Bustamente hopes to connect to community

The University of New Mexico-Valencia campus has a new director of enrollment management and student success.

Armando Bustamente is the new director and came to the Valencia campus after working at the UNM main campus in Albuquerque.

He started his career at UNM by working on Title V grants that specifically target Hispanic and low-income students. He helped by placing mentors with students throughout the campus and providing additional instruction through the CAPS tutoring program.

At the end of his tenure at the main campus, he worked in El Centro de la Raza, a student services department collaborating with various communities, including undocumented and sexually trauma-affected students, to help them succeed at UNM.

Bustamente’s family moved around the country as a young child but when he was in the fourth grade, they settled in Nebraska. He earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and completed his master’s in clinical social work from the Albuquerque campus of New Mexico Highlands.

He started at UNM-Valencia in July and has been diligently working on getting into the community and making sure people know that they are there to support everyone, not just the students. He said they need to be involved in the community because they are a community college.

“What we do impacts the students that come here and their families. It’s a multi-generational impact,” said Bustamente. “Because if you start to hit it away at that generational poverty, being able to access stuff that in the past, they hadn’t been able to access. It changes that family for generations to come and so I think a place like UNM Valencia is essential for that, especially in rural New Mexico.”

He aims to connect with the community by reaching out to people and businesses in the area. His goal is to learn what matters most to them so that UNM Valencia can better serve the community and ensure that students are fully prepared to succeed in the workforce after graduation.

Bustamente is currently working on securing a new outreach position at UNM Valencia. The goal of this position is to build relationships within the local business community. While there is already an outreach person who works with high schools in the area, he wants to reach out to local businesses to understand how the college can better prepare students for the workforce.

Besides going to the businesses, Bustamente wants to make sure he personally goes to the surrounding areas in and near the county such as Veguita or Magdalena to do community outreach.

Bustamente said the faculty and staff who work on the campus have a strong sense of dedication and commitment towards their work. He said they truly enjoy being there and are passionate about ensuring the students’ success throughout their academic journey.

“Now, we just need to make it so that our students love the place as much as the staff and faculty love this place,” says Bustamente.

He wants his staff to be cross trained with other departments on campus so they can answer any questions students may have and never leave his office confused or overwhelmed. Making sure every student succeeds in school and after they move on is very important to both him and the faculty.

He also wants to let students explore their identities and learn about themselves, so they can find out what they are passionate about while they are at UNM Valencia.

“In my experience, students who understand who they are, are much more successful,” says Bustamente. “It’s not just coming in getting that piece of paper and heading out.”

He wants the students to succeed while at UNM Valencia, of course, but he also wants to see them continue and succeed at anything they decide to do after — whether it means the students going into the workforce or going on to a four-year school.