NORTHERN NEW MEXICO COLLEGE NEWS
Northern New Mexico College is proud to announce its recent Adobe Award from Quality New Mexico (QNM). QNM recognizes organizations for their advancements in strategic planning and direction. QNM was formed in April 1993 to administer the New Mexico Performance Excellence Awards (NMPEA) for the state.
The QNM website states: “The NMPEA program is the sole provider of New Mexico’s multi-leveled “path to performance excellence” aligned with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) program and using the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework® (also referred to as the “Baldrige Criteria”).”
“We are humbled and honored to receive this important recognition from Quality New Mexico,” said NNMC President Rick Bailey.
Toby Vigil, from Los Alamos National Laboratory, served as a volunteer mentor and advisor on the project. “Toby’s assistance on this project was invaluable,” Bailey noted. “He was able to provide an outside perspective that guided us the entire way.”
Plans are already underway to prepare an application for the next step in the QNM process, the Piñon Award. This endeavor will help the college refine its process improvement procedures and establish self-reflective and self-evaluating mindsets.
“We know the Adobe Award is only the first step, and that we have more to do. But this is an important accomplishment. We are proud of the journey we have made as a team over these last several years and know that our strategic planning has paid huge dividends for our students and our institution,” Bailey said. “The best is yet to come.”
Northern New Mexico College is a Minority-Serving Institution, offering bachelor’s, associate’s, and certificate programs. The College serves rural communities within a 40-mile radius of its campuses in Española and El Rito, New Mexico. The mission of the college is to ensure student success by providing access to affordable, community-based learning opportunities that meet the educational, cultural, and economic needs of the region.