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Program Accreditation & Compliance

Mission

The College of Arts and Sciences is committed to providing an applied liberal arts and sciences education. Our faculty strive to meet students where they are and to prepare them as globally educated citizens capable of improving our future world through applied critical thinking, responsible problem solving, creativity and effective communication, with appreciation of diversity, equality and intellectual inquiry.

Vision

We envision a college which engages our university and community by offering ALAS teaching and scholarship in a premier educational environment. Our college will challenge students with innovative approaches to learning while maintaining a tradition of excellence in teaching to prepare our graduates for lifelong success. Through collaborative and cross-disciplinary research and teaching, we encourage scholarship and creative expression by developing original ways to view our past, assess our present, and realize our potential.

Goals

  1. We will formalize departmental mentoring models, fulfill department chair course observations and mentoring through MBO processes, and encourage peer course observation across disciplines and course modalities.
  2. We will engage in research on pedagogy and instruction, explore innovative and best practices, and share findings.
  3. We will evaluate, research, and make recommendations about the university's 3 credit hour service-learning requirement to be vetted by C and I and Academic Affairs.
  4. We will implement the revised General Education Assessment.

Mission

Ignite & Nurture a Spirit of Learning

The mission of the College of Education at Western New Mexico University is to ignite and nurture a spirit of learning in order to positively impact lives globally through transformative education.

Vision

A vision for teaching

The College of Education and other academic departments at WNMU believe that good teachers, counselors, and/or administrators have very intense and personal reasons for their purpose as educators and can readily provide influential reasons for teaching. The COE Conceptual Framework is Western's response to the question, "Why teach?"

Western New Mexico University is committed to preparing professional educators for PreK-12 utilizing a curriculum that supports each candidate, regardless of race, class, or age. The College of Education depicts this vision in the following ways:

  • "Ignite and nurture a spirit of learning for both educator and student"
  • "Encender y alimentar un espíritu de aprendizaje entre alumnos y maestros" (Spanish)
  • "Ba'ólta'í dóó ólta'í jilíígo ó'hoo'aah bii'iistiin jidil tli'go naasgóó halled bee baa 'áhwijiilyáa dooleel." (Navajo)
  • "Tsit nah wah she oh nah…yah nit kay ah
    Tsit nah yah nit kay no nah…Tsit nah washe ah" (Zuni)

Accreditation Information

CACREP

  • The Department of Counseling is accredited by CACREP for its four entry-level specialties areas: addiction counseling, clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling, and school counseling
  • Find here the 2024-2025 Counseling Annual Report

CAEP

  • Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
    • The is fully accredited by the for initial licensure programs, advanced programs, and various teaching fields at the undergraduate and graduate level.

NAYEC

  • Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs of the National Association for the Education of Young Children

Mission

The College of Professional Studies offers exceptional professional programs designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their academic and career aspirations.

Vision

The College of Professional Studies strives to be the regional leader in preparing students to be professionals who are adaptable, culturally competent, globally and environmentally aware, strong communicators, and who are critically minded professionals that will become world changers.

Strategic Goals

The College of Professional Studies' Strategic Goals (24-25) are aligned with the Western New Mexico University Strategic Plan (2023-2028), and with the Academic Affairs Division goals.

  1. CPS leaders will meet at least monthly to strengthen and enhance collaborative efforts and build mentoring relationships. (AA goal 1)
  2. CPS will encourage participation in professional development activities to enhance faculty expertise, teaching effectiveness, and contributions to their respective fields. (AA goal 2)
  3. Each CPS school or department will participate in at least one high school activity (e.g. career fair, presentation, visit, etc.) per semester to encourage dual enrollment in professional programs. (AA goal 3)
  4. CPS will create new and/update existing transfer guides for community colleges that WNMU has existing master MOUs with in order to increase the potential for transfer enrollment. (AA goal 3)
  5. CPS will attain 100% adherence with the standard syllabus template by spring 2025 (AA goal 4).
  6. CPS will annually review all SLO's for each program to ensure that each program's SLO's are accurate and updated. (AA goal 4)

Department of Counseling

The Department of Counseling at Western New Mexico University (WNMU) is a three-year, CACREP accredited, 60-credit online program that prepares students to become professional counselors within a variety of settings including schools, community mental health centers, state agencies, clinics, hospitals, and private practices. The focus of the program is to assist students in developing the skills and nurturing the dispositions needed to provide innovative and effective counseling experiences for diverse clients in multicultural settings. The Counseling Program provides four separate specialties which include Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, School Counseling, and Addiction Counseling. More detail regarding each specialty can be found below, under the Counseling Specialties section of the website. Graduates of the Counseling Program at WNMU are eligible for licensure as School Counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC), and Licensed Rehabilitation Counselors (LRC) in New Mexico. The program is also designed to meet the National Board for Certified Counselor requirements for students who wish to become National Certified Counselors (NCC) as well as the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification requirements for students who want to become Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRC).

CACREP Accreditation

The Department of Counseling first received CACREP accreditation for its four specialties on April 24th, 2025. The fours specialties include the following: addiction counseling, clinical mental health counseling, clinical rehabilitation counseling and school counseling.

The start date for CACREP accreditation is February 6th, 2023, and the current cycle ends April 30th, 2033. All individuals who graduated from the Department of Counseling at Western New Mexico University on or after February 6th, 2023 are considered graduates from a CACREP accredited program.

The Department of Counseling's CACREP accreditation status can be viewed at the following link: .

Pre-licensure BSN

Accreditation

  • The Pre-Licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Track at Western New Mexico University is a participating member in the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium (NMNEC) ().
  • The Pre-Licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing Track is accredited with full approval by the New Mexico Board of Nursing (), 6301 Indian School NE, Suite 710, Albuquerque, NM 87110, telephone (505) 841-8340.
  • The baccalaureate tracks in nursing at Western New Mexico University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (), 655 K Street NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001, 202-887-6791.

Student Handbook

Accreditation

  • WNMU BSW and MSW programs are nationally accredited by the .

School of Social Work Student Handbook

Download the School of Social Work Student Handbook

Bachelor's Program

Mission

The mission of the WNMU BSW program is to prepare students for culturally humble generalist practice through a person-in-environment framework, a global perspective, respect for human diversity, and scientific inquiry. The program is committed to fostering social work values and competencies that promote:

  • Social, economic, racial, and environmental justice
  • Individual and community well-being by preventing conditions that limit human rights
  • The elimination of poverty through advocacy and systemic change
  • The enhancement of quality of life for all individuals and communities

Through this mission, the program equips students with the knowledge, skills, and ethical foundation necessary to address complex social issues and create meaningful change.

Learning Outcomes

Master's Program

Mission

Grounded in a global perspective and respect for human diversity, the WNMU MSW Program equips graduate students for advanced generalist practice through scientific inquiry, self-reflection, and guided practice experiences. Through this program, students cultivate the knowledge, skills, values, cognitive and affective processes, and cultural humility required to improve the well-being and quality of life for all individuals as champions of social, racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Learning Outcomes

School of Business WNMU Student Achievement Data 2025

ACBSP Accredited – Program Performance – School of Business
Western New Mexico University

Mission: The mission of the School of Business is to provide a learning environment offering diverse opportunities for academic and experiential development of all interested stakeholders.

Degree Offerings by WNMU School of Business:

Undergraduate:

  1. AS Business Administration – accredited
  2. BAS General Business – accredited
  3. BBA Accounting – accredited
  4. BBA Business Management – accredited
  5. BBA Marketing – accredited

Graduate:

  1. MBA – accredited