A nationally recognized STEM teaching initiative at New Mexico State University has been terminated after federal policy changes targeting diversity, equity and inclusion forced the early cancellation of a $3 million grant.
The program, known as NMSU-MÁS (“Mejorando las Aulas en STEM / Improving STEM Classrooms”), was awarded in 2022 through the National Science Foundation’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions program. It was designed to run for five years, but was halted in early May — just before the end of its second year.
Built around a collaborative model of faculty professional development, MÁS paired small teams of instructors with faculty coaches to explore and apply active learning strategies shown to improve student success. Those strategies were implemented in classrooms each spring, with year three expected to focus on making STEM more relevant to students’ lives.
“The impact has been substantial — several faculty members have made transformative changes to their teaching because of their involvement in MÁS,” said Dr. Michèle Shuster, associate dean for research in the NMSU College of Arts and Sciences and one of the program’s co-leads.
Shuster said that year two activities were completed as planned, but 20 faculty members and four coaches accepted for year three were notified of the program’s cancellation.
“The year three faculty would have implemented new teaching strategies in courses collectively enrolling between 500 and 1,000 students in the Spring 2026 semester,” she said. A graduate research assistant also lost salary and tuition support for the upcoming academic year.
Despite the loss of funding, Shuster said the team is continuing some of its research and working to share findings with university leadership.
“This summer, we’re continuing to support our graduate student to complete some of the remaining research. We’re looking at student performance, how students felt about the teaching strategies that their instructors used, and the feedback we’ve received from faculty over the past year.”
Shuster added, “We’re also creating resources on active learning and ways to make STEM more relevant to students’ lives that we can share through the NMSU Teaching Academy and other platforms for any faculty who want to try something new in their classrooms.”
The NMSU-MÁS grant is one of several federally funded research and workforce programs affected by executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in his current term. As previously reported by Organ Mountain News, NMSU has lost approximately $25 million in federal research support — including funding from the EPA, USDA, NIH, NEH and NSF — due to restrictions on initiatives with DEI components.
Dr. Luis Cifuentes, NMSU’s vice president for research, told OMN that the cuts have had the greatest impact on community-engaged environmental justice work, graduate fellowships and faculty development. He called the loss “devastating,” both for current students and the university’s long-term research mission.
Shuster said one goal now is to preserve what faculty learned during MÁS and keep supporting innovation in the classroom.
“During the MÁS program, faculty really appreciated the chance to observe and learn from their peers, and we’d like to sustain that.”