CONNECT WITH US!
Spring 2024
FEATURED PROGRAM: MASTER OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES (MMDS)
- 30-semester credit hour flexible degree that can be customized to meet individual students’ needs.
- Stackable certificates combined with complementary coursework to provide specific skills
- Degree integrates coursework from at least two disciplines; students may choose from technical & professional writing, construction management, systems engineering, public administration, defense & strategic studies, business administration and more.
HOW IT WORKS
Students will complete a graduate certificate and then choose complementary coursework from another graduate certificate or a master's degree to complete the degree. Complementary coursework may be completed in person or online.
A variety of career paths are available to students. Click the links below to see some fully online options.
UTEP EDGE AND THE MMDS
Our student success initiative, the UTEP Edge, develops upon students’ assets through a variety of high-impact experiences. These experiences are designed to improve student skills and give UTEP students a competitive advantage as they move forward in their lives and careers.
Our goal as a campus is to provide these UTEP Edge experiences to all students, regardless of their area of study, so they will graduate with a competitive advantage over their peers.
These are the Edge experiences MMDS students will have and the Edge skills they will graduate with:
EDGE EXPERIENCES
- Community Engagement
- Online Experiences
- Research and Scholarly Activities
EDGE SKILLS
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Confidence
- Teamwork
- Critical Thinking
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: LEONORA COREANO
Leonora Martinez Coreano is a lifelong El Pasoan, first-generation Latina college graduate and mother. Education was not a priority for her family or childhood peers, but she always dreamed of studying law after her undergraduate studies. In pursuit of this dream, Leonora worked as a paralegal and office manager for 13 years and gained the technical writing and legal analytical skills which became the foundation for her career in higher education.
She graduated from UTEP with a Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies in 2006 and then joined the Vice President of Business Affairs office at UTEP, working with University contracts and public information requests.
In 2010, she became the Program Manager for UTEP's Center for Law and Human Behavior, an FBI grant-funded position which provided opportunities to meet with students and faculty from all over the world. Leonora expanded her grant management, research administration and budgeting skills to assist faculty throughout the University. She is now the Project Manager for the NIH UTEP FIRST grant, which aims at fostering sustainable cultural change within the institution while making major strides in Hispanic Health Disparities in the El Paso community and our border region.
In March 2023, Leonora completed her Graduate Certificate in Technical and Professional Writing. and is now enrolled in the Master of Multidisciplinary Studies (MMDS) with an emphasis in Public Administration. The MMDS, with its customizable degree design, flexibility and ability to stack certificates, is the next step in Leonora's dream of earning a master's degree and being a positive example for her son. She expects to graduate in Fall 2025.
"It’s never too late to start and the program has provided me with the knowledge and skills I can immediately apply to my career. Most importantly, as a first-generation Hispanic female college student, I would like to show my son that education is achievable no matter where you come from and no matter what you have faced during your lifetime."
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: DR. LUCÍA DURÁ
Dr. Lucía Durá is the associate dean of the Graduate School and the advisor for the MMDS. The program meets student needs for a program that can be tailored to specific interests, backgrounds and professional goals.
"We observed that many students, whose interests are not restricted to one college, were electing to take classes as non-degree students or pursuing graduate certificates so they could get the breadth of graduate coursework they desired," Dr. Durá says about why the program was launched.
She has been associate dean for five years, and prior to that, she directed the Rhetoric and Writing Studies master’s and doctoral programs in the Department of English, her home department. Her research is in the areas of risk communication and organizational change that uses community assets to solve complex problems. She has also recently started researching graduate education and student success.
"Connect with your peers, connect with the instructor, and connect with yourself. You do that by being present, taking the time to notice things, listening, and reaching out—both with others and with yourself. Building relationships crucial to learning, well-being, and success."
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
Connect With Us! is a quarterly newsletter that features UTEP Connect's online programs and the faculty, staff and students associated with them.
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