COE Educational Research and Budgeting Office
COE Research
The NMSU College of Education is fast becoming a world leader in issues that relate to diversified societies, especially those in complex and challenging Borderlands. These Borderlands are not the 'thin line between' as they are sometimes conceived, but a complex space as described by Gloria Anzalda in the Preface to her Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza: 'In fact, the Borderlands are physically present wherever two or more cultures edge each other, where people of different races occupy the same territory, where under, lower, middle and upper classes touch, where the space between two individuals shrinks with intimacy.'
Based on an a deep understanding and abiding awareness of cultural histories, local knowledge, and familial values, NMSU's COE has demonstrated expertise and success in developing programs for teacher professional development, for increasing mathematics proficiencies, and for bringing the joys and excitement of fast-moving, vibrant technologies to the populations in this region.
COE initiatives support young children and parents by providing Head Start and Early Childhood programs that are more than a wonderful, safe place for children to spend their days while parents work. Our centers engage children in learning materials that are on the forefront of today's research.
COE research takes a holistic view of our people and their goals, hopes and dreams by not only providing academically challenging traditional education programs, but also by including substantial programs in literacy, health, counseling, exERBise, physical education, dance, sports for the physically challenged, and studies in how overall wellness contributes to success in learning.
The environment in which members of COE's diverse faculty work is also described more lyrically by Ms. Anzaldua, who herself lived in the very borderlands that are our contintuing purview: 'Living on borders and in margins, keeping intact one's shifting and multiple identity and integrity, is like trying to swim in a new element, an 'alien' element. There is an exhilaration in being a participant in the further evolution of humankind, in being 'worked' on. I have the sense that certain 'faculties' — not just in me but in every border resident, colored or noncolored—and dormant areas of consciousness are being activated, awakened.'
NMSU Cluster Organization
New Mexico State University engages in large amounts of widely diversified research that ranges from Agriculture and Border Science to Space technologies. To make it easier to understand this extensive diversity, NMSU's new president, Dr. Michael Martin, has requested that cooperating deans and provosts of Research develop "cluster areas" that potentially best organize our research efforts. To date, the deans and provosts have suggested four Cluster research areas into which many efforts will fit more or less, and because of the comprehensive nature of our inquiries, there will often be times where intiatives, as for example in education and technology, research overlaps cluster boundaries. However, this structure is a first and welcome start to sculping clearer understandings of NMSU's strengths, focus and directions.
In keeping with this effort, we at the ERB have identified our current grants, laboratories, and initiatives, and categorized them under the umbrella topic which seems most to fit the effort. In keeping with the understanding that there is overlap, we have noted where this applies. Since this is a new effort, we appreciate your observations, suggestions and comments, which may be directed to coeerb@nmsu.edu .
I. Southwest and Border Health and Education
The NMSU College of Education's efforts in the NMSU Southwest and Border Health and Education research cluster focus on increasing the quality, quantity, and diversity of teachers, administrators, and counselors in the Southwest. Ongoing research areas include early childhood, health, and literacy, teacher preparation, educational leadership, and excellence in mathematics teaching and learning.
II. Information Sciences
The NMSU College of Education's efforts in the NMSU Information Sciences research cluster demonstrate our recognition of the increasing importance of technology in education. The College of Education actively supports both Distance Education and the development of teaching materials that make the best use of new technologies.
III. Natural Resources
Our Natural Resources in southern New Mexico are a fragile and diverse component of this unique state. The College of Education does not have any ongoing Natural Resource efforts at this time. Both the College of Agriculture and the Department of Biology have ongoing research in these areas.
IV. Space
New Mexico has long been a place where new, advanced technologies have been conceived, developed and tested, and the new space initiatives currently underway are no exception. The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is currently the lead space-grant consortium in New Mexico. From the other space-related efforts that include White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), the new Spaceport on Route 25, and ongoing efforts in design technology at NMSU's Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL), New Mexico has a wealth of opportunities. The College of Education participates in NMSU's Space-related Research, Education and Public Service research cluster with the strong support of NASA sponsored initiatives.