Jesse Gallegos
Public Relations Coordinator
Luna Community College
January 24, 2023
In an effort to pursue quality, equitable education for northeastern New Mexico, Luna Community College has identified six priority projects and is requesting legislative funding for implementation.
“We want to thank the state legislature and Governor Lujan Grisham for all the funding they have given Luna in the past, and now, more than ever we need their support,” says Luna President Dr. Edward Martinez. “Everything we are asking for will benefit the students and the communities of northeastern New Mexico.” These projects include participation in CHESS, a mobile medical health information and training classroom, workforce training simulators, and athletics facilities.
Luna, like many residents in northeastern New Mexico, has had its trials and tribulations recently. In addition to the pandemic everyone has had to work through, Luna and many northeastern New Mexico residents are making a comeback after being displaced by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fire. Despite four weeks of evacuation and four more weeks of campus smoke rehabilitation during the peak enrollment period, Luna came back strong in fall 2022, with just a handful of students short of 2021 fall numbers.
“Our No. 1 goal is and always will be to support students. We are making that happen through our ‘Luna Strong’ program,” said President Martinez. “At times, life brings challenges and our students have shown they can endure and overcome them. But we want to be there to help and to make sure our students always believe in themselves. We want to provide them with the resources and support they need to meet challenges head-on and turn them into opportunities.”
Recognizing the economic and personal costs of the recent fires, floods, and water shortages, Luna has applied for and won grants to implement programs that address holistic student well-being. Highlights include food pantries, healthy, pre-cooked meals provided free and a robust mental health awareness and training program to provide students, faculty, and staff resources and information to recognize and address mental health concerns.
Living up to its motto of ‘Creating Opportunities for You’ and as part of its post-pandemic revision and reopening, Luna is now offering both new and updated programming. Some of these include EMT training, film technician training, pre-engineering, non-credit workforce skills programs, a mariachi band, and 3D printing. Luna has also opened a community kitchen and restarted its community education program. Luna also offers rapid completion automotive and welding certifications and a partnership with San Juan College for Surg-Tech training.
One example of Luna’s rapid response to community needs is Querencia in Action, a pilot program for the planned Wildfire Resiliency Training Center. In partnership with the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, Luna has provided local community members with training in erosion control, burn-scar recovery, soil evaluation, and other skills needed to mitigate and recover from disasters.
Luna has also volunteered to be the distribution site for approximately 170 cords of wood to be given out to San Miguel County residents 60 and over who have been impacted by the wildfires. This initiative is in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service the New Mexico State Forest, Help New Mexico, and the NM Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute.
Luna has several legislative funding requests this year. Among them are:
· $1,000,000 for Collaborative Higher Education Shared Services (CHESS). Luna is joining the “Wave Two” colleges to bring its computer information systems out of the 1980s and into the 21st century. The college has committed significant fund balances to this effort, but complete implementation requires more.
· $110,000 for a mobile medical classroom. The year 2023, will see Luna receive its first Mobile Medical Classroom to provide rural service areas with education, skills training, outreach, and new enrollment opportunities. However, equipment is needed to complete the classroom for community health information training and for providing instruction in EMT-Basic, phlebotomy, and dental skills.
· $583,000 for a technology update. Outdated elements of instructional and institutional support technology must be replaced to meet the needs of a post-COVID education and business environment that requires high-quality virtual access. Updates will support Luna’s capacity to deliver distance and hybrid learning, create mobile instruction and conference capability, and enhance virtual communications in support of community engagement.
· $483,529 for Sim Training for Workforce Expansion. High demand and high wages are good news for individuals qualified to hold jobs in the craft and skilled trades economy. But since they make so much more than Luna can pay in salaries, program expansion is limited by instructor availability. But the addition of simulators significantly increases program capacity and decreases time-to-completion.
· $1,000,000 for locker rooms. Luna currently has 69 men and women athletes. That number is expected to rise to 100 with the addition of cross-country teams. But the current athletics field house does not have locker rooms. In order to successfully recruit and grow enrollment, the athletics programs need appropriate space. Locker rooms can be added without expanding the college footprint.
$309,692 for the Wildfire Resiliency Training Center. This new funding request is to develop five different short-term certificates that, once implemented, would address workforce needs in the wildland fire and forest and land restoration workforce. Once created, the certificates would attract students and directly impact enrollment at Luna.
“We want to thank everyone for supporting these initiatives,” said Dr. Martinez. “We are pursuing equity for northeastern New Mexico. We want our students to have access to 21st-century technology, health care, and health information, competitive facilities, relevant training programs, and living wage jobs.”
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