Chamberlin Takes on New Challenge

SOCORRO -- Louise Chamberlin had been director of the New Mexico Tech Admission Office for nearly 20 years before she made an unanticipated leap across campus to become the director of Tech's Auxiliary Services.

Now, with a little over a year in retrospect, it can be said that it was a successful move . . . both for Chamberlin and the university.

During her tenure as Tech's director of Admission, Chamberlin directly experienced the peaks and valleys of student enrollment at New Mexico Tech--ranging anywhere from 700 or so students to well over 1,700.

As Tech's chief recruiter, bringing in new students was a consuming part of Chamberlin's job; yet, Tech always stayed ahead of the competitive student-recruitment game by always being "creative, innovative, and adaptive," she says.

"New Mexico Tech always has been in the forefront by employing new methods of student recruitment," Chamberlin maintains. "We've been much copied over the years."

For example, Chamberlin points out that New Mexico Tech was one of the first universities in the nation to begin an active recruitment program for transfer students, based largely on a network of personal contacts with mathematics, science, and engineering faculty throughout many of the nation's numerous community colleges.

"It wasn't long after that many of Tech's competitors--all the other schools--were following suit," she says.

"When I first started working at Admissions, we'd get maybe about ten transfer students each year," Chamberlin relates, "but now at least one-third of the student population at Tech is made up of transfer students."

And even though she could have easily pointed to several other successes in her career, Chamberlin nevertheless began developing a persistent feeling that what she actually needed was a new challenge.

"The most frustrating aspect of my work would be spending all that time, money, and effort to recruit new students, only to see a good number of them leave before they graduated," she says.

So, when the position for director of Auxiliary Services became open at Tech, she went ahead and applied for what she then thought would be a one-year appointment.

"I felt I could impact student retention more from Auxiliary Services than from the Admission Office," Chamberlin explains, "since it's my personal feeling that, after the faculty, Auxiliary Services probably has the most influence around campus on whether students decide to stay here or leave.

"If the students' quality of life is improved, then retention also will improve," Chamberlin asserts. "Retention is a concern of all us here at Tech; and, I'm working hard trying to get people on campus to become even more sensitive to the issues of student retention and community building."

As director of Auxiliary Services, Chamberlin is in charge of several offices and facilities around campus--most of which must meet their budgets by generating their own money--including the Housing Office, Student Union Building (SUB), Food Services, Student Activity Center (SAC), Childcare Center, Swim Center, Bookstore, Golf Course, and Macey Center.

"One of the first things I did was make visits to each and every department which would be under me," Chamberlin says. "Since then, I've talked to everyone who has anything to do with Auxiliary Services. . . . And, I think I've even gotten to look inside every single broom closet in all the different buildings!"

Improvements in Auxiliary Services came fast under the new administrator.

After listening to a barrage of Tech students' concerns--and complaints--about the quality of Tech's food services, Chamberlin decided that something had to be done immediately. And it was. Another company was given a new contract for providing food services at the university and changes soon were implemented in meal plans, as well as types of food which were being offered to students--in the dining room, as well as the Canteen.

"My second priority after I became director of Auxiliary Services was to return space to the students," she adds. "Over the years, as enrollment has grown, space which is set aside specifically for student use has not grown along the same level."

A new student lounge, complete with comfortable furniture, a big-screen television set, and three new computer workstations, attests to Chamberlin's commitment to provide more space around campus for students.

Other recent improvements include new study areas in several of the residence halls, as well as the installation of new carpeting, better lighting, and outdoor furniture.

"Actually, a new dormitory is desperately needed on this campus," Chamberlin points out, "but, as of yet, there's no money available for a new dorm."

The Auxiliary Services director says she'd eventually like to see a new dormitory built at Tech which would offer upperclassmen apartment-style living arrangements, such as separate bedrooms with private baths.

"We also need a new Student Union Building," she adds, "but that won't be in the works for another four years or so."

Another addition to the campus which Chamberlin envisions is a convenience store--a sort of "Kwicky-Mart" for students.

"Once again, these are just a few of the things that can be done at Tech to increase student retention by improving the quality of student life on campus," she notes.

And now, with just over a year's experience under her belt, Chamberlin already has garnered kudos for her consummate work at Auxiliary Services: At last year's commencement, the New Mexico Tech Student Association honored her with its "Outstanding Administrative Service Award"--marking the first time such an award had been given to a Tech administrator.