![[University of
New Mexico Home Page]](reporttemplate_files/halfhead1.gif)
| | |
|
| |
A. Institutional Responses to Previous Visit Concerns
Two teams' areas of concern were addressed in the self-study report, those of the comprehensive team (1989) and the focus team (1992). The self-study report documented that the areas of concern were taken seriously and that many initiatives responded to the situations and circumstances identified. Not all initiatives have been successful, and some areas of concern remain or have emerged again. Some concern remains regarding the administrative structure, but more concern is now felt regarding the permanence of administrative leadership. It will be impossible to judge the former until the latter is resolved. Lack of financial flexibility remains an issue, but the reason appears to be a general insufficiency of funding. Concerns and dissatisfaction were voiced regarding communication on campus. Given interim leadership, the severity of this problem cannot be fairly assessed at this time. Branch campus issues of concern were addressed with specific and useful focus during the self-study effort, perhaps precipitated to some extent by early self-study findings. New leadership and new policies have made some improvements. Diversity and affirmative action challenges remain for the institution as a whole, but they are not unlike those facing peer institutions and involve distribution as well as numbers. Undergraduate program review is being incorporated into the campus processes, a vital addition. Technology needs continue to be great, but some areas, and some branch campuses, have good support in this area. Much remains to be done to implement full assessment, and to link results to change, but much has been done. The institution has neither overlooked nor disregarded concerns raised by previous teams, but some initiatives have been more successful in addressing them than others.
B. General Institutional Requirements
Every post-secondary educational institution affiliated with the North Central Association's Commission on Higher Education must demonstrate that it satisfies 24 General Institutional Requirements (GIRs) under seven headings: 1) Mission, 2) Authorization, 3) Governance, 4) Faculty, 5) Educational Program, 6) Finances, and 7) Public Information. For UNM, this demonstration is made in the self-study report, and the data and rationale outlined there have been confirmed by information obtained on campus (including branch campuses) from materials and interviews. It is important that plans for additional full-time faculty members on branch campuses be carried out and that the numbers continue to be monitored on a unit basis to ensure that deployment of full-time faculty throughout the institution's programs and campuses is consistent.
Every post-secondary institution accredited by the North Central Association's Commission on Higher Education must demonstrate that it fulfills five Criteria for Accreditation. Following study of the materials presented by the institution, analysis of facilities (including those at two branch campuses), analysis of operations, and discussions with representatives of campus and other constituencies, the team concluded that the University of New Mexico
meets these five criteria.
The following section of the report provides support for that conclusion by means of evaluative, analytical, and descriptive comment on selected and representative programs and activities.
Criterion One: The University of New Mexico has clear and publicly stated purposes consistent with its mission and appropriate to an institution of higher education.
UNM has an appropriate statement of mission and reiterates its goals in formal periodic statements. Branch campuses and other units also typically have appropriate current mission and purpose or goal statements.
The self-study report identifies a redirection of the university's mission during the 1990s and cites three major statements of the institution's goals. UNM 2000 is identified as the major driving force behind the institution's decisions of that period, and measures of the institution's success in relation to UNM 2000 are cited.
The mission and purposes of UNM are disseminated to its publics in many documents but understanding varies. A 1996 survey of citizens of New Mexico reported their belief that UNM should stress teaching and research, with applied research being important to respondents. Surveys of students and faculty regarding the UNM mission indicate a primary understanding among students of the UNM mission in regard to the education of students, but students were generally less aware of the research and service roles of the institution. Faculty responses recognized teaching, research, and service and placed less emphasis than students on socialization (including preparation for work) and multiculturalism/equal access.
The establishment of branch campuses is a direct response of the institution to its statewide mission. As open-enrollment institutions, these campuses serve student populations some of whom are different from those typically served at the main campus and some of whom will transfer to the main campus. Analysis of branch campus accomplishments consistent with the UNM mission and their individual missions is provided in the report under Accomplishing Purposes through Branch Campuses.
The academic freedom and tenure committee monitors university activities in its area of responsibility and is vigilant in safeguarding the rights of faculty as it defines them. Evidence is provided in the protracted period of time required to revise the Faculty Handbook consistent with faculty concerns.
Like other institutions of its size and complexity, UNM recognizes the different views of different constituencies regarding its mission and goals and appears to move forward with consultation and deliberation in directions generally agreed by majorities of those constituents. In establishing for itself educational, research, and service areas, goals, and objectives consistent with the broadest possible interpretation of its responsibilities, UNM strives to fill many roles lot the state and nation. However, current and anticipated resources (and especially funding} do not match the extensive program array and research and service goals of the institution and its extensive units and activities. Evidence of this situation is available especially on the main campus in the form of facilities needs (such as for technology in many units and renovation and maintenance in many units), in faculty salary levels in comparison with peers, and in a variety of other activities where plans cannot be implemented because of resource constraints. Unless additional resources are obtained, an immediate need for the institution is to identify as a focus those outcomes most desired and that configuration of units and goals must likely to produce them. UNM should then examine mission, purposes, goals statements, and activities throughout the institution for conformity with this focus and to determine if a further redirection of mission and restatement of goals would be timely.
* * *
In conclusion, Criterion One is met. The mission and purposes of the UNM are clear and generally understood, and they are generally appropriate to the institution, but the array of activities and initiatives underway consistent with the mission do not appear consistent with the current funding and resource pattern.
Criterion Two: The University of New Mexico has effectively organized the human, financial and physical resources necessary to accomplish its purposes.
A seven-member Board of Regents provides oversight to UNM. Under the Board the university is organized into an administrative structure that provides designated units with authority to provide needed academic and administrative services and oversight, with appropriate participation in governance by faculty, staff, and students. Regents affirm their understanding of the institution and support for its initiatives, acknowledge their role as policy-makers, and concur with the team in seeing permanent administrative leadership for the campus and continued monitoring of branch campus activities as having high priority. Minutes of Board meetings provide confirmation that close oversight is provided to the campus in policy areas, that planning is effective, and that members understand their role in the governance process. Board membership reflects a consistent profile of diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, and areas of expertise and experience. There is an orientation program for new and continuing members of the Board.
The campus administration provides direction and oversight made possible by years of experience, even though many in administrative positions arc in interim positions as a result , of the protracted search for a president. An interim president serves as the chief administrator. There is an interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, and a new position provides leadership at the vice president level for programs, services, and operations in the health professions.
As is often the case with institutions of the size and complexity of UNM, many individuals report problems with communication across campus and especially with the "central" administration. The difficulty of gaining approvals from more than one vice president for a common project is cited. These views suggest that administrators, faculty, students, and staff would benefit by developing broad communication venues and a joint vision as to university governance and desired accomplishments. The concerns may in fact also relate to discouragement and low morale growing out of difference of opinion regarding amount, consistency, and equity of resource allocations. They may also reflect frustration regarding perceived inequity and disparity between performance expectations and resources.
Faculty and Faculty Governance
Issues of academic freedom, tenure, promotion and evaluation reviews are important topics of discussion at the University of New Mexico. The University, ill November of 1998, completed a review of the institutional policy on Academic Freedom and Tenure that has now been approved by the Board of Regents and is to be incorporated in the UNM Faculty Handbook. Faculty members affirmed the importance of the policy revisions and their potential impact oil the leaching and learning environment al UNM.
The faculty review process is taken seriously within units as evidenced by annual reviews for both probationary and tenured faculty. These reviews are summarized in written recommendations for faculty improvement. All probationary faculty are required to undergo a mid-probation review, and external reviewers are often included in the tenure and promotion review. While the processes for communicating faculty expectations vary across colleges, the university recognizes the importance of explicit teaching, research, and service expectations for faculty. In many colleges faculty mentors are assigned to new faculty and departmental chairs are closely involved in all of the annual reviews of faculty. For non-tenure track and
part time and adjunct faculty, especially on branch campuses, procedures vary more and should be reexamined.
For tenured faculty the annual review also serves as a post tenure review. Review by peers may lead to the identification of deficiencies. If these deficiencies exist in two consecutive reviews, the department may move for tenure removal. The degree to which the post-tenure review process will be effective in enhancing the performance of tenured faculty is yet to be ascertained, as the process is a new one on the main campus.
The faculty expresses recognition of a shift of emphasis on the campus to bring a more balanced approach to the expectations for both effective teaching and scholarly activity. Student evaluations, peer review of curricular materials, peer observation (both live and video-taped), and the development of the Teaching Support Center were all cited as ways to enhance effective teaching on the campus. The faculty supports effective teaching and expressed a need for greater professional development opportunities to enhance university teaching, particularly in the use of technology and setting appropriate expectations for student performance.
Some confusion appears to exists on the campus regarding the handling of grievances which are not academic in nature, particularly those which may be academically related, such as issues of collegiality, hostile work environments, and sexual harassment that do not necessarily involve academic freedom as defined in the university policies. The need for grievance procedures or early mediation/intervention processes was clearly articulated
Faculty members are clear regarding the mission and goals of UNM as an urban Research I institution. This understanding is evidenced through the communication of clear expectations for faculty performance and the relationship of those expectations to faculty deployment, tenure and promotion decisions, employment continuance decisions (post-tenure review), and salary adjustments/increases. The institution has aligned faculty resources with an on-going evaluation system that links personnel, fiscal allocations, and professional activities to the institutional mission and goals.
In organizing its human resources, UNM has employed a faculty and staff of sufficient size and appropriate credentials for the programs and numbers of students within the institution. Numbers of faculty and staff vary by unit, however, and not all units have human resources in proportion to their responsibilities. Full-time tenure-line faculty members are minimal in some programs on some branch campuses. Enrollment in programs is uneven across campuses, and review of low-enrollment programs should be an ongoing activity.
UNM has been fortunate in attracting a professionally competent cadre of competitive faculty - the persons most responsible for more than doubling the number and amount of outside grants and contracts during the past ten years. The challenge now, in the face of a declining salary pattern when compared with its 16 peer institutions, is to retain the Nobel laureate, the three recently inducted members of the National Academy of Science, the five Presidential Young Investigators, the MacArthur fellow, the two members of the National Academy of Engineering, and the more than 100 Fulbright and other UNM nationally-recognized academic scholars and professional society fellows. Compared with salaries of its 16 peer institutions, faculty salaries at the UNM have decreased during the past five years and now stand at 90.2 percent of those of peer institutions. The administration and governing board of UNM have outlined an ambitious five-year plan to close the salary gap which calls for an eight percent salary rate increase (in FY1999-00) and five percent increases the next four years. Staff and graduate assistant salaries are also 10-12 percent below the average of the peer market and must be increased as well if the level of excellence UNM has achieved is to be maintained and increased in the years ahead.
UNM staff members are motivated and involved in governance, and the Staff Council provides an organization for voicing concerns. Staff issues reported to the team include concern regarding the transitions following the implementation of UNMpact, the perception that performance evaluations are not uniform, and the lack of protection for whistle blowers among staff as compared to administrators. Staff council members expressed a desire for a high-level ombudsperson. Although represented there, branch campus staff members have not been perceived to take an active part in Staff Council activities. UNMpact is not seen to work well on the branch campuses, and it is felt that the development of this reclassification process proceeded without full understanding of staffing needs and circumstances at, for example, UNM-Valencia.
The Office of Human Resources and Dispute Resolution is supported by experienced staff leadership and staff, but there is some concern that the function of dispute resolution should be in an autonomous unit rather than being associated with Human Resources. Institutional hiring processes were not identified as a concern, but some viewed hiring practices its causing a problem for long-time employees with few career ladder opportunities. Such employees perceive new employees to be getting better-compensated positions. There is, however, air initiative, the Staff-as-Students program, that allows staff members to work toward a college degree. Office plans for more training for managers and staff appears to be a good idea. A new process for evaluating administrators from the level of dean upwards is shortly to be introduced and fills a main campus need.
Students and Student Governance
The diverse and able student body is an asset to the institution. While there are numerous student organizations, clubs, and activities, the two main student governance organizations are the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico and the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
The Associated Students of the University of New Mexico (ASUNM), composed of undergraduate students at the main campus, serves as the government for the main campus undergraduate student population. It consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches and serves numerous purposes on the campus. Recently ASUNM commissioned the UNM Institute for Public Policy to produce a report assessing undergraduate student sentiments on a number of issues. The report, Assessing Attitudes of University of New Mexico Undergraduate Students: Spring 1998, found that students generally were satisfied with their experience at the university and felt they were receiving both a good education and solid preparation for the future job market. Students rated financial aid and parking low and felt that there wits too much emphasis placed on research and not enough on teaching.
The graduate and professional students at UNM are represented by the elected Graduate and Professional Students Association (GPSA). In addition to maintaining a student lobbyist during the state legislative session, GPSA is very active on the campus. Activities in
which GPSA has been involved reflect its strong concerns regarding a new speaker's policy, research funding and benefits for graduate students, and unequal teaching loads. GPSA has also been closely watching the movement toward unionization within its membership. GPSA,
like ASUNM, feels that the university administration listens to its concerns and treats the organization as a key participant in university decision-making.
The financial health of UNM is sound. A commendable policy of the administration and governing board is to hold three percent of the annual budget in cash reserves. UNM has matured as a Carnegie Research I university (one of only 59 public universities so ranked) over the course of the past ten years, more than doubling its research support (from $81.2 to $167.4 million). This has been accomplished in spite of proportionately less monies collected from tuition and fees--S34.6 million in FY89 (7 percent of total revenues) and $57.5 million in FY99 (6 percent of total revenues), a change of 66 percent. While state-appropriated monies increased from $136.1 million in FY89 to $227.0 million in FY99 or 67 percent, in the same period the proportion of state dollars decreased as a percent of total funding from approximately 35 percent of the total budget to about 20 percent. This change reflects the substantial growth of research and other sources of funding at UNM.
The University of New Mexico Board of Regents employs independent auditors to conduct an annual audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Those annual audits, together with regular internal, annual state, and periodic federal audits, assure fiduciary responsibility in the expenditure of funds.
New Mexico ranks 46th among the 50 states in pet' capita income, and more than 25 percent of its inhabitants have incomes below the poverty level. These facts have important economic ramifications with regard to the level of tuition and fees charged at the UNM as hefty increases in tuition and fees can result in enrollment declines and cause an actual decrease in the overall amount of tuition and fee monies collected.
Budgeting at UNM is an open, participatory process. The budget subcommittee of the University Planning Council, which has representatives of the deans, faculty senate, students (undergraduate and graduate), staff council, and administration, plays an important role in budgeting. Overall, there is a great deal of decentralized accountability. Units make most spending decisions freely and carry uncommitted fund balances or deficits forward.
UNM is commended for the high priority it gives to teaching, research, and public service expenditures. According to the December 1998 "Performance Effectiveness Report" prepared by the New Mexico Council of Presidents, the UNM expends 76.1 percent of its E&G monies on its primary missions: teaching, research, and public service programs and activities, whereas its 16 peer institutions spend only 64.5 percent of their E&G monies on those endeavors. UNM expends only 5.1 percent of its overall institutional support monies as administrative costs: its peers spend 6.0 percent on administration.
An unusual budget impact was felt when UNM experienced a 27.6 percent increase in freshman for fall of 1998, and increased teaching loads, as a result of the state lottery scholarship and an institutional bridge scholarship. Approximately 1900 new freshmen qualified for the Bridge to Success Award at UNM in the fall of 1998, and approximately 1360 students qualified for the lottery scholarship and transferred to UNM.
Institutional Advancement provides oversight for a typical range of activities in addition to fund raising that includes public and constituent relations, media and publications, special events, and alumni relations. There are approximately 100,000 UNM alumni. More than 52,000 reside in New Mexico, of whom 35,000 are in the Albuquerque area. Six University of New Mexico non-profit corporate entities raise private funds for UNM.
The Development Office and UNM Foundation, Inc. helped raise $31.1 million in private gifts in FY1998. The central development office provides oversight for UNM Foundation and university endowments that increased from $62.4 million in 1991 to $177.7 million in 1998. The foundation raised $101 million during its "Centennial Capital Campaign" (1989-1994). College development officers are typically funded 50 percent by the college and 50 percent by the Development Office, and private fundraising solicitations and activities are coordinated by the Development Office and foundation.
The Central Campus (approximately 225 acres), North Campus (approximately 275 acres), and South Campus (approximately 275 acres) are maintained and serviced by the physical plant which has an annual budget of about $44 million. The historic and architectural significance of main campus structures is an asset.
Of the approximately 5.5 million square feet of physical facilities at UNM, about one-half was constructed during the 40-year period of 1928-1968, and nearly one-half was built during the 30-year period of 1968-1998. Facilities are aging and in need of repairs and renovations. Budgetary constraints during the past 10 years have resulted in a backlog of capital renewal and deferred maintenance estimated to exceed $200 million on a current replacement value of approximately $775 million. This urgent need includes infrastructure maintenance problems, many of which are closely related to energy and water conservation. Annual expenditures for capital projects have averaged approximately $25 million during the past seven years.
The attractive and highly usable physical facilities provided at UNM require and deserve a higher level of maintenance support. It is recommended that priority be given to remodeling and renovation over the building of new facilities. Plans are underway to renovate the Student Union Building (SUB) at an estimated cost of $30 million. This project will be supported through the refinancing of current bond obligations at a lower rate of interest, as well its selling new low-interest bonds.
Branch campuses enjoy relatively newer facilities and have few problems regarding deferred maintenance and renovation needs. Funding for branch facilities has been more routinely supplied with community backing.
Safety is an issue in some campus areas such as the College of Fine Arts. The greatest unmet needs of the campus police are for additional vehicles and radios, and the greatest un-met needs in the areas of parking and transportation are for a 1000-space parking garage.
Computer Information Resources and Technology
The Computer and Information Resources and Technology organization (CIRT) is responsible for supporting academic computing, administrative computing, and the campus computing network on the main campus. Branch campuses have increasing technological resources, but lack of training and support in their use is noted by team members.
Computing is provided to main campus students through computer laboratories (pods) at six locations, well distributed around the main campus, with approximately 350 computers. In addition to the pods, there are several computer classrooms, many of which are adjacent to the pods. The pod located in the CIRT location is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week. In addition to the CIRT funded and operated computing facilities, individual departments establish and support dedicated computing facilities for their students.
CIRT recently completed a campus-wide fiber-optic backbone network and wired every building with category five copper connections. Each classroom, laboratory, conference room, and office is now provided with a network connection. The units are responsible for providing the computing equipment to connect to the network for their faculty and staff. The use of the network through e-mail and Internet connections has increased dramatically during the past five year with no increase in budget for CIRT. Constituents express some concern regarding e-mail quality and reliability.
CIRT developed and is maintaining the software for student records, enrollment, and financial matters on campus. This responsibility may develop into a problem in the future as increased functionality and capacity is needed to satisfy the academic as well as the administrative users.
The CIRT personnel seem to be well informed about the present state of computing and networking technology. Under the leadership of the associate vice president, CIRT was awarded responsibility and funding for the Maul High Performance Computing Center. This DOD-funded center located in Maul, Hawaii, has been a factor in establishing the main campus supercomputing facility, the Albuquerque High Performance Computing Education and Research Center.
There is no well organized, centralized data collection and management for the UNM campus. CIRT is charged with maintaining the database, but lacks authority to update or revise data. Centralization, firm policies, and assignment of responsibility to maintain the accuracy of the data should benefit the entire university, in the view of CIRT. Competition from local industry for staff who have expertise in information technology is increasing, and the challenge to retain employees by providing competitive compensation is likely to grow.
CIRT conducted a survey of the user community with help from the Sociology Department. The results of this survey indicated 80 percent of the users were very satisfied or satisfied. However, conversations with some academic units during the NCA visit indicated there are more dissatisfied users than indicated by the survey. A dedicated effort to understand and set priorities reflecting the user community's needs might be helpful to CIRT in meeting such needs.
Strategic planning for the campus should include those with expertise in information planning. While CIRT hits it strategic plan, institutional commitment to a campus information plan is also needed. There is felt to be it need for computing resources available to faculty member desks. If such resources are provided, training in their use will be needed. The network upgrade and building wiring recently completed is commendable. These facilities need continuous maintenance and periodic replacement. There seems to be no functional plan to accomplish this. Some institutions have instituted a campus-wide technology fee to help offset the increased costs of providing computing, connectivity, and classroom use of IT. UNM might consider this possibility, if resources, instead of planning, are the obstacle.
The UNM Library includes six library facilities on the main campus. The Library is committed to high levels of public service as well as the other functions of a major research and archival library. Responsibilities of the Library to provide services not only on the main campus but also to branch campuses and outreach programs require considerable human resources.
Branch campus libraries and learning resource centers appear generally adequate to serve campus needs and are moving toward increased use of technologies and databases, with some utilizing instruction by library staff. At UNM-Valencia, the county law library is located on the campus.
The main campus Library was ranked 102nd of 106 Association of Research Libraries members in 1987 and moved to 49th of 110 by 1996-97. The Library houses and operates a program in which students can receive individual tutoring for over 350 courses taught on the UNM campus. Library staff have a strong commitment to library instruction and see it as an essential element in curriculum development.
The Library has made considerable progress in developing its collection of electronic materials and the capacity for electronic information technology and it was recently selected as the main resource library for the Western Governor's University. Other features of the Library that are remarkable are its special collections, its recent development of electronic infrastructure, and its rapidly developing interaction with and service delivery to Latin America.
Library quality is eroded or limited by its lack of budget allocation increases for four years. If it were not for an internal development effort that now provides nearly $650,000 in support funds per year, the Library would have been severely compromised in quality. Planning by the Library though apparently effective within the Library, appears disconnected from broader campus planning efforts. In addition, despite the very attractive library facilities found in the Zimmerman and Parish Libraries, other libraries such as the Fine Arts Library arc in dire need of renovation.
Another area where the Library has experienced difficulty is in reaping the full potential of its advisory committee. Serious consideration should be given to appointing faculty and other advisors to the Library advisory committee on rotating three-year terms. The committee charge could be defined clearly and provided to each new member, with each member provided an extensive orientation to the library. The chair of the advisory committee should be empowered to focus the committee on needed issues.
The library serves as an example of both the excellence that is found at UNM and its problems, it represents an immense investment by the academic community, has great potential, and has grown as a function of resourcefulness and thoughtful stewardship. At the same time, it is being threatened by a lack of resources, lack of a shared vision of its institutional roles, and nonintegrated planning.
Office of Institutional Research
This office serves diverse units and functions (e.g., enrollment, staff/faculty, statistics, financial aid) on campus on a regular basis by preparing annual reports required by government, granting agencies, and components of the University. These reports may be shared with units involved, depending on administrative instructions. The OIR also prepares some special reports for units on campus upon request, time permitting. This work, however, represents a very small percentage of overall workload. OIR staff members believe the office should mitt-ate more projects such as the Fact Book extension, a data warehouse of long-term historical data for departments and other units for planning and evaluative purposes and compilation of
faculty workload data across campus. Time and the complexity of the projects would be a factor in their completion.
OIR recognizes some difficulties in working with other units, principally the 2-year formula units such as the branch campuses. The problem is largely technical and methodological, as the information that these programs need is hard to obtain from the data O1R collects. For example, these units would like to have information on the numbers of students originating in their programs who transfer to other units in the system. The difficulty lies in the definition of "transfer student" as students may simultaneously take courses on several campuses. A similar issue is that these units need information on partial credit unit courses. Unhappily, the computer programs are not set up to provide this type of information and to modify them to do so would be expensive. Friction between 2-year formula units and 4-year formula units in data collection led to competitive lobbying with the legislature by these two groups resulting in split funding which favored the 2-year units.
The Press has a highly respected 70-year history of publishing scholarly books as well as books with broader appeal. It specializes in the history of the American West and Latin America, anthropology, and Native American and Chicano studies. In addition to publishing 70 books a year, the Press also sells other selected books in its catalog.
The director of the Press reports to the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs of the university. The Press has, over its history, been a self-supporting operation until recently. The reasons for its development of a one-million-dollar deficit included the university decision to charge overhead as if the Press were a grant-supported entity and a downturn in the publishing business. This year the Press anticipates beginning to pay back the debt
The Press will have to become self sufficient again through various changes in operation. These changes may include the University re-evaluating its policy or developing endowments to support funding. The establishment of a board of directors to oversee Press operation is recommended.
* * *
The analysis of criterion two in terms of governance and human resources, financial resources, physical plant and facilities, and information and technology resources documents that UNM, although not without problems and challenges, has sufficient resources and sufficient efficiency in organization, to carry out its mission. In conclusion, Criterion Two is met.
Criterion Three: The University of New Mexico is accomplishing its educational and other purposes.
Evidence that the institution is accomplishing its purposes was sought in all areas. Instances and observations that follow are illustrative, not exhaustive, of the ways in which the institution was found to be accomplishing its purposes.
Accomplishing Purposes through Assessment of Student Academic Achievement
The UNM assessment plan encompasses many types of assessment from the processing of students to student life activities and academic program achievement at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. A university-wide student outcomes assessment committee (SOAC) initiated the assessment activities that are directed by a faculty member having released time and working within the provost's office in the Student Outcomes Assessment Office. The Office of Institutional Research provides expert support. On an annual basis all program units are requested to submit a report to SOAO that is designed to ascertain if assessment is occurring, how it is being carried out, and how the results are being used.
As an initial step in the institutional assessment effort, all units were asked to identify programmatic goals. From an initial status of few departments having identified goals, the 1996-97 assessment report indicated that almost 50 units had developed goals and that the assessment office had coordinated and reported on the initial assessment efforts. By 1997-98, goals had been developed for most of the graduate programs as well as additional undergraduate programs and the branch campuses. Among the assessment methods identified are portfolios, standardized tests, surveys, capstone courses, and performance assessments. More than half of the units indicate their use of multiple methods of assessment
Most of the graduate program areas report traditional assessment benchmarks including program monitoring of GPA and program audits, comprehensive examinations, and a culminating experience, performance, or written product. The Faculty Senate has identified goals for the general education core, but assessment methods have yet to be identified as the core is being implemented this year.
As a result of the importance given to assessment by the two most recent provosts, the level of faculty awareness of the role of the assessment of student outcomes is considerably higher than when the plan was developed. A need continues to exist for some departments to develop goal statements and for still others to follow their goal statements with assessment implementation plans. To date little evidence exists as to how the results are being or will be used to enhance decision-making. In fact, currently the relationship of outcomes assessment to programmatic review appears unclear and perhaps even non-existent.
The institution is to be commended for the recognition of the needed variety of assessment techniques given the diversity of disciplines at UNM. In addition, the growing commitment on the part of college deans to assessment within their units should further enhance the university's progress. UNM has made a great deal of progress since the 1995 plan was developed. As the self-study notes, much remains to be accomplished, in particular the linkages of assessment to program reviews and program improvement, to budget and resource allocations, and to general education. It will be important for the institution to continue the centralized commitment to assessment as a vehicle for programmatic improvement and to invest the resources to fully institutionalize student outcomes assessment at UNM.
General Education: Core Curriculum
The UNM core curriculum requirements will not take effect until the entering class of fall 1999. Mandated by the state and several years in the design and discussion stages, the core curriculum was finally approved in April 1998. Its goal is to insure that all UNM undergraduates develop abilities in six areas of study: writing, analytical and evaluative processes, mathematical reasoning, scientific methods, fine arts, and language arts.
What appears to be missing from this Core Curriculum is any multicultural component, a component that many institutions have in recent years added to established core curricula. Given that the university has a number of interdisciplinary programs such as Chicano/a and Native American Studies, UNM students would have many options in fulfilling such a requirement.
It is obvious that it will be several years before the effectiveness of these core requirements can be assessed. However, it is recommended that plans be made for assessing the results of the Core Curriculum by identifying measurable outcomes and assessing their accomplishment and making adjustments where and when necessary, especially with the goal of responding to the changes that the 21st century will bring.
Accomplishing Purposes through Degree and other Programs
The following section is organized by college and school. In it, examples are cited to illustrate the degree of success and accomplishments of college and school programs and the challenges related to their operations.
University College of UNM is a different unit from the one that existed at the last NCA evaluation. It now houses some interdisciplinary and intercollegiate programs--the General Honors Program, the Native American Studies Program, and the graduate program in Water Resources; it also administers the Bachelor of University Studies Program. Other interdisciplinary units, such as Women's Studies and African-American Studies, remain within the college of Arts and Sciences, from which they draw most of their teaching faculty and courses. Chicano/a Studies is a freestanding unit reporting to the provost's office. An associate provost who serves as titular dean heads University College.
The Bachelor of University Studies program, with approximately 1000 students enrolled, offers students a unique opportunity to design a thematic interdisciplinary academic program. Although in the past it was a degree for students who were accumulating credit hours without a degree path, the intention now is to limit this option to better prepared, motivated students, for whom it is an attractive alternative to traditional disciplinary curricula. Students must consult with--and have their course of study approved by--either the dean or an advisor. However, the unique nature of the program requires more advisement than a traditional program: thus, the two advisors employed in this college may be insufficient for the task.
The General Honors program is also an attractive option for academically talented, motivated students. It features a rigorous interdisciplinary program of small seminars that foster close interaction between faculty and students. Full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty lines enable the program to attract and retain superior teachers.
Native American Studies offers no degrees as yet. Its courses represent an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Native American history and culture. Water Resources offers the only graduate degree in the college and involves faculty from ten different academic units across the university.
Lack of faculty lines hampers the development of the interdisciplinary programs in this and other colleges. Only the General Honors program has full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty. Courses in such programs as Native American Studies, Women's Studies, and Water Resources are taught by part time faculty or by faculty from other colleges either "on loan" or being paid an overload stipend. It is questionable whether the students in these courses can be consistently well served under such arrangements. For example, with core courses in the Women's Studies program being taught by part-time faculty, students enrolled in these courses may not have contact with faculty doing research in Women's Studies or be aware of new directions in the discipline. Further, because these interdisciplinary programs do not have faculty lines, they would appear to be the most vulnerable to cutting in times of budgetary crisis. Yet some of these are the programs that enable the curriculum of the university to reflect the diversity of its student body and its commitment to its majority minority population.
Office of Undergraduate Studies
Established as a separate unit after the creation of University College. the Office of Undergraduate Studies (UGS) advises the majority of freshmen admitted to UNM as well as some transfer and Academic Renewal students. The UGS is housed in open space that, though attractive, may create some safety problems.
With only a small, albeit dedicated and enthusiastic, staff, the Office manages its formidable task through a state of the art computerized records system that enables any advisor to instantly access any student's academic record and monitor progress. An attractive and helpful interactive web site provides prospective students, enrolled students, and visitors with a wide array of information about university requirements and procedures.
The Office of Undergraduate Studies is legitimately concerned about the effect of increased freshmen enrollment upon its staff, equipment and resources. Further, as the unit responsible for advising most new students, unit staff are concerned that the university administration anticipate and plan for increased enrollments with contingency funds to schedule and staff additional sections of required and core courses.
The College of Arts and Sciences represents a large portion of the university's human and physical resources and, as is typical of such colleges, provides a considerable amount of the university's general education and service curriculum. The college is fortunate to have effective anti respected leadership and a remarkably skilled and accomplished faculty and staff, but these valuable assets are now threatened.
Despite the fact that the College has been resourceful and innovative, under funding is seen to bc its most serious problem as it has undergone three successive years of budget cuts and a freeze on personnel positions and funds for equipment and capital improvements. The cuts and freezes were related to enrollment shifts and over-projections in the university as a whole.
Faculty salaries are low, and faculty vacancies are often left unfilled. Seventeen faculty lines were lost as a result of the recent freezes and are being replaced by part-time and non-tenure track faculty. Salaries for those positions that can be advertised are not always competitive. Inversion and compression are serious problems in the salary structure of many academic units. It is estimated that half of the faculty recruited are subsequently lost to other institutions because of better offers. Equipment and facilities are inadequate, in short supply, or deteriorating. Stipend offers to graduate students are often inadequate to attract the best students, and leaching loads are often two or even three classes per semester, far more than many similar universities and enough to impede progress toward their degrees. Matching funds are scarce. Many departments have no budgetary line item for equipment, and last year' there was only $134,000 in the entire college for equipment. Maintenance funds for sophisticated equipment are essentially non-existent. There is a very real feeling that the need for equipment and facilities is now desperate in many areas, and that the UNM administration is not fully aware of how serious the need is. The college is relatively compact, and academic units are generally understaffed so it does not appear that the funding problem results from over-extension.
Despite these problems, the college has notable strength. The faculty is resourceful and dedicated. The productivity level of the faculty exceeds expectation given the level of support. The faculty is a strength of the college and a significant factor in the university's attainment of Research University I status. Should the effect of the funding shortage on faculty recruitment and retention be as dire as is believed in the college. UNM could face a serious erosion of recent achievements. College leadership appears sound and capable of assessing strengths and challenges and is considered fair and accessible.
Finally, external funding appears to play a significant role in the college as nearly 520 million in funding and approximately $4 million in indirect funds were generated last year. The college also generated approximately $1 million in development funds. These are large sums, but what is not clear is the degree to which these funds are used to enhance the college instead of meeting basic operational needs. External grant funding was $18 million in 1995.
In many ways, the College of Arts and Sciences appears healthier than the budget and reports by faculty and administrators suggest, but the problems also appear real. The college is in urgent need of resources if it is to continue to provide the core array of services and meet the same goals it has in the past.
School of Architecture and Planning
Faculty and administrators have confidence that training in architecture and planning qualifies students for good jobs and that the establishment of the new program in landscape architecture will strengthen the school. Community-based studios provide service to the state and contacts for students that later materialize into full-time jobs. Systematic assessment of graduates' success is not available except in anecdotal form.
While graduate students appreciate the collegial atmosphere and other strengths of the programs, they expressed concern over the division between the two school units, indicating that there was almost no crossover between them. Their concern was that since most jobs require knowledge of fundamental aspects of both architecture and planning it would be beneficial if students in each division did course work in the other. They suggested that required core courses in both areas for all students would enhance their skills, allow them to perform at a higher level in future jobs and facilitate intercommunication among students. The other principal concern of the students was inadequate training in key software packages.
Faculty, administrators, and students expressed deep concern about the supporting facilities. The studios are inadequate and in poor shape. Moreover, the school is currently split among three buildings off the university campus hindering interactions between the school and the rest of the university as well as among students mid faculty within the unit. The school is next in line for a building, and all are hopeful that this will materialize. All individuals also voiced discontent over computing facilities. While the number of computing stations may be adequate, hardware and software maintenance is not, and there is inadequate instruction on program usage and limited support when programs fail.
Under the leadership of the current dean, the college has developed new direction and focus, increasing its emphasis on teacher education, interdisciplinary curricular offerings, and professional development for educators including graduate offerings. Morale appears to be markedly improved, with faculty research and service expectations more clearly delineated. Faculty members engage in regular mentoring activities for new faculty, are committed to the effective evaluation of teaching, and are increasing their connectivity to educators in K-12 settings.
Faculty members express uneven ownership for assessment of student outcomes although they acknowledge an increasing focus on assessment from the leadership of the college. They believe they have expertise in both student outcomes assessment and in the evaluation of teaching that might be valuable to the larger campus, but they do not feel their expertise has been recognized or invoked. They express the need for greater institutional support for new initiatives such as assessment that are expected to occur across the campus.
Faculty members teach both undergraduate and graduate offerings and express concern for the limited graduate student stipend support both in the number of assistantships and the level of the stipends. There is a sense that the central administration does not recognize some of the unique differences of graduate students in Colleges of Education and that the traditional forms of graduate support and compensation need to bc revisited relative to education students. Concern is also expressed regarding restrictions on the part of the graduate school and a tension between preparing practitioners and future professors.
Students express satisfaction with their programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and generally rate the quality of instruction received as high. Some concern was expressed relative to the institutional commitment to diversity that does not appear always to be reflected either in the curriculum or the faculty. In general, advisement and concern of the faculty for individual students was seen as very positive.
The College of Education has made dramatic progress in the recent past under new leadership. The mission appears to be focused, and resources are being reallocated to support new initiatives. Of particular note is the 're-engagement of the College' in developing K- 12 partnerships. It will be important for the university to recognize the resource requirements of preparing effective teachers in partnership arrangements. Rethinking graduate support as well as recognizing the more clinical nature of professional education preparation will require an infusion of personnel and technology resources if these effective partnerships are to be maintained.
The School of Engineering has strong leadership from a dean drawn from a national research laboratory and a group of capable departmental chairs. Faculty strength is reflected in a strong research program and effective undergraduate programs. Professional accreditation supports the view that the school is functioning to meet expectations of professional peers. The School has created a position for development and advancement and has recently revitalized the external advisory board. The development program is only 18 months old, but it raised $5 million in cash and commitments in the past year.
The growth of research expenditures during the past ten years has been spectacular: $6.4 million in 1988-89 as compared to $36.7 million in 1996-97. The increase is a result of state investments in centers; new, research-minded, entrepreneurial faculty; better cooperation between departments, raised research expectations, generous overhead return policies: and a general campus atmosphere favoring research.
The student body m Engineering is very diverse with 39 percent of the undergraduate students and 17 percent of the graduate students being minorities. The school has an active support program for minority students with federal funds provided by the Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, and NASA.
Several areas of concern relate to the research and educational programs. Relationships between research centers and academic departments are not felt to be effective. There is unevenness in the quality and quantity of space allocated to units. The formula for summer course offerings favors academic year offerings. Finally, insufficient progress has been made in development of student outcomes assessment.
The UNM College of Fine Arts is a focal point for cultural activity, with the photography program being ranked among the best ill the nation. The "Arts of the Americas" approach to cultural grouping is unique and supports the University's "University of the Americas" initiative. Interdependent teaching, research, and creative endeavors are strengths as is the individual attention given students by faculty. Faculty members have distinguished themselves through national and international awards, performances, and exhibitions.
Performance-based assessment is integral, and students report their satisfaction with this feedback and acknowledge its effect on the curriculum. Success of alumni is further evidence of program quality. Art and art history graduate programs are recognized as exemplary among peer programs: the Tamarind Institute maintains an international reputation for fine art lithography and collaboration with artists; "Wrinkle Writing" is a unique program for teaching creative dramatic writing in the public schools, and the International Festival Flamenco is co-sponsored by the Dance program.
Concerns in the college center upon the need for research support, library resources, equipment and technology support, facilities, scholarships, graduate student stipends, and faculty salaries. There are fears regarding personal security and vandalism to facilities. Serious resource needs of the University Art Museum jeopardize its collections, operations, and service and are a source of concern to the College of Fine Arts because of the importance of museum collections to college teaching and research.
The strengths of the University of New Mexico School of Law, the only one in the state, are numerous. Its clinical program is top-rated in the country, and each law student is required to take a minimum of six hours of legal clinic. Its Indian Law Program is one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country. Certificate programs are available in both Indian Law and Natural Resources Law.
The School of Law has a good faculty-to-student ratio of 11 to 1, while its clinical offerings enjoy an 8 to 1 faculty-to-student ratio. Of the full-time faculty, approximately, 40 percent are female and 25 percent are members of minority groups. The student body, of which 90 percent are residents of New Mexico, is nearly equally split between male and female students. The average age is 29, and 40 percent of the class are members of minority groups. This educational and social diversity adds to the strengths of the school.
The faculty and students of the School of Law enjoy a very community-focused environment. Faculty office doors are open, and the students feel very comfortable and positive about their relationship with the faculty. The school has an extensive mentoring and tutorial program for students that involves upper-class students as well as practicing lawyers from the State Bar of New Mexico, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Mexico, the Indian Bar Association of New Mexico, the New Mexico Black Lawyers Association, the New Mexico Women's Bar Association, and the Albuquerque Bar Association. In addition, each student is assigned a faculty advisor who will continue as advisor for that student throughout the student's time of study. There is also a variety of student organizations and a wealth of outside speakers visiting the School of Law. The State Court of Appeals is located next to the School of Law and provides an outstanding practical and first-hand teaching resource.
At the most recent American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation visit, great concern was raised about the lack of adequate space. In response to this concern, the legislature of New Mexico has passed a bill to provide funds to enlarge the physical plant of the School of Law. The university has recently signed off on this plan, and an architect is being sought. It is expected that this building expansion will be completed m 18 months. The ABA also raised concerns about the size of the Law Library in relationship to the needs of the faculty and students. This concern has also been addressed by the legislature and fundraising efforts.
As with many areas of the university, lack of funds is a concern. However, the school has been vel'5 creative in addressing these problems. Through successful fundraising and re-allocation, the dean has been able to create adequate funding for summer research grants, paid research assistants, and travel grants. While faculty salaries appear to remain low, this has not seemed to hamper entry-level faculty recruitment, but it has prohibited any lateral hiring. Additional resources would be helpful in providing for more programming and restoring cuts in student scholarship money.
The School of Law engages in substantial service and outreach. Many faculty members contribute time to participate m Law School and university governance as well as providing service to professional associations and nonprofit organizations. Members of the faculty serve on federal, state, and municipal boards and advisory committees. In addition, the dean has responsibility under the state constitution for the administration of the judicial selection process for all judgeships in New Mexico. The clinical law program engages in public service as it represents nonprofit organizations and community groups as a part of its community lawyering program. With 19 pueblos and 4 reservation tribes operating governments within the territorial boundaries of the State of New Mexico, the School of Law's affiliation with the American Indian Law Center, Inc., an independent institute devoted to strengthening Indian tribal government, is clearly noteworthy.
Anderson Schools of Management
The Anderson Schools of Management were recently broadened in scope to include the School of Public Affairs. The self-study document prepared for the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business documents that the schools meet or exceed the expectations of NCA requirements for faculty qualification, research productivity, program review', and student diversity. In addition, there is sufficient evidence in the catalog and other documents provided by the university that the curriculum programs are consistent with the mission of the university.
Evidence of the accomplishments and strengths of the Anderson Schools include the following. Based on doctoral degrees as documented in the UNM Fact Book and on research productivity as reported in UNM Faculty Publications and Creative Works, 1997, the faculty of the Anderson Schools are a real asset to program recognition and accreditation, student recruitment and graduation, and to the maintenance of strong ties with the community. In the area of publications, for example, 70 refereed journal articles were counted among the faculty for 1997. Not only do the schools enjoy continued accreditation respectively by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, but they have received special recognition from AACSB for their strategic planning processes.
Though there has been a downward trend in enrollments for business schools in general, the schools have had steady increases in enrollment in their BBA, MBA, and EMBA programs. Further growth has been limited only by the inability to add new full-time faculty lines.
The Anderson Schools can be justly proud of their continuing efforts to recruit
women and ethnic minorities to their student body and faculty. It is noteworthy
that the schools "have the highest percentage of female faculty among the 314
AACSB accredited business schools nationwide" (Self-Study. p. 5-12). Statistical
information provided in the UNM Fact Book confirms that the schools
have been successful in hiring significantly more women and
ethnic minorities in the last five years.
Unlike other units in the university, the schools have been successful in acquiring and maintaining up-to-date computer hardware and software for the use of their faculty, students, and staff. All faculty and students have e-mail accounts and access to large, electronic databases for teaching, learning, and research.
The Anderson Schools have active advisory boards that assist the faculty and administration in keeping the curricula current and in providing internship experiences for students. The schools are engaged in major curriculum review involving faculty, business leaders, and students.
Continued work is needed in several areas of the schools' operation. Faculty, administration, and students expressed concern about the issue of class scheduling. It appears that the broad range of courses offered and the attendant difficulty in maintaining sufficient numbers of full-time faculty result in limited access of students to some required courses. There is also too heavy a reliance on part-time faculty. As documented in the UNM self-study, and confirmed by team meetings with faculty and students, the continued quality of programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels is challenged by the excessive work commitments on the part of students and pressures on faculty to offer the range of degrees and concentrations available. Though the ASM have made some progress in the assessment of their program and student achievement, faculty and administration recognize that much more can be achieved, especially in documenting student learning outcomes. While the ASM can be credited for improving gender and ethnic diversity among its students and faculty, there is still a need to make improvements, particularly in the area of Hispanic and Native American faculty.
Since the last NCA visit, oversight for research and graduate study has been brought together in the position of all associate provost for research and dean of graduate studies who reports It) the provost. Research expenditures have grown in a spectacular manner since the last NCA visit, in FY 88 research awards of $77 million were obtained and in FY98 $176 million in awards were received. The University of New Mexico is one of 88 universities with a Carnegie Foundation designation of Research I. The present funding level places UNM number 69 among all research universities based on NSF funding data and number 47 among the public universities on the same list. This growth is attributed to a number of factors which include the following: investment by the state in selected research centers; new faculty who are highly motivated toward research; improved relationships with the two national laboratories in New Mexico, Sandia and Los Alamos; a liberal policy on distribution of overhead monies to units; and creation of the University Research Park. The Office of Research Services and Graduate Studies assists faculty through publications and services to identify funding possibilities. Approximately ten percent of the annual research overhead budget is dedicated to retiring the bonds for the research park and providing an infrastructure for commercializing university intellectual property. Additional funding for faculty research and scholarship involves distribution by a faculty committee of about $140,000 each year in funds from research overhead revenues, as state funds are not available for this purpose.
The Office of Graduate Studies monitors student performance, but admission is a function of academic units. There is a concern with the decreased graduate student enrollment, and centralized recruitment could provide assistance in reversing this trend and in attracting a more diverse student body. The funding formula for off-campus locations is a disincentive although centers in Santa Fe and Los Alamos seem to be growing and meeting a need.
Graduate assistantship recipients are concerned about increased workloads and the need for health insurance, and there is talk of unionization. Some faculty and administrative opinion identifies a need for a stronger voice for research and graduate study in campus administration.
Accomplishing Purposes through the Health Science Center and its Colleges
The Center was organized in 1994 and contains the administrative structure for the hospitals. The chief administrator is the vice president for health sciences (presently interim I: Academic units administered by this group indicated that the present structure has improved their ability to function. It is of interest that all of the academic programs are relatively new--the College of Pharmacy started in 1945, the four-year Medical School was formed in 1966, and the College of Nursing wits founded in 1979. The center receives approximately $41.1 million in grants, most from governmental organizations. A newly established central chemical laboratory facility to serve all of the hospitals in the Albuquerque area should prevent duplication of equipment and save money for the Health Science Center. The member divisions of the 1tcalth Science Center are impressive in their search for new educational systems and their willingness to expend the time necessary to explore these methods. The Health Science Center established the first Neonatal and Intensive Care Service in the state. It is also the source of the Locum Tenens program, Physician's Access Line, and Telemedicine programs.
The Health Science Center faces several problems. First, approximately 30 percent of the patient load is uninsured and at least 20 percent of the income is from Medicaid patients. Secondly, all insured patients must obtain primary care from a member of the staff. Therefore, residents get only limited hands-on experience. One of the ways this problem is being solved is by permitting the residents, under supervision of the staff, to act as the primary physician of uninsured patients.
The School of Medicine, the only one in New Mexico, accepted its first class as a 2-year school in 1964 and initiated a 4-year program in 1966, with the first LCME accreditation in 1968. In 1997, the University of New Mexico Medical School ranked by its peers as third in the nation in primary care education, third in family medicine, second in rural care and second for overall reputation. The faculty is dedicated and able. Faculty members demonstrate an ability to develop unique educational systems that appeal to other institutions and a willingness to share their experiences and expertise.
The primary care curriculum was established in 1979. UNM is the national leader in the use of problem-based learning (PBL) for medical students. Initially, the program was 2-track with most students on a conventional program and a selected number on the PBL track. In the Fall of 1993, the conventional program was dropped in favor of the PBL track. The curriculum is made up of time blocks of approximately eight weeks. Student assessment is formalized as a "Student Progress Assessment," with tests given three times during the four years and encompassing six competencies. Students must pass the last assessment at a 60 percent level to graduate. About 25 percent of the graduates remain in New Mexico. A community-based program is used to teach residents and follows. Planning is an ongoing process, in the School of Medicine. Strategic planning for three-year periods is the work of the administration and chairs. Curriculum planning also engages faculty and students.
At present, 73 medical students are admitted each year, and there are approximately 300 medical students enrolled. Forty-eight percent of the students are males, and 61 percent are white non-Hispanic, 25 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent are Native American, 6 percent arc Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2 percent are African American. In the fall of 1997 there were 622 faculty, 86 percent of which were full-time. In addition, there are 925 volunteer faculty who assist in providing the large amount of faculty (tutor) time required by the PBL program. Minorities are underrepresented in both the faculty and administration.
External grant support amounted to approximately $41 million during fiscal 1998, about $3 million more than was received in 1997. The basic sciences were organized to form four departments: Graduate Students receive a degree in Basic Medical Sciences. Publication records arc excellent for the basic medical sciences (including Pathology). At present the state is retaining ten percent of grant overhead, a practice which seems inappropriate.
The undergraduate Allied Health Programs (now Diagnostic and Therapeutic Science Programs), with 160 students, are administered by various clinical departments. Although a certificate program is being offered in Radiological Science, it will be upgraded to a Bachelor's degree this fall. One of the problems to be faced is how these programs can grow in the environment dominated by medical and post-MD programs.
The student population is 250 undergraduate students, 195 RN-BSN completion students who will complete the BSN either on the Gallup campus or elsewhere by education, and 150 graduate students. In 1997-98, 91 percent were female {average age 33 years) and 34 percent minority. UNM is the only state school offering the master's degree in Nursing (no school offers the doctorate in Nursing). Approximately three students apply for each undergraduate space available. The educational programs use problem-based interdisciplinary instruction. In 1997-98, 97.3 percent of the graduating students passed the licensure examination.
There are 42 FTE faculty, 40 of whom are tenure- and non-tenure track: there are 21 part-time faculty on the main campus. Forty of the full-time faculty are female and 6 are minority. As with other academic units of the HSC, minorities in the faculty are underrepresented.
Many of the required courses taken by the undergraduates are supplied by other colleges of the university. Also, 280 nurse preceptors are located in various hospitals around the state. It is for these reasons that the small number of FTE faculty can handle the large number
A minimum amount of research is performed. Each faculty member is expected to teach three courses per semester. Research is typically performed by graduate and undergraduate students. Presently there are two extramural funded projects and six training projects in the amount of $748,000. To encourage research, the dean has supplied $25,000 in seed money for 1999.
A unique program at Portales is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Partnership for Training and utilizes a team approach involving medical, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner students. Teaching assistance is provided by tutors from the Medical School, College of Nursing, and members of the community.
The graduate (master's) programs have four concentrations, including the family nurse practitioner with prescription privileges, begun in 1968 and the first in the US. The core graduate curriculum is available through interactive TV and computer conferences. The Master of Science degree in nursing in family nurse practitioner and midwifery is available at Portales and Espanola and will soon be extended to UNM-Gallup. Since no nursing doctoral programs are available in the state, UNM is planning to initiate one. The present programs are recognized by rankings in U.S. News and World Reports. All nursing programs were last accredited by the National League for Nursing and the state board for a period of 8 years. They also received accreditation by the Committee on Collegiate Nursing and the American College of Nursing Midwifery in 1998.
Issues for the college include the following: I ) Satellite costs and teaching costs are borne by the main campus. Since the students access the information at branch campuses, it is the branch campus that collects the tuition. The Glean estimates a loss of approximately $60 thousand per year. 2) The Faculty were maintained on a 9-month contract when they were shifted to thc north campus, although their teaching responsibility is now year round. 3) The faculty are formula funded except for those involved with primary care. In addition, the salary scale for the predominantly female faculty appears lower than for their faculty counterparts in 9-month departments.
The student population in 1997 was 256 undergraduates and 19 graduate students. Fifty-six of the students are minority, and more than 50 percent are female. The bachelor's program is being replaced by a doctorate. Educational programs are interdisciplinary involving a team approach with students in other colleges. The curriculum focuses on student-centered problem-based learning. For assessment purposes, students are tested for a series of competencies throughout the program. All students of the pharmacy program have a required clerkship in a rural area of New Mexico. Roughly 50 percent of the graduates remain within the state. Two waste management programs are available. One is a certificate program, and in the other a student can earn a master's degree. The Ph.D. program in toxicology is taught jointly with the biomedical faculty and the Lovelace Respiratory Institute.
There are 34 tenure-track faculty, of whom 12 are female and 5 minorities. During 1998 grant income was about $1.2 million. There are typically 50 refereed publications per year. Most of the externally funded research is carried out by it small number of the faculty. Service to the health science community and the Albuquerque area is provided by some of the faculty members who serve as clinical pharmacists in the hospitals, clinics, and a 24-hour Poison Control Center. The planning committee contains ten members including students, faculty, administrators and pharmacists from the community, and planning is done annually.
Accomplishing Purposes through Distance Education, Continuing Education, Evening, and Weekend Degree Programs, and Media Tech
These programs extend the services and resources of the university to non-traditional students and provide technological support for on- and off-campus research, teaching, and service. Distance education currently utilizes a variety of technologies and partnerships to serve approximately 1,200 students enrolled in just over 150 courses each semester at 65 sites in New Mexico and surrounding states. Media Technology provides technological support for
On- and off campus courses and programs through it variety of platforms, but it does not seem well integrated with the University's other outreach programs. Generally in compliance with NCA Guidelines, UNM faces some remaining challenges:
The University's planning and budgeting practices make it clear that UNM's distance education program including the technological support needed has not been considered central to the University's mission, compared to on-campus, traditional academic programs and research activities. One factor in the budgeting is the state of New Mexico formula for funding extended services.
Continuing Education and Community Services serve nearly 30,000 students in credit, non-credit, and special project programs and 200,000 clients through training and provision of meeting venues in the University's Continuing Education facilities. The growth in Continuing Education programs is reflected in a budget growth from $2.3 million to $6.4 million from 1988-1908 and a doubling of the staff during the same time period. Continuing Education is largely an entrepreneurial enterprise, and it is under capable leadership well suited to a highly competitive marketplace in training and educational opportunities. Expanded physical facilities and successful grant programs position it to continue its successful service. Continuing Education is not well integrated with Media Tech and Distance Education.
Evening and Weekend Degree Programs (EWDP) have had it decade of experience since their inception in 1988. Currently, these programs serve (according to the self-study) "more than 11,500 students each regular semester, offering over 2000 courses and 45 complete degree programs annually" after 4:00 p.m. and/or on Saturdays during the academic year and summer sessions."
EWDP help the University achieve its mission by serving under-employed, nontraditional students, improving overall graduation rates through repatriation of students who have dropped out of school to enter the work place, and making selected graduate programs available in the evening to specific professionals in the work force. The fact that EWDP also return $5.5M annually to the University on a budget expenditure of about $1M makes it financially useful to the institution as well.
EWDP have been successful because of the following circumstances: these programs utilize the existing structure and resources of the University to extend access; they recognize the demands for educational access and opportunity among non-traditional students; leadership and staff support in the programs remains responsive to students' academic and support needs: academic programs and course offerings are well-planned on a three-year cycle; and the programs are well-integrated with academic colleges and departments. The major challenge facing EWDP and the institution is the large number of adjunct faculty (nearly 50 percent) who carry a significant part of the academic responsibility for 45 complete UNM degree programs at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. levels.
All analysis of these programs' accomplishments suggests that they have competent and dedicated leadership and staff, have good faculty, are largely well-integrated with academic departments and colleges, serve the needs of large numbers of students, and achieve success with little financial support from the institution. They help the University serve its larger goals and positively affect the working community and businesses in the Albuquerque area by providing opportunities for training and advanced education.
An analysis of the programs' continuing challenges suggests that the following areas need attention: I) programs are not funded sufficiently by the institution, compared to traditional, on-campus academic programs, a situation linked to the state funding formula for extended services, 2) library support for distance education programs is not well organized, 3) the Image number of adjunct faculty involved in delivering University programs in EWDP, distance education, and in credit courses through Continuing Education should be of some concern to the University, and 4) the programs themselves suffer from lack of integration and a concomitant fragmentation of resources.
UNM should continue to develop and implement its current plan to integrate these units and may wish to examine the program array and refocus on those efforts at which it excels. UNM may want to investigate the possibility of better integration of these programs with the branch campuses to utilize limited resources to provide more UNM baccalaureate and graduate opportunities. These units should be included in institutional planning and budgeting decision-making. Finally, UNM should consider encouraging the state to put more emphasis on statewide cooperative programs for shared information access by students in UNM programs off campus.
Accomplishing Purposes through Student Services
The Division of Student Affairs (DSA) has undergone much change since the last NCA visit. During key times, the position of vice president for student affairs has been vacant or filled by an interim appointee. Since January of 1996, the position has been filled by a permanent vice president who has spent a great deal of time reorganizing a division that had 14 of the 16 programs reporting directly to him. This reorganization has gone slowly and has not been without pain; however, the reorganization should be completed by spring of 1999.
While the personnel in DSA appear to be gifted, dedicated team players, the division is experiencing low morale and it feeling of isolation. The division is primed to move to the next level but must have assistance from the rest of the university, specifically the Office of Academic Affairs. DSA appears to have solid leadership, but feels itself to be left out of the big picture and to be grossly under-utilized. It is the perception of staff that DSA does much of its good work alone and that many of their suggestions are not acted upon or are put on hold with little or no explanation.
The DSA believes it important to its success that the Office of Academic cooperate with the division in a stronger working relationship. The two divisions might usefully develop a joint plan for addressing the issue of retention in ways appropriate to an urban institution with many commuter students. There is opportunity to build on the consulting expertise provided by Noel-Levitz on campus, and DSA sees itself as a leader in this initiative.
The joint efforts could also focus on the establishment of Living Learning Centers in the residence halls, the quality of the student experience both inside and outside of the classroom, the development of a course for first-year students, and methods of measuring student satisfaction with their experiences. DSA would like to see movement in these areas comparable to that in peer institutions and desires more faculty involvement outside the classroom.
Another area of concern within DSA is the need for renovated facilities. The Student Union was built in 1959 for a student population of 7,000. With over 21,000 students of whom a large percent is made up of commuter students, a lively, adequate-sized Student Union is surely needed. The Student Health Center, Child Care Center, and Police Building are all DSA facilities that also need attention. Lastly, the residence halls are presently filled with about 2,000students. A study to determine the need for additional and alternative living quarters would be largely to determine unmet student needs.
The services provided for students appear good, but there is a need for more resources. Lines are long, but the service providers are said to do their work in a positive, pleasant manner, perhaps in response to the DSA customer satisfaction program. There are good services such as the college enrichment program, the Los Angeles Recruitment Program, and the Bridge Lottery program that could use more university focus and greater involvement. The creation of a parents' association and a focus on creating a sense of university community is desired by DSA. While there are the typical range and number of services and service offices, there is a need for additional resources, better coordination among these offices, and a much stronger link with the Office of Academic Affairs.
Accomplishing Purposes through Intercollegiate Athletics
An analysis of intercollegiate athletics programs at UNM leads to the following observations regarding accomplishments and positive elements in the programs.
Intercollegiate athletics issues remaining to be addressed successfully include the following:
Accomplishing Purposes on Branch Campuses
Although the self-study effort was not organized around special emphases, branch campuses were highlighted in the self-study effort. UNM included representatives from each branch campus on the institutional self-study steering committee, and each branch campus produced a self-study report, three of them extensive and exhaustive. The main campus self-study report and the bound volume of the four branch campus reports were each more than 500 pages long, exclusive of appendices. Consistent with the institutional focus and effort, five team members participated in a full and comprehensive review on site of two branch campuses, UNM-Gallup and UNM-Valencia, and the same team members met with delegations from the two other branch campuses, UNM-Los Alamos, and UNM-Taos Education Center, on the main campus in Albuquerque. The teams evaluated branch campus compliance with the GIRs mid criteria for accreditation--including attention to main campus and branch campus relations — and noted campus strengths and challenges. In their consultative role they also provided comment, commendation, and suggestions for improvement. A summary from their findings is provided below.
Each campus has its own mission statement, and all document local community expectations as well as those of campus, advisory board, and main campus. One source of strain for branch campuses is being bound by divergent mission statements, their own and that of UNM. Both advisory board members and UNM-Gallup administrators were direct in their appraisal of the difficulties they faced in their relations with the main campus: difficulty, in hiring qualified instructors who understand campus needs, decision-making by main campus committees with little interest in what is presented, and delays in meeting community needs because of protracted course approval processes. Faculty and staff seem to have concerns similar it) those of the advisory board and campus administrators. There is some frustration among Gallup faculty, administration, and staff concerning the involvement of the main campus in decisions Gallup personnel feel capable of handling on their own (course approvals, especially those for community interest: staff hires, and purchasing, e.g.). There is also awareness at Gallup of the appropriate means of handling campus desires for more autonomy, and the campus plans to seek institutional approval to request separate NCA accreditation in the future. In 1995, there was some discussion on the UNM-Valencia campus of seeking independence, but the conclusion was that greater advantages lay with continued affiliation with UNM.
Branch Campuses – Resources and Structure
Each campus has an executive director appointed by the UNM provost and a local advisory board empowered to approve and recommend the college's budget to the Regents, to certify a tax levy to the county commission and to conduct elections for tax levies, to negotiate all operating agreement with the Regents, and to act in all advisory capacity. The operating agreements negotiated by the local boards outline the services which the main campus will provide in return for an agreed upon percentage of branch campus revenues. The current agreements call for 2.81 percent of all dollars that come to the branch campuses to be paid to the main campus for overhead costs. The agreements allow for considerable autonomy in daily operations for the branch campuses and appear to offer the branch campuses a way to obtain services in return for shared authority.
Faculty appear to have appropriate credentials for their assignments and have tenure or non-tenure track positions or are part-time or adjuncts, depending upon campus and area. Tenure review appears complex. Academic faculty appointments are approved by their departments al the main campus. UNM-Los Alamos uses core, pro-rata faculty for many activities traditionally performed by full-time faculty, and the plan to add three full-time faculty is important to support teaching, assessment and planning. It is difficult for the small cadre of faculty to engage in the additional work required in assessment to write learning goals, select instruments, grade results, and analyze data. If assessment is to work, most campuses will need additional lull-lime faculty. As the branch campuses are growing, and projections call for that growth to continue, serious consideration will need to be given to the issue of adequate faculty and staff.
The current hiring process for adjunct faculty creates all additional work burden for faculty and administrators as such hires must be approved by the appropriate department on the main campus. Human Resource policies appear to require that the campuses reconstitute their pool of part-time faculty each semester, resulting in increased and repeated paper work.
Streamlining these processes should be given priority by the main campus. A related area deserving of focused attention is the process of hiring, retaining, and developing adjunct faculty to ensure their commitment to the campus and students and their ability to stay current in their fields.
There appears to be little faculty campus focus on pedagogical innovations such as active and collaborative learning and technological enhancements of learning. Increased opportunity and support should be provided for faculty development in these and other areas. At UNM-Valencia, faculty development initiatives could counter alienation by promoting common effort toward common goals. Valencia provides an identified amount of money for the professional development of each faculty member; however, there is no sabbatical process for long term development.
At UNM-Valencia, classroom observation is only sporadically utilized with adjunct faculty. Faculty at UNM-Los Alamos indicated that new faculty undergo classroom observation, but that the practice is sporadic for experienced faculty. There was also a suggestion that, while student evaluations are conducted, supervisors do not always follow up with discussions on the results.
The newer committee structure at UNM-Gallup receives some mixed reviews from campus constituents. Efforts to reconcile the older structure with the newer should continue with an aim of clarifying responsibilities, providing for all constituents to have a representative voice, and encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunities for participation. Students are included on many Gallup decision-making committees along with faculty and staff. Both the UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos campuses have established appropriate committees and avenues for dialogue; both have actively encouraged the involvement of all employees, and both seem to have established mechanisms that will allow them to continue to meet the needs of their students. However, in spite of the efforts to be inclusive, some faculty and staff apparently believe that the pyramidal structure still controls the flow of information and the decision-making processes. In addition to serving in the local campus committee structures, members of the faculty and staff from the branch campuses are eligible to serve on the appropriate committees on the main campus.
UNM-Gallup has an effective and active elected student government that examines and provide advice on a wide range of student issues, including those dealing with child care, academic support, co-curricular programming, and other student life programs. Students participate in many campus-wide programs and have input on most college matters. Students recognize and value the extraordinary diversity within the student body. They would like to see the diversity within the student body reflected in the makeup of the faculty and administration as well, and applaud the recent hiring of additional Native American faculty and the representative makeup of the general staff of the college.
The UNM-Taos Education Center has just completed Phase I construction of a permanent campus that includes additional classroom and office space. The center also utilizes classrooms at Taos High School. A major resource is the instructional television facilities that provide services for the delivery of upper division and graduate programs.
While many support services and learning resources are available for UNM-Gallup students, the Zollinger library is housed in limited space and has limited resources. However, the institution is in the process of designing and building new library space. Interlibrary loan services from the main campus libraries are considered to be slow, and there appear to be no clear agreements between the Gallup and Albuquerque libraries for support. Holdings appear generally adequate with appropriate participation being exercised in collection development. Branch campus libraries are moving toward increased use of technologies and databases. At UNM-Valencia, figures indicate increased usage of library materials and services and more instruction by library staff. By agreement with the district court, the law library for Valencia County is located on the campus.
UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos have been successful in acquiring needed computers and computing technology. They have added computer laboratories and updated all staff computers. The difficulty is with maintenance and support personnel. Separating student lab fees from the general fund and allocating those funds exclusively for lab equipment and supplies will facilitate the campuses staying current in the equipment and materials they use in the instructional program.
UNM-Gallup has made conscious efforts to provide students with a safe and healthy environment. The campus itself is modern and well designed and is ADA-compliant. The facilities committee indicates that one of the critical needs on campus continues to be for faculty offices, but the construction of a $9.3 million building program beginning in the near future should satisfy this need as well as the need for improved facilities in health programs where facilities are inadequate, especially for the associate degree programs. UNM-Valencia preparing to break ground on the new building project that will add approximately 40,000 square feet of instructional and student support space. UNM-Los Alamos had a local bond vote scheduled within days of the accreditation visit. Los Alamos will be challenged to provide transportation and services for additional students in college housing nearly two miles away.
Branch Campuses – Educational and Support Programs and Results
Campuses differ in their size and development as complex and mature institutions, with UNM-Gallup being the most developed and largest. Each campus has its own program, certificate, and course offerings. The branch campuses can offer any course in the UNM catalogue that is numbered 299 and below. The curriculum committee on the main campus has final approval over academic (transfer) courses and programs. Main campus departments review syllabi and approve faculty. This process provides a validation for the courses and eases transfer of students but is another source of strain between branch campus and main campus as it slows the process. The applied science degrees and the technical curricula courses are developed on the branch campus. At Gallup, academic and vocational programs have been merged to create a total of eight instead of the former 22 departments. This move seems supported by the new departments and their leadership. Program implementation and revision appears to ensure quality and professional good practice.
Most associate degree programs offered by UNM-Gallup, including all transfer programs, require the same general education core as all UNM degree programs. Arts and letters programs and their current structure are compatible with the mission of the institution. Programs offered through the health division at Gallup include dental assistance, nursing, nursing assistance, medical lab technician, human services, health education, physical education, and health information technology. In applied technology on the Gallup Campus, programs are offered in automotive technology, construction technology, cosmetology, drafting technology and welding technology and utilize advisory committees to keep the program content on the cutting edge. UNM-Taos Education Center offers applied technology programs in the areas of community justice, construction technology, and general studies.
Many of the degree and certificate programs at UNM-Gallup have few students or no enrolment. Although there are few students enrolled in the Tribal Enterprise and Tribal Court Advocate programs, the programs represent attempts to meet the needs of nearby tribal entities which Gallup aims to serve. Similarly, completion in some degree programs At UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos appears to be very low. Program reviews at all campuses should be implemented to determine the value of continuing, expanding, modifying or dropping programs to utilize resources most effectively.
At UNM-Valencia, review of course offerings should be made routine to increase the efficient use of faculty and space resources. In addition to responding to student requests for greater course selection opportunities, especially at the 200 level, the institution might increase some class sizes to 20 students without significant impact on student learning. UNM-Los Alamos also needs to respond to complaints about the lack of availability of 200 level courses. The campus may wish to revise its class size limits for canceling classes or work out multi-year schedules so that students will know when low enrollment sophomore classes will be offered. There was also some indication that scheduling too many courses in the same time slots makes it difficult to put together a schedule.
Evaluating the developmental studies courses has become more important given that 80 percent of the UNM-Los Alamos's new students are testing into developmental courses. The student enrichment center activities have increased, and the developmental studies advisory board provides excellent guidance in this area. At UNM-Gallup, program evaluation connects to curriculum integration, community connections, and quality of life. The campus has initiated student outcomes assessment and provides support for statistical analysis of results. In addition, the campus is utilizing the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Standards for Education to evaluate such institutional functions as institutional management and fiscal stability.
Finally, current efforts in student outcomes assessment are promising at UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos. Ensuring that findings are used to improve programs and services is essential. There is no assessment program in place at the UNM-Taos Education-Center, but the center is fully committed to completing the planning and implementation. Assessment outcome data is beginning to be collected; new hiring plans call for the use of outcomes assessment data, and employee job descriptions will include outcomes assessment requirements. One important component of student outcomes assessment for UNM would involve the use of data to validate transfer student performance; however, faculty and administrators commented on the problems involved in retrieving data from the main campus both for assessment purposes and for other institutional research requirements. The university needs an integrated assessment plan.
Students at UNM-Gallup are satisfied with the support services and recognize and value the learning opportunities in campus life. One issue common to nearly all the interviewed students was the desire to have additional academic programs available at Gallup, particularly baccalaureate completion programs, upper division academic courses, and graduate program.
UNM-Gallup provides a modestly-sized and equipped gymnasium (scheduled to be renovated and expanded in the next two years) providing students access to fitness equipment and programming in addition to a number of team and individual athletic programs. Because health-related issues are of unusual concern to the local community where diabetes is a problem for a large percentage of the Native American population, the campus offers a range of wellness programs while equipping its buildings to assist students with chronic health problems. Additionally, the campus sponsors all array of cultural programming appropriate for its communities and students, including artistic, musical, theatrical, and crafts programs. Com-munity-sponsored programs are sought out and hosted by the college.
Branch Campuses – Planning and Improving Institutional Effectiveness
In 1905 UNM-Gallup formed the strategic planning committee resulting in a range of planning activities that included examining assumptions, developing a description of the community, diversity and teamwork, campus climate survey, and an external environment scan. Each year goals are established for the campus in a process involving the entire community, and the goals become part of the strategic plan.
Because of the newness of the UNM-Taos Education Center, no strategic plan was given to the learn members, although a list of 23 objectives was presented by the center staff. These objectives were comprehensive and covered funding, recruitment, Tech/Prep, enrollments, financial aid, accounting systems, distance education, customized training, developing a strategic planning process, shared governance, community partnerships, and expanded school-to-work activities.
UNM-Valencia should set priorities and continue to develop a coordinated community outreach effort. The institution should keep the campus community informed about all initiatives from the early stages and involve appropriate personnel in planning. Outreach efforts such as development of customized training, welfare-to-work, and other community-linked initiatives should be coordinated. These efforts could be promoted by visits to other campuses and use of the Internet to determine how peer institutions are addressing similar challenges. Both Los Alamos and Valencia engage in a number of cooperative programs with local high schools, community agencies, and other institutions of higher education, faculty and staff should evaluate the possibility of working with main campus personnel ill developing a proposal to the legislature for an improved funding formula for summer and extended education.
UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos have in place effective planning mechanisms. The address several issues that will require extensive planning and review including use of technology, limited resources, staffing needs, salary considerations, and professional development. In the past, both Valencia and Los Alamos have had some difficulties getting faculty and staff to commit to and participate in the institutional planning efforts. However, the current administrations appear to be making appropriate efforts to include all campus constituencies in the planning and decision making efforts, despite indications that not all faculty and staff on both campuses would agree. Following up on the introduction of quality management principles to the campus in 1996. Los Alamos is actively pursuing a plan for institutional development. The campus recently won the Pinon Award for Quality Management. Faculty and staff have been included in the annual administrative retreat that has opened up avenues of communication among all groups on the campus.
The strategic plan 1996-99 for UNM-Valencia links the planning process with the budget process its well as with the revised mission, vision, and core values statements. The campus has a Title III planning grant, which may result in a Strengthening Institutions Development Grant to provide resources to deal with some of the issues, raised in planning. Strong community input into the strategic planning processes provides evaluation of programs and services and helps to identify local needs.
UNM-Gallup policies and procedures address integrity issues such as academic dishonesty, affirmative action, and clue process as detailed in handbooks. Grievance procedures are outlined in documents. The Student Services and Student Senate have created a student handbook that outlines student grievance procedures. These procedures appear to be understood by faculty and students. The faculty handbook must conform to the outdated main campus document. There is some feeling that faculty grievance procedures are not clearly understood among Gallup faculty because of the degree of main campus control.
UNM-Valencia conveys a consistent message on its mission and purposes throughout its publications including the campuses' catalogs, schedules, and faculty and staff handbooks. Since web sites are on the Internet for Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos, both campuses should have a process in place to ensure that the information is dated, timely, and accurate.
UNM-Valencia seeks to hear concerns and issues of the faculty, students and staff. Utilization of faculty and staff expertise in the areas of position descriptions is improving, and Valencia was particularly responsive to the expression of staff concerns in developing a well-received program on Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The institution should continue to address staff concerns and communicate the importance of staff contributions to the campus. Selection processes for staff and administrative positions need to be made clear when positions become available, and faculty and staff voices need to be considered in personnel selections. Both campuses are endeavoring to maintain positive and open communication with the main campus and to work collegially to address issues that impede the development of the campuses.
The student body at UNM-Gallup is 72 percent Native American and 10 percent Hispanic and about 50 percent are older than 25 years. While the full time tenure-track faculty tends 1o be predominantly white non-Hispanic. 15 percent of the full time non-tenure-track and 25 percent of the part-time non-tenure-track faculty are Native American, and 5.5 percent of full time non-tenure-track and 8.5 percent of part time non-tenure-track faculty are Hispanic. There is even more diversity among both full-time and part-time staff.
Both UNM-Valencia and UNM-Los Alamos endeavor to seek and foster diversity among students and are sensitive to the need to increase underrepresented voices among faculty and staff in some areas. The campuses serve a diverse population with the significant minority groups being Hispanic and Native American. They appear sensitive to the requirements of non-discrimination and equity of treatment.
The two campuses describe and implement appropriate grievance procedures and comply with other requirements for reporting and disclosure of data. While there was some skepticism among staff on the UNM-Valencia campus about the leadership's receptiveness to complaints, it did appear that the leadership was making efforts to bring about reconciliation and harmonious relationships on the campus. The campuses have a number of partnerships with the main campus, with other' branch campuses, with other educational institutions, with government agencies, and with community agencies. The special relationship that has existed between UNM-Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory has been very helpful to both institutions, although there was some indication that recently LANL has begun to reach out to other agencies in northern New Mexico in areas that were previously reserved for' UNM-Los Alamos. The guidelines for these partnerships were clearly delineated and ethically implemented.
Branch Campus – Accomplishments
Among the commendable characteristics of the branch campuses in general are the following:
Branch Campus Areas Needing Attention
Among the branch campus areas which need increased attention generally are the following:
Advice and Suggestions Offered in regard to Branch Campuses
In its consultative role, the team offers the following advice and suggestions for institutional improvement.
The four branch campuses of UNM are diverse and face individual as well as common problems, and UNM-Gallup and UNM-Valencia have considered seeking approval for separate accreditation or independence. The four campuses serve increasing numbers of students, many of them minority and non-traditional students. The special missions of these campuses are not fully recognized by the goals and priorities of the main campus or its operations. To continue to provide the state of New Mexico with the variety of higher education programs and services needed in the regions served by all campuses, the institution must face the challenge of efficient and effective leadership of, and commitment to, all its campuses, students, programs, faculty, and staff.
* * *
In summary, Criterion Three is met, and the University of New Mexico is accomplishing its purposes as evidenced by an analysis of effectiveness in individual colleges and schools, in research and graduate study, in academic support units, in assessment of student academic achievement, in student services, in intercollegiate athletics, and in branch campuses.
Criterion Four: The University of New Mexico can continue to accomplish its purposes and strengthen its educational effectiveness.
UNM exhibits the willingness and the capacity to continue to realize its goals and objectives. Chief among the indicators is the level of consistent accomplishment found throughout the institution. This accomplishment is documented throughout the report. In addition, planning is conspicuous at UNM and is sufficiently established as to provide an additional safeguard of the institution's continuing ability to accomplish its purposes.
There have been several planning efforts at the University of New Mexico since
the mid 1980s. These interconnected planning efforts began in 1985, when the
president formed the campus Strategic Planning Committee. The report of this
committee was submitted in 1987, and later that year another president established
the University of New Mexico 2000 (UNM2000) Committee to continue campus planning
efforts. UNM2000, the University's strategic plan, was formally
adopted by the UNM Regents in 1990 – the same year a third president
joined UNM. The new president soon announced the creation of the University
Planning Council (January, 1991), a committee charged with implementing and
updating UNM2000. By 1994, the UNM Regents had taken action to
revise, focus, and prioritize the original goals of the 1990 UNM2000
strategic plan. This plan was revised yet again resulting in The UNM
Strategic Plan of 1995. An important innovation in this UNM strategic
plan was the inclusion of specific measures to monitor the progress of the University
toward meeting its
goals. This was an excellent and insightful aspect of the plan. It appears that
this has served the university well with regard to institutional research and
assessment efforts. In addition to main campus planning, each of the branch
campuses has engaged in serious planning, and all are making progress in turning
plans into institutional improvement.
The problems of leadership instability and chronic overestimation of new resources have left the UNM strategic planning processes unrealized in regard to outcomes. One result has been that planning, not unlike a number of other campus dynamics, has become more de-centralized. Currently, planning at UNM typically takes place in more realistic form at the college or academic unit level. Some of these plans are well constructed, but the unrealistic expectation of new resources is often a characteristic. The great danger of decentralized planning is that plans will conflict. More centralized planning is necessary, but it will require stable leadership. Until permanent administrative appointments are made, little can be realistically accomplished in overall strategic planning.
The University Planning Council could play an important role in planning continuity. Led by the provost, this council was originally charged with implementing the university plan and updating the plan as needed. It appears that in recent years this council has actually concentrated much of its efforts on budgetary planning. As the council currently has many talented administrators, faculty, and staff members, it could be doing more with regard to UNM planning.
The University of New Mexico has the talent to devise strategic plans. However, to capitalize on any strategic plan, UNM needs to address two problems. It must stabilize its administration and abandon unrealistic plans based on large amounts of new funding or include realistic plans for securing such funding. Flat budgets in the library, declining faculty salaries in comparison to peers, and growing deferred maintenance problems are just a few of the sobering realities that support this view.
All campus constituencies express a desire to be consulted in planning processes. It may be the case that requesting consultation is a way of requesting legitimatization of unit aspirations that have gone unrecognized or have not been funded. In any event, planning which involves hard decisions should have the broadest possible representation from constituencies and function areas. Branch campuses must be included, and their individual planning efforts must be coordinated with that of the main campus and must be supported.
The most effective forms of strategic planning show evidence of the plan in budgeting, academic program review, academic program development, and faculty development. In future planning efforts at UNM, considerable thought ought to be given to this type of coordinated implementation. Given what appears to be limited state support, UNM will have to make hard decisions about its future role as a flagship campus. The NCA evaluation team perceived a vibrant and exciting university at UNM, but also an institution stretching itself far beyond its resources.
Despite the challenges to its larger planning processes, individual unit plans and accomplishments show much accomplishment, and UNM continues to move ahead and to strengthen its educational effectiveness. During the last ten years recognition has come from external sources to many efforts, validating the amount of progress made in securing external support; recognition of faculty, students, and programs; library standing improvement, and many other areas of activity. The current resource base is sound, if insufficient for aspirations. Decision-making processes work, if not always to everyone's satisfaction.
* * *
In summary, the University of New Mexico can continue to accomplish its purposes and strengthen its educational effectiveness.
Criterion Five: The University of New Mexico demonstrates integrity in its practices and relationships.
Evidence affirms that the University of New Mexico demonstrates integrity in its practices and relationships. Much of it has been described in earlier sections of the report, especially the section on the branch campuses. Student handbooks for the campuses are clear and useful. Faculty policy statements exist, although improvements are needed in the development of policies to cover areas not presently addressed and in the timeliness of policy revision. Examples have been presented in earlier sections of this report which attest to the integrity of UNM. Additional examples illustrative of key areas are provided below.
The university has policies and practices that help assure equity of treatment, non-discrimination, affirmative action, lessening and resolution of sexual and general harassment. and positive work environments. Procedures for handling grievances and assurance of fair search and screening processes and salary compensation exist. The campus Office of Economic Opportunity is a well-established campus unit with a size sufficient to carry out its responsibilities. There are ten staff members including a data base manager and three investigators to handle issues of discrimination. The data base manager has effectively developed measures of availability and under-utilization. The office reports that it is an effective voice in faculty and staff appointment procedures. The campus is in compliance with federal civil and equal opportunity laws although distribution of minority employees is unequal among units. A recent accomplishment is the institution of benefits for same-sex partners of UNM employees.
Some perceive that the university has begun to regress in its progress toward achieving a greater distribution of women employees at higher levels in the university. Many leave due to low salaries (the perception is that the salaries of women are lower than men's) and the campus' limited resources make it difficult to recruit at the senior level. An examination of data provided by the institution confirms that numbers of women employed in higher-level positions have remained at comparable levels or declined slightly for a number of years. An example is the decline from 25 percent to 18 percent at the deans' level between 1994 and 1998.
Partly for this reason there is also a feeling that the diversity in the student body is not reflected in upper levels of the university. Disproportionately small numbers of women and/or individuals of various ethnic backgrounds serve in higher-level administrative positions. This deficiency deprives the student population and lower level employees of role models.
The Women's Studies Program has lost all faculty lines following internal disagreements that led to the departure of some faculty. The program has been unable to retrieve lines, and as a consequence the offering of regularly scheduled courses can be a challenge. The program is largely staffed by offering small "bonuses" to faculty to teach overloads and to participate in consultative roles such as service on the unit's advisory committee. Although the program went through very divisive times, it is now trying to reestablish itself.
There is some feeling that there are populations such as the athletes and fraternity communities that are not treated with the same severity for alleged infractions as other populations. There has been an increase in rape, stalking, and abuse but no increase in support staff to deal with these issues and a lack of educational programming on campus to address them. Examples of suicides and potential homicides were also cited. In addition to inadequate staff, there is the feeling that it has become difficult to make contact with higher level administrative personnel to solve these problems.
Despite these views, the majority of the evidence strongly suggests serious commit-ment by UNM to appropriate and professional practices and relationships and to the success of its demonstration of integrity. Its practice conforms to policy statements. Its documents and public statements are in order. It honors commitments. Diversity is sought actively and is increasingly reflected in students, programming, faculty, and staff. Branch campuses and special programs for non-traditional students continue to increase access to the citizens of New
Mexico and to traditionally underserved populations including Native Americans and Hispanics. Process and procedures monitor the institution's achievement of equity for its employees.
* * *
In summary, in regard to Criterion Five, the University of New Mexico demonstrates integrity ill its practices and relationships as evidenced by publications quality and accuracy, policies and procedures to insure due process, monitoring practices, and cooperative ventures. Similarly, the institution has appropriate affirmative action search policies and practices and provides consistent treatment of student athletes and support for minority students and students with disability.
D. Institutional Compliance with the Higher Education Reauthorization Act
Program credits, program length, and tuition are clearly advertised in several publications and compare with requirements at similar institutions. Most undergraduate programs require a minimum of 128 credit hours, where a credit hour is the equivalent of 50 minutes per week for sixteen weeks. Program length is established through a faculty-driven curriculum process. UNM tuition and fees are lower than the national average. The UNM catalog clearly details general tuition costs and mandatory fees. Special course fees are listed in the Schedule of Classes. Higher tuition charged for certain graduate and professional programs is commensurate with higher costs of instruction in such programs.
In relation to Financial Aid, UNM reports to the Department of Education a loan default rate of 5.9 percent for the Perkins Loan Program. There is no indication of any discrimination in the awarding of loan or grant monies; over 93 percent of UNM freshmen receive
Comments to: accredit@unm.edu
Last Revised: 11/10/99