UNM-LA’s Student Success Manager Coco Rae speaking to Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos members during the Sept. 19 meeting. Courtesy/Kiwanis                                                                                                                                             UNM-LA’s Internship Coordinator for Student Services Brittany Carpenter speaking to Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos members during the Sept. 19 meeting at TOTH. Courtesy/Kiwanis

By BROOKE DAVIS
Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos

Student Success Manager Coco Rae at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA) told Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos members, during the Sept. 19 meeting at Trinity on the Hill Church, that “UNM-LA is a launch pad for people’s goals”.

During the meeting, Rae and Brittany Carpenter, UNM-LA’s internship coordinator for student services, spoke about many of the university’s advantages and programs. Rae noted that UNM-LA has about 1,900 students per school year and thanks to small student/faculty ratios and the fact that many of their professors have higher degrees, the students receive a very high-level education from experts in their fields. She said the university works hard to put programs in place that help students, such as offering evening and lunchtime as well as online classes to accommodate students who work or have problems attending classes at the regular times.

UNM-LA offers robust support for veterans, provides both high school and college students to get their basic courses completed in preparation for moving on to a four-year institution. Rae said she is proud of the professional health sciences program, which serves many students who plan to study nursing or go on to medical school, and also the school’s engineering program, which has 65 students enrolled and now offers a BS degree in mechanical engineering. She also described the community education courses, the high school equivalency program, and free ESL classes.

Carpenter said that the university is able to pay a stipend for work in the community. In some cases, what students get from this program is similar to what they would get in an introductory job. In Los Alamos, students have worked in everything from doctor’s offices to the Los Alamos Historical Society.