Experience

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  New mexico highlands university

  Sept 2004 - Jan 2016

  RESPONSIBILITIES: In my capacity as Interim Dean, I administered an influential and spiritually unique social work program with a combined statewide enrollment of over 500 largely Roman Catholic students representing New Mexico’s Hispanic and Native American populations. My focus was to advance and maintain the high-quality education of this groundbreaking multilingual, multicultural and interdisciplinary program with a graduate concentration and community-minded approach. This included the supervision of a nine-member faculty and six-member administrative staff, an annual budget over $4M, and a Title IV-E grant totaling $2M yearly.RESULTS: Under my leadership, the program grew and prospered, including the joining of the Schools of Social Work, Counseling, Nursing, and Psychology into a thriving new College of Allied Health Professions. Additionally, we created the Indigenous Knowledge Center, providing statewide research services and the design and delivery of academic programs, many offered online at the School’s centers in Albuquerque, Farmington, Roswell, Santa Fe, and the main Las Vegas campus. Also initiated under my direction, we contracted with the San Miguel County Detention Center to design and coadminister a multidisciplinary community reintegration program for inmates preparing for release. Show less RESPONSIBILITIES: As I advanced in my professorial roles at NMHU School of Social Work, I taught both core and elective courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I also played a key part in course and curriculum development, served as editor and principal author of all documentation for the School’s national accreditation efforts, and supervised field students in interdisciplinary clinical practicum placements with health and human service agencies in the Las Vegas, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque areas.RESULTS: As Coordinator, Master of Social Work Program from 2003-2010, I successfully designed, developed and taught core graduate courses and course sequences in law and ethics for social workers, community organizing and agency administration, leadership and supervision for human service professionals, and social welfare and contemporary mental health policy. I also succeeded in guiding our school to national accreditation before the Council on Social Work Education over three successive cycles in 1997, 2005 and 2012. Show less RESPONSIBILITIES: In addition to performing many of the duties described in the Interim Dean entry above, in 2006-2007 I codirected two of the School’s innovative academic initiatives: 1. The creation of an interdisciplinary MSW/MBA joint degree program with the School of Business, the first ever in the southwestern US, and 2. the development of a bilingual English/Spanish MSW concentration, the first of its kind in the US. I also directed Highlands' reaccreditation drive before the national Higher Learning Commission, serving as editor and principal author of all narrative documentation in support of that successful effortRESULTS: During my term as Associate Dean, I was appointed Special Assistant to NMHU’s President (2005), providing counsel in the areas of human resource policy and coordination of our statewide learning centers. I was also the President's liaison with executive agencies and external partners, and represented NMHU at government functions and hearings. One of my proudest accomplishments was the design and implementation of the website and blog MentalHealthLaw.us, internationally recognized for discussions of mental health decision-making techniques, and legal and ethical considerations in the allied health professions. Show less

  • Interim Dean, School of Social Work

    Jun 2014 - Jan 2016

  • Professor, Associate Professor & Assistant Professor

    Jan 1996 - Jan 2016

  • Associate Dean and Director, Las Vegas Social Work Program

    Sept 2004 - May 2010
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  Eastern washington university

  Jun 2017 - now

  RESPONSIBILITIES: Having completed my term as Director and Chair of the School of Social Work, my guiding mission as Professor is to prepare students to serve urban and rural communities by acquiring skills in clinical techniques, human behavior, counseling, community organizing, program development, administration, and related areas. RESULTS: This multidisciplinary approach that I helped develop and expand with the addition of Addiction Studies, Aging Studies, Children’s Services, and Disability Studies arms students with a broad set of professional tools from which to collaborate successfully with the communities they will serve. I’ve also been developing a statewide curriculum in legal, judicial and courtroom techniques for child welfare professionals to provide critical training in witnessing, investigative skills, and case report development. Show less

  • Professor of Social Work

    Jun 2017 - now

  • Director and Chair, School of Social Work

    Jun 2017 - Jun 2019