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Dear Friends,
Everyone in the Anderson community has been hard at work during this academic year. We work hard
because we are proud of our contributions: proud of our past, as reflected in the legacy of Robert
O. Anderson and in the careers of our Hall of Fame honorees; proud of the present, as we gather in
our new Paul R. Jackson Student Center to hear faculty lectures and host community events; and
proud of our future, glimpsed in the earnest efforts of 1500 current Anderson students.
With so much to accomplish, we've organized our tasks in order to make good progress toward our major goals. We attend to the basics with our first two goals, which are to increase Anderson's graduate enrollment so we can supply the business leaders needed for tomorrow's economy, and to maintain high accreditation standards that showcase the quality of our programs. Anderson is among the elite 20% of business schools that have achieved rigorous AACSB International standards. Our aim is not just to meet, but to reach the highest spirit of those standards.
The remaining three goals define areas of excellence at Anderson. We focus on success for all our students by creating a broad range of tools to make degree completion possible and compelling. For example, our math boot camps - a quick math refresher just before the start of every semester - are very popular, and our Native American Career Fair is now an annual event. Evening, online, and televised courses, offsite courses in Rio Rancho, and executive and certificate programs give students convenient options. With over 50% of our undergraduate students and over 30% of our graduate students from under-represented groups, and with graduation rates of over 85%, we know we are moving in a very positive direction.
Support for emerging business is our primary economic development goal. Our support is immediate, in terms of providing assistance for new businesses, and long range, in terms of educating the workforce needed for New Mexico's future. Thanks to partnerships across UNM and with Sandia and Los Alamos national labs, we have been especially productive in assisting new technology-based businesses, and our Technology Business Plan Competition regularly allows us to glimpse the next generation of successful entrepreneurs. Our emerging expertise in information assurance means that we are at the forefront of new research and training in data security.
Good business is grounded in good conduct, so we are fortunate to claim an excellent faculty of leaders in the ethical and socially responsible conduct of business. For the second time, the Aspen Institute's "Beyond Grey Pinstripes" recognition ranked us 18th in the world for infusion of ethical and social issues in our curriculum. A partner organization, the New Mexico Ethics Alliance, was created in 2007 and is housed at Anderson in the Pillmore Ethics Center. Our students continue to gain insight into best practices by serving as fact finders for the annual New Mexico Ethics in Business Awards.
I am proud to be part of the Anderson community. Thanks for your great work!
Best wishes,
Amy