The University of New Mexico
EN-7: Continuing Education

For over 95 years, UNM Continuing Education (CE) has served hundreds of thousands of people in the community by offering valuable learning opportunities and certification programs that invest in the local workforce and economy while also providing a means for lifelong education and personal improvement.

Currently, Climate Change is available through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (which offers academically oriented non-credit programming for adults 50+). This course covers “how humanity [can] utilize natural resources and still live responsibly and sustainably on Earth.”

In addition, Continuing Education, in partnership with ed2go, offers online open enrollment career training programs designed to provide the skills necessary to acquire professional level positions for many in-demand sustainability-related occupations. One such course is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which covers “the most widely used rating system for designing or verifying a building's or neighborhood's green features” and teaches participants how to “implement more sustainable, eco-friendly, and energy-efficient practices.” Other courses include, but are not limited to: Solar Energy Training, Solar Panel Installer Training, North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) Certification - PV Installation Professional, NABCEP Certification - PV Design Specialist, Electric Vehicle Fundamentals, and Biofuel Production Operations.

There are numerous in-person and online UNM Continuing Education offerings that are focused on topics other than sustainability, but incorporate sustainability content or address a sustainability challenge to some degree. 

Continuing Education offers professional development courses in partnership with various UNM Colleges and Schools through which participants can earn CEUs (continuing education units). CEUs are “a nationally recognized means to document participation in organized non-credit continuing education.” Participants can expand their skillsets and job readiness in a variety of topics that build social capital. For example, the Anderson School of Management offers non-credit courses such as Women’s Leadership Development, Nonprofit Leadership, and Purchasing and Supply Management Applications. The College of Education & Human Sciences offers courses such as Universal Design for Learning, and Trauma-Informed Teaching. The Earth Data Analysis Center offers a Geographic Information Systems Certificate Program, which has potential sustainability applications and teaches participants how to “conduct spatial analysis and implement analytical approaches to decision-making and problem-solving.”

Over ten personal enrichment courses are regularly offered that integrate botany, agriculture, and health, and cover diverse topics such as Food as Medicine; Introduction to Herbs and Herbal Remedies; Curanderismo: Traditional Medicine without Borders; and the New Mexico Ecological Herbalism Series. Various homesteading and re-skilling workshops are also available, with topics that include Raising your own Food; Small Space and Container Gardening; Basic Beekeeping; Bicycle Repair; Botanical Paints; and Natural Plant Dyes. All courses can be viewed at https://ce.unm.edu/