Board
of Regents sets priorities for legislative session
Full funding
of the Instruction and General workload (I & G) budget,
a five percent compensation increase and no tuition credit increase
are UNM's priorities for the 2004 session of the New Mexico
State Legislature.
The priorities
are set by the UNM Board of Regents and align with those set
by the Council of University Presidents, but they differ significantly
from priorities set by the Commission on Higher Education.
The CHE
will recommend a three percent compensation increase, and a
four percent tuition credit increase, among other recommendations.
A tuition credit assumes that tuition will have to be increased
to cover the budget. This is where UNM President Louis Caldera
takes issue with the legislative method of funding the universitys
general budget.
Caldera
said he will make it a priority to try to convince lawmakers
not to take credit for a tuition increase in the budget.
Caldera
contends that university administrators and regents need maneuvering
room provided by a zero percent tuition credit in order to set
internal priorities for the university, and that they need some
flexibility in setting tuition increases. Under the current
system, the legislature essentially requires regents to increase
tuition simply to cover the I &G budget.
The question
of whether state taxpayers in general or whether students in
particular should bear a greater part of the cost of running
the university is a contentious one. Currently state taxpayers
fund only about 18 percent of the overall UNM budget. Students,
research grants, federal funds, donors and endowments all contribute
to make up the difference.
UNM's other
top I&G workload priorities are for the Health Sciences
Center.
This includes
the Compliance Program to enable the HSC to comply with federal
and state regulations for health care; library resource enhancement
and maintenance funds, which will support the acquisition of
print and Internet resources for health professionals; and funds
for the information technology infrastructure.
In addition,
the Health Sciences Center is looking for base adjustments for
Carrie Tingley Hospital and the Out-of-County Indigent Fund.
UNM will
also be seeking capital project money from the state legislature.
CHE recommendations are that UNM receive money for public television
digital equipment upgrades for Phase 2, $9 million for the Centennial
Engineering Center, and $4.5 million for biology building renovations.
Capital
project money typically comes from severance tax or general
obligation bonds rather than from the state general fund.