Becky Corran, chair of the Humanities and Social Sciences program at Doña Ana Community College, has been selected as a Faculty Fellow by New Mexico State University Provost Carol Parker.

Parker said Corran, a former NMSU Faculty Senate chair, will work on efforts to improve NMSU system integration at the academic level, including the coordination and support of input at data gathering of the NMSU Las Cruces and branch campuses.

“I am looking forward to working with Professor Corran again,” Parker said. “I enjoyed working with her last year when she was chair of the Faculty Senate. Her system-wide perspective and knowledge will be extremely helpful to future system integration efforts, and especially those concerning academic programs and initiatives.”

Corran’s appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2021.

Corran will also be responsible for partnering with faculty and administrative units to identify opportunities for collaboration and efficiency; creating a timeline for system integration to include policy changes, advocacy and academic collaboration; developing and implementing affiliation agreements, faculty pools and curricular pathways in collaboration with university and branch campus faculty and department heads and program directors; and partnering with branch campus leadership, NMSU Vice President for Student Success Renay Scott and Vice Provost for Digital Learning Sherry Kollmann to broaden course offerings and transfer pathways.

Corran is the third Faculty Fellow to be appointed by Parker.

“Our system and our state are at a critical juncture, and I am excited to have an opportunity to bring faculty voices into conversations about how to best serve our communities,” Corran said. “Bridging faculty and student experiences across the system, emphasizing data, collaboration and strategic innovation, will be a powerful tool in achieving the goals outlined in LEADS 2025. I look forward to connecting the wide-ranging expertise of community college faculty and staff to decisions that will support student success throughout the NMSU system.”

Corran is a first-generation college graduate and professor of public health at DACC. She also serves as the department chair for Humanities and Social Sciences, which includes 16 disciplines and more than 60 full- and part-time faculty.

As a faculty member, Corran focuses on courses on community health, health education, ethics and research. She has taught online, hybrid and in-person, in the Aggie Pathway and at three different DACC campuses. She has worked with public health faculty at DACC and NMSU to maintain a 2+2 program for students oriented toward transfer, as well as supporting the development of a community health worker certificate.

These experiences, as well as her service as a board member and president of the New Mexico Association of Career and Technical Education, give her a strong sense of the diverse, transformative opportunities for students attending community colleges and universities. After serving as chair of the NMSU Faculty Senate for two years, she has continued her work on faculty appointments, campus climate, curricular analytics and strategic planning.