Acknowledgements

Michelle Albro

“I have so many people that I am thankful for, who have encouraged and supported me while I sought my masters in a program of study of which I have deep passion, OILS Adult Education and Professional Development: my daughter Amethyst Albro, boyfriend Kamyar Rahimian, aunt Juanel Holman, mother Connie Moore, son-in-law John Curry, and close friends Lisa Carrillo and Elaine Molina. Additionally, I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to work in the field that I was studying. To this, I owe heartfelt gratitude to Audrey Arnold (now the Executive Director for UNM Continuing Education) for believing in my potential and giving me the incredible opportunity to oversee the non-credit, non-degree, Career and Professional Development programs at Anderson’s Executive and Professional Education Center. “ 

LeeAnn Black

"I want to thank my colleagues and management, who played a critical role during my internship. I want to thank my parents, nephew, and boyfriend for helping me push when I felt tired and overwhelmed. I want to thank my peers in the OILS program for helping me learn concepts, while also forging bonds. And finally I want to thank the OILS instructors, particularly Alex and Lani. With your guidance, I moved beyond memorizing concepts and definitions to internalizing knowledge and skills." 

Briana Cristo

“I would like to thank my mother and father, who taught me to value a good education. Thanks to my sister for supporting me by always cheering me on. Thank you to my brother for the thought-provoking conversations along the way, and last but, certainly not least to my fiancé Roger, you believed in me every step of the way of this long journey. I thank you for being my rock to lean on in times of difficulty. I did it!” 

Jessica Medrano

“I am forever indebted to my wonderful parents, Chuck and Pat, for their love, support and acceptance. I am so grateful to Carlos, Natalie and Andres for their support and patience while I completed this program and worked full time. I am so thankful to Carlos Sr.  and Bernice Medrano for their support and enthusiasm during this program. I want to say a special cheers to my BFF, Judi Hines for always being there for me . I want to also say how fortunate I am to work with such an amazing leadership team at CNM. They have truly been my inspiration to complete this wonderful program!!! Thank you!"

Jemima Neddy Organ

“I want to thank all the professors in Organization, Information, and Learning Sciences (OILS) Program, who believed in me, taught me, and gave me the opportunity to learn and grow. I want to thank the program coordinator Christopher Larranaga for the great advice he gave, and continues to give me.  I thank Dr. Mark Emmons, the chairman of my dissertation committee for his dedicated support and guidance. I thank Dr. Fran Wilkinson for teaching me the leadership course, introduction to qualitative research and advanced case study research. I thank Dr. Victor Law for his continual encouragement and support. I thank Dr. Gunawardena “Lani” for mentoring me. I thank Dr. Venner from Psychology department for accepting to be on my committee as the Motivational Interviewing (MI) expert. I thank Dr. Miller for training and coaching me on Motivational Interviewing method, and for introducing me to key people who are also exploring Motivational Interviewing in leadership.”

Montserrat Oyanedel-Tolmo

“Thank you to my husband and my family, that is spread out throughout the world, for supporting me during this experience. I couldn't have done it without your love, patience and dedication. In addition, I am grateful for all the great people I met in the program, teachers and classmates. Not to mention how supportive they have been through these two years and more now during this COVID-19 pandemia time. Also, I want to say thank you to all the people that support me during these two years; my friends, colleagues and supervisors. Lastly, I would like to thank my students and fellow adult educators that work supporting learners that need the most love and care. All of you inspire me to be a better person and to work hard to keep improving myself.  

As a new instructional designer, my ultimate goal is to create engaging and accessible learning experiences that combine technology and adult learning best practices, capable of inspiring people/learners from all walks of life to succeed in any educational path they choose. 

Thank you to all the people that made this possible! 

 With love and gratitude. “

Suzanne Pearlman

”I want to thank my husband, James, for his support, encouragement, and never-ending belief in me. I also want to express my gratitude for my sons, James and Daniel, for their love and inspiration.  Lastly, thank you to the staff of the OILS program, and my professors in particular, who guided and supported me. “

Frances Perea

“I would like to thank my family, especially my husband Paul, for the support they gave to me during the three years it took me to obtain my degree.  I would also like to thank my professors, especially Dr. Alex and Dr. Amir. I will never forget their compassion and understanding for working students.” 

Jennifer Price 

“Who could have known how much life would change in a few short months?  In December 2019 I was turning in my last OILS assignments and now I the Program Director for Medical Laboratory Sciences at Central New Mexico Community College.  What a time for change!  This semester we transitioned face-to-face courses to fully online over the course of a weekend.  We not only did it, we did it successfully!  Today our students moderated final presentations like online learning pros. 

I want to thank all of the OILS faculty for pushing me to write better, learn more, and work hard to achieve my goals.  Special shout out to my advisor, Vanessa Svihla, for encouraging me to think on my toes and outside the box (even if you didn’t know that’s what you were doing).   

I have to thank my teammates for the hours we put into the many, many projects we had to complete.  We did it!  We finished we what we started!  Now we can move on to the next challenge as life-long learners are apt to do, but maybe take a relaxing break first.  You earned it! “ 

Danielle Sandoval

"I would like to thank my family and friends for their understanding and encouragement they have shown me during the last 3 consecutive years while part of the OILS program. I could not have accomplished this without all of you by my side, cheering me on. So from the bottom of my heart thank you, I am so blessed and grateful to have you in my life." 

Sharon Schaaf

“I would like to thank my husband & family for supporting me and all of the faculty who have guided me through this endeavor. “

Daniel Vicario

“I would like to thank my mom for being a model of strength and perseverance throughout my life. I would like to thank my husband Michael, who has always encouraged me to chase my dreams and achieve my goals. I would like to thank my professors for making my experience in the OILS program incredibly meaningful and engaging. And finally, I’d like to thank my current and former students who continue to shape my views on the transformative power of learning.”