The department currently offers undergraduate internships in public agencies, including the Village of Los Ranchos, Albuquerque Office of Economic Development, Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, Albuquerque City Clerk, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Bernalillo County Commission. The department also runs an annual legislative internship program for a dozen students. This is a mechanism for direct citizen involvement in complex policy decisions. These conferences include random samplings of New Mexicans who participate in a series of one-day sessions on topics such as future transportation policies for the New Mexico Highway and Transportation Department and the protection of river systems and endangered aquatic species. Spanish and Portuguese Spanish and Portuguese Open House and On-Site Area high school classes visit for a full day in the department to sit in on Spanish classes at all levels, participate in discussions, have lunch with faculty and graduate students and learn about the study of Spanish.
Faculty also participate in various area high school language and culture fairs.
Amigos de las Americas Program UNM faculty work with the national organization which sends American high school and college students to perform rural development service in Latin America. UNM faculty meet with the volunteers prior to their departure and offer them courses in order to ensure that they have the appropriate Spanish language skills. Speech and Hearing Sciences APS Cooperatives Under a formal agreement with Albuquerque Public Schools, UNM faculty, staff and students assist with diagnostic services at numerous APS schools. They also supervise UNM graduate students enrolled in clinical practicums as well as an apprentice speech language pathologist or a person engaged in a Clinical Fellowship. In addition, this agreement provides internships for UNM students who are obligated to accept APS employment for at least one year following the internship.