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February 16, 2012

The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895

Student Fee Review Board ends deliberations by Luke Holmen

news@dailylobo.com After nearly 13 hours of deliberations and more than 25 hours of hearings, the Student Fee Review Board decided how to allocate an estimated $11.8 million. The board raised student fees for fiscal year 2013 to $503.20, a $16.71 increase from this year’s fee of $486.49, despite aims to keep student fees low. Following the Wednesday morning deliberations, the fee allocations were given to the President’s Strategic Budget Leadership Team, a team of advisers assembled by the president’s office to evaluate the SFRB’s recommendations. The recommendations can be reviewed and altered by either the SBLT or the SFRB until March 1. The SBLT has final say on fee allocation, but is likely to accept the recommendations.

Athletics Board Chair and GPSA President Katie Richardson said funding an athletics program, specifically a failing football team, should take a backseat to academic concerns. “I question whether we want to have a competitive football program; what if we take the football program down to Division II? Is it that important to the community and the University?” she said. “We have a wonderful basketball team and many other sports, but when I mention Athletics, people think of football and people laugh about it.” UNM Athletics requested $3.5 million in student fees this year from the Student Fee Review Board, up from about $1.9 million it received in fiscal year 2012, but it will only receive $81.75 of the $149.73 it requested. Advisor to the board and Associate Vice President of Planning, Budget and Analysis Andrew Cullen said Athletics could face a more than $1 million deficit next year. During the SFRB hearings, Tim Cass, senior associate director of Athletics, said the large increase in funding from students could propel the University into the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), a group of six big-name conferences that generate funds for Athletics, primarily through television deals. Following discussion about the buy-out of former UNM head football coach Mike Locksley’s contract, Richardson said Athletics needs to clean up its act before it can receive more funding. “We don’t have the dean of the libraries punching people,” she said. “Interpersonal violence in headline after headline is coming in about our athletes and coaches … and that needs to (change).” Board member and ASUNM Attorney General Gregory MontoyaMora said students need a voice in future decisions on coaching selections. “I think if we are funding them, we should have a say on the board,” he said. “We should be able to have

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a say if we don’t want to hire a particular coach.” Montoya-Mora, whose recommendation for funding Athletics was the lowest of the board at $51.75, said he pulled money from the program to fund organizations that better serve students. Board member and ASUNM Student Court Chief Justice Dylan Hoffman, who recommended funding Athletics at a board high of $85.75, said Athletics is vital to recruitment and retention. “I know when a lot of kids in high school are thinking about going to college, they consider that we have Division I athletics,” he said. “They were surprised that we give free tickets to all student athletic events, and I think that is one of the better things we do with student fees, something not all universities do.” Board member and GPSA Chief of Staff Japji Hundal said a greater variety of athletics programs need to be supported by the administration. “When we look at Athletics, we only ever look at the football team,” he said. “What I want to look at is the other programs. There are other sports, soccer, skiing tennis, cross country, track. All those programs are very important to the recruitment, graduation and retaining of students.” Hundal said sports teach students life skills academics can’t. “The entire amount they are asking for, I don’t think we are in a position to give, but there is some money that they deserve,” he said. “Sports teaches you how to fail and succeed and it teaches you a lot about life. It builds not only champions, but leaders. I am in a dilemma. You can’t tell a researcher their research is not important, and you can’t tell an athlete what they are doing is not important. I don’t want to evaluate this program as just a profit and loss statement.” Board member and ASUNM Chief of Staff Cassie Thompson said Athletics draws much needed donations to the University. “Whenever alumni donate money, generally it’s because of Athletics,” she said. “It’s the experience they get when they come back to the University and I think that funding helps supports other things. Often they donate to Athletics and simultaneously donate to other academic organizations.”

Information Technologies Information Technologies requested $3 million in student fees for fiscal year 2013, a nearly 1,300 percent increase from this year, but the organization will only receive $16.39 of the $128.84 per student it requested. Deputy Chief Information Officer for IT Moira Gerety, who was present at the deliberations, said

Student fee breakdown Requesting Entity

Amount Received in Fiscal Year 2012

Fiscal Year 2013 Request

SFRB recommendation for Fiscal Year 2013

One-time funding allocations

amounts shown in $ per student

Student Government Accounting Office

$7.50

Music Bands

$3.20

$3.16

KUNM

$2.97

$2.94

Career Services

$1.30

$1.29

Student Health & Counseling

$191.83

Student Union Building

$75.73

UNM Children’s Campus

$15.00

African American Student Services

$3.15

$3.11

American Indian Student Services

$3.24

$3.32

Center for Academic Program Support Project For New Mexico Graduates of Color

$8.63

$9.63

$1.49

$2.76

$1.49

COSAP

$0.82

$0.84

Research Service-Learning Program

$1.50

$1.49

Information Technologies

$10.00

$128.34

$16.39

University Libraries

$29.24

$49.36

$33.45

LGBTQ Resource Center

$4.06

$5.70

$3.82

Theatre & Dance

$1.02

$1.57

$1.22

Women’s Resource Center

$2.10

$2.43

$3.07

Popejoy Hall

$4.04

$6.42

$4.93

El Centro de La Raza

$4.46

$6.42

$6.00

CLPS

$1.50

$5.52

$1.03

OIPS

$1.10

$1.71

$1.51

NMPIRG

$2.26

$4.84

$0.50

Recreational Services

$29.42

$34.70

$33.69

Athletics

$81.75

$149.73

$81.75

Language Learning Center

$5,000.00

PATS

$50,000.00

Total per student

$486.49

$715.32

$503.20

$60,000.00

Total for all students

$11,245,702.84

budget cuts in recent years have spread technological resources so thin that students and faculty may not have access to important research databases, equipment and computers. IT took a cut of more than $2 million last year from the administration, a cut Gerety said is not sustainable. Vice Chair and ASUNM President Jaymie Roybal said while funding IT the full amount would serve students, it is not financially feasible. “IT has a lot of great ideas that would serve students, but these ideas add up to $3 million and I’m not comfortable with such a large increase in one year.” But board member and GPSA Chief of Staff Japji Hundal said IT is vital to the success of students who need access to electronic databases and modern technology to complete their research. “It is the backbone of academics and we need to support it to move forward,” he said. Among improvements including increased on-campus wireless, power outlets and updated computers, Gerety said her top priorities

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$16,720,605.00

$11,762,300.00

if given funding would be to expand printing for students on campus. “This year we set up the remote printing so students can print from their laptops, and next year we would like to add four additional print locations and expand the (remote printing) program,” she said. Gerety said IT also requested roughly $400,000 in funding from SFRB to purchase additional software for student use. “Right now, we preload the labs with software and only certain computers have certain software, but if I can only afford to buy 100 licenses, instead of sitting down at the computer that has that software, we can stream them from (IT servers) to any computer, including a student’s home computer.” IT provided MatLab free to students this year, and Gerety said, if given the funding, IT could stream programs including Adobe and Microsoft applications, as well as specialized statistics programs. Gerety said student fees pay part of the $10 a year printing allowance, which is good for 280 single-side black-and-white copies anywhere on campus.

$60,000.00

“We set that quota based on an analysis of what students spent over the last three years,” she said. “I think it’s a pretty good estimate, we like to say printing is free for 80 percent of students.” Board Chair and GPSA President Katie Richardson said IT will have to get its funding elsewhere. “While I agree that IT is essential to student success, this is something that the administration needs to pay for,” she said. “I can’t help feeling like students are being asked … unreasonably to pick up the $2 million deficit.”

NMPIRG and Popejoy Hall One of the most contentious funding requests the board addressed was the request of New Mexico Public Interest Research Group (NMPIRG), an organization that lobbies the state and national legislatures on issues ranging from health care to textbook costs on behalf of students. The board voted to fund NM-

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