The college fosters a sense of community, providing students with a fulfilling and enriching educational journey. At the center of it is Marcos Maez, Director of Student Engagement and Recruitment and Director of the Dual Enrollment program. There perhaps isn’t a better person to lead engagement and enrollment efforts. Marcos was a student at SFCC and is also a Santa Fe Community College Foundation board member with a wealth of experience to drive student engagement. “Students that are involved in extracurricular activities whether that’s student government, student clubs, student ambassadors or just general activity participation tend to stay in college and graduate at a much higher rate than those that do nor participate in student activities,” says Marcos.SFCC is an open enrollment institution, so acceptance and learning at the higher education level is available to all. “We are not picking and choosing who comes to SFCC. We accept every single student who wants to be a college student and has that dream of getting that degree.” The college serves students from ages 10-100. This creates a diverse student body that extends beyond the 18-25 traditional age students There are over 100 degree or certificate opportunities for students to pursue.
“This gives students an opportunity to work with people that they may not get to outside of the college. We want students to be engaged with the college and their peers.” Another major role for Marcos is overseeing the Dual Credit Enrollment program. SFCC has the third largest dual credit enrollment program in New Mexico. This program gives high school students the chance to take college classes while still in high school. “One of my favorite parts of my job is every year you see some of our dual credit students walk in their high school commencement and then walk in ours with a certificate or in some cases an Associates Degree a couple days later.” |
