Dr. Patricia Manzanares-Gonzales selected to lead the WNMU School of Education
SILVER CITY--Dr. Patricia Manzanares-Gonzales, a native New Mexican with some 27 years of experience in education, has been selected to lead the Western New Mexico University School of Education as its new Dean.
“We are very pleased to have Dr. Manzanares-Gonzales join us in this critical leadership position. Her extensive experience in education, outreach skills, knowledge of the state and the students that Western serves will enhance our ability to remain leaders in the field of education,” said WNMU President John E. Counts.
Manzanares-Gonzales assumed the duties of Dean for the School of Education on January 17, 2006 and has already met with the school superintendents of Silver City, Cobre, Deming, Lordsburg, TorC, Socorro and Gallup.
“Given that I was the director of educational outreach services for some years at New Mexico Highlands University, the equivalent of Western’s Extended University, I feel very, very strongly about outreach,” said Manzanares-Gonzales.
With almost three decades of education experience in various capacities in New Mexico and Arizona, the new School of Education Dean is able to understand the challenges facing individuals in education at all levels.
“I have practical public school experience. I have been a high school teacher, an elementary teacher, an elementary principal, a university professor and administrator. I believe that kind of knowledge is critical for anyone who is trying to run a School of Education because you actually have the reality of experiencing what the people you serve are going through.”
Manzanares-Gonzales worked at Highlands University for 12 years before accepting the position of SOE Dean at WNMU.
“I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to come to Western as the School of Education Dean and have an impact on education, students and faculty in southern New Mexico,” said Manzanares-Gonzales. “I feel very strongly about ensuring the academic success of all students, but more specifically traditionally underserved populations.”
Manzanares-Gonzales plans to continue the academic success the WNMU School of Education has enjoyed. She is particularly proud that the department was the recipient of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education’s 2005 Best Practice Award in Support of Teacher Education Quality and Accountability. The award, sponsored by AACTE’s Committee on Quality and Accountability, recognized Western for demonstrating accountability beyond basic institution, state or accreditation requirements.
“I think this kind of national acknowledgement of our excellence is very gratifying and our students need to know that they are coming to an accredited, award-winning School of Education and I am very proud of that. Now that I have met the faculty, I know that we will continue that kind of academic excellence,” said Manzanares-Gonzales.
AACTE is a national, voluntary association of colleges and universities with undergraduate or graduate programs to prepare professional educators. The 785 AACTE member institutions graduate approximately 90 percent of the nation’s new teachers and other educators each year.
While at Highlands, Manzanares-Gonzales served as an Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator for the School of Education, Director of Continuing and Professional Education and Community Programs, and Director of Educational Outreach Services.
Manzanares-Gonzales earned a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education with a minor in special education, a master of arts degree in elementary education with a reading emphasis, and a master of arts degree in educational administration at NM Highlands University. She also earned a doctorate in education degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University specializing in the areas of curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, organizational behavior, and distributed/distance education.
She has been
married for 28 years to Dr. Phillip L. Gonzales, a practicing School
Psychologist. The couple has two
children, a daughter who is a captain in the Air Force as a Judge Advocate
General (lawyer), and a son who just transferred to WNMU from UNM for this
semester. He is a political science and history major.
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