President Louis Caldera announced today that the University of New Mexico will hold a "Budget Summit" on Thursday, April 1, 2004, in preparation for submitting its budget recommendations to the Board of Regents at their April meeting.
The Summit will involve students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other key university constituencies in an exploration of "UNM's key budget issues and challenges," according to the president's formal charge to these groups.
The University of New Mexico is facing numerous budget pressures due to growing enrollments and impacts from recent changes to the state's higher education funding formula. "Budgets are only superficially about numbers; at their core they are an expression of values, of what people and institutions care about most," said Caldera. "We must address the resource challenges that constrain our ability to achieve the excellence to which we aspire as a university."
All members of the UNM campus community will have the opportunity to participate in the Budget Summit process via a website link on the university's home page at www.unm.edu. The site will initially contain President Caldera's charge and a timeline of events leading up to the summit. White papers on university budget issues, budget spreadsheets, and other materials to be considered by the participants at the summit will be added as they are drafted, including those submitted by university constituent groups.
"We want a wide open process," said Caldera, "so that all members of the university community can take responsibility for understanding the fiscal challenges the university fDavid Brookshire, and for helping address them."
The Budget Summit will be a public meeting, the exact time and place to be announced. Subsequent to the summit, the UNM Planning Council and Executive Cabinet will make budget recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Regents at their April 13th meeting will determine the broad contours of the university's 2004-2005 budget, including determining the overall budget amount, compensation levels, and tuition and fees.
Contact: Susan McKinsey (505) 277-1989
Posted by kwentworth at February 24, 2004 01:41 PM