Board Members

CNM's Governing Board consists of seven members elected to four-year terms from districts within the overall College district, which includes Bernalillo County plus Corrales and Rio Rancho in Sandoval County.

District 1: Charles N. Ofelt

Term Expires: 2026

Committee Appointments

• Audit Committee
• Finance Committee

Charles N. Ofelt is a 45-year resident of Albuquerque, NM. He is a retired attorney, human resources director, and business executive whose career included exposure to companies large and small in a wide spectrum of industries including sugar refining, health insurance, mineral extraction, software development, semiconductor design, high tech manufacturing, government contracting, and commercial real estate.

Mr. Ofelt graduated from the NY State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in 1970, and received his Juris Doctorate degree from Seton Hall University, attending classes at night. Mr. Ofelt has served as Chair of the Rotary Del Norte Charitable Foundation, served on the Board of New Mexico Veterans Integration Center, and co-founded a medical clinic in Mongolia as well as the New Mexico branch of Project C.U.R.E. to collect surplus medical equipment and supplies for distribution to developing countries. He also conducted English as an additional language conversation classes for two years at the CNM Montoya campus.

Mr. Ofelt reads widely, is learning to write music, and has visited 47 states and numerous countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

District Map

• District 1 Map

  

  James A. Chavez
  [email protected]
  (505) 842-6626

District 2: James A. Chavez

Term Expires: 2027

Committee Appointments

• Audit Committee
• Finance Committee

District Map

• District 2 Map

District 3: Thomas E. Swisstack, Chair

Term Expires: 2026

Committee Appointments

• Planning Committee
• Capital Outlay Committee
• Executive Committee

Thomas E. Swisstack has had a long career in public service and elected office. He served as the Mayor of Rio Rancho for 10 years and served in the New Mexico House of Representatives for eight years and on the Sandoval County Commission for eight years.

Most recently, Mr. Swisstack served as the Deputy County Manager for Public Safety for Bernalillo County. Prior to that role, he served as the Director of the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center for 10 years.

Mr. Swisstack has also worked on the boards of the New Mexico Correctional Association, the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments, the Executive Board of United Way of New Mexico, and was recognized by Who’s Who in American Colleges, American Law Enforcement and Public Administration.

District Map

• District 3 Map

District 4: Annette Chavez y De La Cruz, Vice Chair

Term Expires: 2027

Committee Appointments

• Executive Committee
• Finance Committee

Annette Chavez y De La Cruz has 31 years of combined experience in higher education and public education. She is retired from CNM, where over 17 years she held the positions of campus director/student success team leader at the South Valley Campus, interim campus director of the South Valley Campus, director of Job Connection Services, and Human Resources representative. As the CNM South Valley Campus Director, she reversed declining enrollment, secured on-site library holdings and services, engaged the first on-site food vendor, secured local restaurant discounts for students, and implemented a children’s reading event for YDI Head Start participants. As the CNM Job Connection Services director, she doubled service utilization by students, graduates, and employers, launched a second office at the Joseph M. Montoya campus, established scholarships, secured on-site Disney College Internship Program recruitment, and co-created and co-chaired the annual Open House & Career Day outreach event to middle and high schools students.

Before joining CNM, she worked at Albuquerque Public Schools for 13 years, serving in several capacities, including that of positions analyst and interim substitute services coordinator. Annette is the special projects administrator for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande. She is currently a board member of the Rio Grande Community Development Corporation/South Valley Economic Development Center and a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor 2.0 program. Other community engagement and service has included being a community partner in a family empowerment and engagement program, a volunteer reading tutor with Albuquerque Reads, and a board member of Outcomes, Inc. (formerly Family & Children’s Services, Inc.). Annette earned a master’s degree in Educational Administration from New Mexico State University and a bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. 

District Maps

• District 4 Map

District 5: Nancy Baca

Term Expires: 2026

Committee Appointments

• Capital Outlay Committee
• Planning Committee

Nancy Baca owns a residential property management business. She is a former journalist who spent nearly two decades in the news business, working as a reporter and an editor for the Albuquerque Journal, the Albuquerque Tribune, and the Arizona Republic in Phoenix.

While working as a journalist, she served as president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and as national president of Unity: Journalists of Color.

Ms. Baca has a BA in Communication and management and a BA in Journalism from the University of New Mexico. Her community involvement includes volunteering at Animal Humane New Mexico. She has served as a member of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation board and as president of the New Mexico Apple Council.

District Map

• District 5 Map

District 6: Virginia M. Trujillo, Secretary

Term Expires: 2027

Committee Appointments

• Executive Committee
• Planning Committee

Virginia M. Trujillo, elected to the CNM Governing Board in February 2015, is a retired educator with an extensive background in education administration and public service. Ms. Trujillo was a teacher at Rio Grande High School and West Mesa High School before spending many years in education administration and serving on local and national boards. While teaching at West Mesa High School, she developed an early childhood program that ran from 1976 until 2010. She served as a member and as President of the New Mexico State Board of Education, directing the development, deployment and outcomes of a $1.5 billion statewide budget from 1982-1994.

Ms. Trujillo also served as deputy director of the Office of Education Accountability in the Department of Finance Administration for the State of New Mexico and she was an Education Policy Advisor to Governor Richardson from 2003-04. Ms. Trujillo was a member of the National Review Panel for Blue Ribbon Schools/Schools of Excellence for the U.S. Department of Education from 1992-2000. She also served on the CNM Governing Board from 1996-2000.

District Map

• District 6 Map

District 7: Robert P. Schoenfelder

Term Expires: 2026

Committee Appointments

• Audit Committee
• Capital Outlay Committee 

Robert P. Schoenfelder has more than 40 years of experience in the fields of health physics, radiation safety, and environmental science. He has worked for Weston Solutions, Inc. since 1982 where he has served as a Project Manager, the Corporate Environmental Health & Safety Director, and is currently Senior Technical Director of Radiological Programs. He was certified in 1988 by the American Board of Health Physics and continues today as an active member of the Health Physics Society. He recently became a Certified Health Physicist of record for the remediation of more than 600 uranium mine and mill sites in the southwestern U.S. and on the Navajo Nation.

Mr. Schoenfelder was raised in Albuquerque and graduated high school from Albuquerque Academy. He earned his bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of New Mexico.

He has coached boys’ and girls’ sports for the American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO) and for Mile High Little League; and he served as junior varsity boys soccer assistant coach and varsity girls softball assistant coach at Hope Christian High School.

District Map

• District 7 Map