 2005. Norwood became a full professor and chairwoman of American Studies in 1993.

The Daily Lobo asked Norwood questions about the needs of the College of Arts and Sciences and how she would address them if chosen for dean.

Daily Lobo: What experience do you have that prepares you to run a college as large and diverse as the College of Arts and Sciences?

Vera Norwood: Not only was I here as a student, but I've been here as a member of the faculty and administrative community for 20 years. I know the place, and I know the players. I think I'm able to call upon all the strengths of people around the University in their various offices in my leadership role as dean to really lead the college. I also was - as well as a member of the faculty - I was a department chair for six years in American Studies. Then, I moved into the associate dean's role for -- I think it was five to six years. Then, I've been the interim dean of the college for the last two years. So, I think I really have a very good working knowledge of budgets, of priorities, of staffing needs and of the faculty in the college. That prepares me very well at this point in time to step into the role, and I'm really ready to be the dean if I'm selected.

DL: What is the biggest challenge facing the College of Arts and Sciences?

VN: The biggest challenge is that there are a lot of initiatives out there right now. As I said, our college touches so many places in the University, which means that if there are initiatives in a lot of places in the University, we're part of them. The majority-minority status of the institution means that we are now looking really hard at building diversity. Critical areas - besides supporting the

diversity that we receive through our undergraduate students - is then building diversity in the graduate student ranks and among faculty. We're really an important research-intensive University, and at the moment, the college is second only to the Health Sciences Center in the research dollars it brings in. We bring in a little over $40 million in research dollars, and it's going to be critical for us to engage in a variety of interdisciplinary opportunities that are going to help position the University in that national/international research community. The challenge will be to make sure that on all those fronts, we keep our eye on them, and we're successful, and we bring them to fruition. I think that's the main challenge.

DL: What are the weaknesses of the College of Arts and Sciences, and how do you plan to address them?

VN: We recently had a faculty salary equity done that was done within the college. That salary equity study raises some questions that we really need to address about salaries for women in the college and salaries for ethnic minorities in the college. It also, though, raises salary equity issues in regard to length of time at UNM and whether faculty who are here longer may suffer a bit of a salary drop because of that. We have some departments that really are key departments for recruiting minority students, like Africana Studies and American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese. But we still need to work really hard on how we provide resources for minority graduate students, and also how we recruit and support minority faculty. So, I think those are important issues. Finally, I think a critical weakness in the college is resources. It's significantly underfunded for the quality of education that we need to be delivering at the undergraduate level. I've kind of jokingly said that sometimes I think the University, at the undergraduate level of education, sometimes they fund it as though it's Wal-Mart. You know, Wal-Mart prices are low for a reason. The college really needs additional resources to provide quality undergraduate education.

DL: How will you ensure the success and satisfaction of faculty, staff and students under your leadership?

VN: The primary task of everybody who works at the University is to keep in mind what is the

mission of the University. Key to that mission is to educate students. Students are a critical priority for us. The other kind of pieces to that are that we really need to honor and address the diversity that exists in the state and exists on this campus. Also, to remember that we are a research-intensive institute and to support a research-based faculty and encourage research. So, faculty, staff and students are all key pieces in those missions of the University. If we can keep our eye on the fundamental principles, we can make a really strong and convincing case for what the college requires for success. And I can make decisions inside the college for how to allocate funds appropriately so that by the faculty, staff and students succeeding, the University succeeds, as well.

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