
Castro Felix is graduating with a bachelor’s of science in nursing from NAU-Yuma. During her undergraduate education, she received 18 scholarships and volunteered at various flu and COVID-19 vaccine clinics in her community.

The Hispanic Student Convocation Committee is seeking nominations to recognize three outstanding Latino graduating seniors and one outstanding graduate student.
César Chávez Award: Recognizes students with strong leadership skills, a demonstrated care and concern for fellow students and a history of involvement on behalf of the Hispanic community
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Award: Recognizes students with demonstrated leadership abilities, strong attachments to their cultural heritage and demonstrated advocacy regarding women’s rights
Gabriela Mistral Award: Recognizes students with a strong commitment to education and to promoting multicultural understanding
Outstanding Hispanic Graduate Student: Recognizes a graduate student with strong leadership skills who serves as a positive role model for their undergraduate colleagues, demonstrates care and concern for fellow students and possesses a history of involvement on behalf of the Hispanic community

Northern Arizona University now meets U.S. Department of Education Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) criteria and has earned recognition from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) as an HSI.
The designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution gives NAU greater access to grants, including Title V, which provides funds to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the attainment of, Hispanic students. This designation denotes that a college or university’s Hispanic enrollment makes up at least 25 percent of its total enrollment and is a recognition of the diversity of its student population.

The Arizona Board of Regents on Feb. 18 announced that José Luis Cruz is the finalist for the position of the 17th president of Northern Arizona University.
“Dr. Cruz has an extraordinary record of academic leadership, and I am confident he is the right leader to build on NAU’s success and ensure a bold and boundless future for this beloved and historic university,” said ABOR Chair Larry E. Penley. “He is a proven innovator in higher education who keenly understands the enormous opportunities that NAU offers as well as the challenges facing higher education. His unsurpassed commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, coupled with a long track record as a leading national advocate to improve educational outcomes for all students—especially those who have historically been underserved—will serve Arizona and NAU well. I am personally honored that he has accepted the opportunity to be the next president of NAU and offer my sincere congratulations.”

Joseph Moreno, senior lecturer in the Department of Ethnic Studies, published the article, “A Mexican and Latina/o Indigenous Perspective on The Current Global Coronavirus Pandemic” in the Journal of Global Indigeneity. The article examines how various U.S. Mexican and Latina/o Indigenous populations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the economic, health, social and political impacts.

A grant from 100,000 Strong in the Americas will give a dozen Northern Arizona University the opportunity for a unique cross-cultural learning experience with peers at both NAU and a university in Sonora, Mexico.
NAU is partnering with Universidad de Sonora (UNISON) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico to put on The Big IDEA (La Gran IDEA), which will allow 12 students from each university to collaborate on finding solutions to challenges of food security and financial security in the Arizona/Sonora Megaregion. It is based on Jacks Big IDEA, which is put on by boundaryless@nau.

Coconino Community College graduate April Winters is at Northern Arizona University studying to be an English teacher.
While at CCC, she took American Sign Language courses to fulfill her foreign language requirements for her degree.
“The Deaf community is a smaller community,” Winters said. “And there is a need that isn’t always filled, especially in public schools.”

Ayla Martinez, graduate researcher with the Center for Ecosystem Science and Society will join “Picture a Scientist,” a panel discussion presented during the Flagstaff Festival of Science. The panel, composed of active Flagstaff scientists at a variety of career stages, will discuss their diverse experiences navigating STEM fields. The discussion will be held via Zoom at 4 p.m. on Sept. 20.

A “March for Community Health” will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 23 starting at the Flagstaff City Hall. Please wear a mask and observe physical distancing guidelines.
The University Union of Northern Arizona is concerned about the health of the NAU and Flagstaff community during the coming year.

What weighs just a few ounces and can help protect our Lumberjack community? You guessed it—a mask. Masks should be worn for safety reasons, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn them into a fashion statement. Show off your mask and let us know how you are keeping our community safe with our #maskupjacks challenge.

NAU-TV’s Mitch Strohman talks with President Rita Cheng, CIO Steven Burrell and Vice Provost of NAU Online Gayla Stoner about NAUFlex and the unique opportunities it provides for learning, lab work, group activities and student-faculty interaction for the Fall 2020 term. Learn more about NAUFlex online or visit the Jacks are Back website to explore what NAU is doing to promote a safe and healthy learning environment this fall. Watch the full video online.

NAU pathogen scientist collaborating on vaccine that could prevent, treat COVID-19
C. Todd French, assistant professor of biology and leader of NAU’s COVID-19 Testing Service Center, is studying a vault-based coronavirus vaccine that could represent a step toward blocking the outbreak of a similar virus in the future

The Economic Policy Institute is administering a survey that is designed to measure business sentiment as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts of local and state government pandemic restrictions on local businesses. It is the first survey to provide rolling data specific to northern Arizona.
FLAGSTAFF — The city of Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University are teaming up for the second annual Community Welcome event. The Community Welcome is designed to help foster a sense of community and build positive connections between NAU students and Flagstaff…
Click here for more NAU NEWS Friday, July 12 President Cheng signs agreement to bring MPA program to China AIEI students of Shenzhen can enroll in NAU’s master of public administration program and earn a degree from NAU while…
FLAGSTAFF — Students from NAU’S Spanish 322 will present five one-act plays in Spanish at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 at Theatrikos Theatre, 11 W. Cherry Ave., Flagstaff. “The plays are from Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico and Spain,” said Robert Neustadt,…
FLAGSTAFF — The panel presentation of “Immigration and Exploration” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25 at Northern Arizona University, Liberal Arts, Room 136. The event includes a panel discussion with community leaders working directly with migrants and…
Most County Offices close through the weekend in response COCONINO COUNTY — The Coconino County Board of Supervisors are expected to affirm a State of Emergency Declaration on Tuesday, Feb. 26. due to the major snow storm that started late…
FLAGSTAFF — With significant snow forecast for northern Arizona in the coming days, the city of Flagstaff would like to remind the public of our snow delay or cancellation notifications and a few snow operations updates. In the event of…
By NAU News A team of astronomers, including Northern Arizona University scientist Chad Trujillo, earlier this week announced their discovery of an object at about 120 astronomical units (AU) from Earth—the farthest observed object in the solar system. One AU…
Friday, Nov. 16 NAU one of 130 universities to help launch national effort to increase college access, equity, postsecondary attainment The Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success program, which APLU started, represents the largest collaborative effort of its kind and…
FLAGTAFF — NAU graduate students and seniors can now apply for the Spring 2019 course ANT 548: Anthropology of Development — ‘How the world got this way & what can we do about it,” 12:40 to 3:10 p.m. Mondays, at…
Friday, Aug. 31 NAU and the city offer warm welcome to neighbors surrounding campus (VIDEO) President Cheng and city officials went door to door to talk with residents, encourage neighbors to build positive relationships and distribute information. NAU’s Honors Residential…
Friday, Aug. 24 Jacks are back! A look at the facts and stats of the incoming class, and campus move in (PHOTOS/VIDEO) NAU athletes, members of student organizations, sororities and fraternities all joined President Cheng in helping thousands of new…
Friday, Aug. 17 Making conversation: NAU linguist studies how perceptions of accents affects communication Okim Kang, who spoke about her research on NPR podcast Code Switch, has found effective communication requires both clear speakers and unbiased, responsive listeners. Warmer temperatures…
The City of Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University are teaming up for a “Community Welcome” event to help foster a sense of community and build positive connections between NAU students and Flagstaff residents living near campus. Click on image for…
Friday, Aug. 3 Think twice before moving to Mars—NAU planetary scientist refutes terraforming in NASA study Christopher Edwards and his team found that making Mars more like Earth, so astronauts can explore without spacesuits, is unlikely to be successful even…
Friday, July 20 Citizen-scientist study results find ticks capable of carrying lyme disease in 83 new U.S. counties As part of the study, people across the country sent in more than 16,000 ticks to NAU researchers who tested them for…
Friday, July 6 NAU team receives $2.6 million grant to train, mentor Native American students in STEM disciplines NAU RISE for Native Americans will provide two years of research training to undergraduates and master’s level students across STEM disciplines—from biology…
Friday, June 22 Studying Mars on Earth: NAU scientist conducting astrobiological research in Mojave Desert Christopher Edwards was recently awarded a $1.2 million grant from NASA to understand the habitability of Mars by studying extreme, Mars-like environments on Earth. Online…
Friday, June 8 President Cheng highlights NAU’s efforts in reducing degree gap in remarks to Phoenix-area civic leaders The president discussed online programs, the Phoenix Biomedical Campus and partnerships with community colleges in Maricopa County. Life on Mars? NAU astronomy…