Strategic Planning: HU VISION 2025

Vision Statement, Mission Statement and Core Values 

Mission

New Mexico Highlands University is a public comprehensive university serving our local and global communities. Our mission is to provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to attain an exceptional education by fostering creativity, critical thinking and research in the liberal arts, sciences, and professions within a diverse community.

Vision

Our vision is to be a premier comprehensive university transforming lives and communities now and for generations to come.

Core Values

Excellence
Diversity
Accessibility
Responsiveness

NMHU Strategic Plan 2025

Approved by Faculty Senate, September 9, 2020
Approved by Staff Senate, September 9, 2020
Approved by General Faculty, September 23, 2020
Approved by Student Senate, September 27, 2020
Approved by Board of Regents, October 9, 2020

Goal 1: Teach and mentor students to integrate a broad range of academic skills, a breadth and depth of curricular knowledge, and an interdisciplinary understanding.

1.1 Maintain and build upon a core curriculum to develop a broad liberal arts education and transferable skills.

1.2 Teach students to master competencies in their undergraduate and graduate programs of study with theoretical and applied knowledge in their areas of specialization.

1.3 Provide educational experiences that promote interdisciplinary understanding.

1.4 Recognize and acknowledge efforts of faculty, staff, and students highlighting strong demonstrations of pedagogy, skill development, active learning, advising, mentorship, or content knowledge.

 Goal 2: Inspire students to action through environments that foster scholarship and produce graduates equipped to address regional and global issues.

2.1 Link course content, curriculum, and co-curricular activities to understanding and addressing significant local, regional, and global issues (i.e., infuse big issues and big ideas into discussion in all areas of campus life).

2.2 Develop students into confident graduates with effective communication skills, professionalism, and determination that prepares them to make informed decisions in pursuit of lifelong learning and professional success.

2.3 Encourage and support fieldwork, internships, externships, practica, multi-institutional research projects, grant-related engagements, and other related activities that broaden students’ horizons outside of the classroom.

 Goal 3: Engage with and serve our communities for mutually beneficial exchanges of knowledge, services and resources. 

3.1 Establish and sustain a service learning, civic engagement, co-curricular, social justice, and community network in collaboration for, by, and with faculty, staff, students, and local, regional, and global partners.

3.2   Identify and prioritize strategic opportunities and partnerships for aligning university and community needs and resources for mutual benefit.
3.3   Protect and promote rights to higher education for all students in need.

Goal 4: Advance excellence in diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices.

4.1 Embrace our mission as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and emerging Native American-Serving Nontribal Institution (NASNTI) to increase the diversity of NMHU’s faculty, staff, and administrators to better reflect the demographics of New Mexico and our students.

4.2 Develop an active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with intellectual, social, cultural and geographical diversity that leads to personal growth through community engagement and curricular and co-curricular programming.

4.3 Advance and promote a welcoming and inclusive university environment that recruits broadly, supports equity, and improves diverse student, faculty, and staff retention and success.

4.4 Employ student engagement and success strategies for students from diverse backgrounds to ensure persistence and completion through active and collaborative learning.

4.5 Cultivate, promote, sustain, assess, and improve multiculturalism and diversity initiatives throughout the campus community in curricular and co-curricular activities, student support services, civic engagement, and professional development.

Goal 5:  Be a comprehensive educational provider for all students including traditional, non-traditional, online, distance, community, and lifelong learners.

5.1 Develop guiding principles for becoming a more comprehensive educational provider that promotes equitable student outcomes for all students across NMHU.

5.2 Enhance professional development for faculty and staff in effective use of technology to more effectively reach, educate, and support all students across NMHU.

5.3 Develop, adopt, and implement a process to research and address the need for new or modified academic degree, professional certificate, and community interest programs.