DAILY LOBO new mexico
Debt in Debate
summer
see page 4
June 20-26, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
Shortage may up standards by Christine Romero
chonpipe99@hotmail.com The state’s Higher Education Department is pushing to impose stricter requirements on the Lottery Scholarship to increase student accountability. Only 14 percent of New Mexico students maintain the Lottery Success Scholarship for four years, and the Higher Education Department Director of Financial Aid, Karen Kennedy, said more stringent requirements could change that statistic. “We want to make sure access isn’t restricted for any student, but we also want to make sure New Mexico sees successful outcomes,” she said. Proposed changes include requiring university students to take 15 credit hours per semester instead of 12 and maintain a higher GPA. College preparatory course work and class ranking in high school will also become more important in deciding who is awarded the scholarship. The Higher Education Department is also considering a “means” test based on income requirements. The recommendations will be introduced before the 2012 Legislative Session, and, if passed, will take effect either July 1, 2013 or 2014. According to the 2010 report to the Legislative Finance
Committee, 50 percent of New Mexico high school graduates require remedial courses, and between 25 percent and 35 percent of graduates lose their Lottery Scholarship after their first semester of college.
“If people want to talk about making the Lottery Scholarship stricter, then I will push it to be a need-based scholarship.” ~Michael Sanchez NM Senator (D-Valencia) New Mexico Senator Michael Sanchez (D-Valencia) proposed the idea of a Lottery Scholarship in 1996, and said he opposes the Higher Education Department’s proposition to place more stringent requirements on the Lottery. “(We) absolutely will not, will never, (increase requirements)” he said. “They’ve tried in the past and we’ve been able to say no, that’s never going to work. The scholarship is for people who would otherwise not be
able to go to school. Just because you aren’t the greatest student in high school doesn’t mean you can’t make it in college, and I’m a prime example of that.” Sanchez said he thinks the statistics in the Legislative Finance Committee report are inaccurate. “I think the figures are wrong because they didn’t take into account that some people who lose the lottery scholarship don’t drop out, they continue with school,” Sanchez said. “They just have to pay for it themselves. There are benefits to having the Lottery Scholarship for any amount of time.” Kennedy said lottery revenues are flat despite steady tuition increases, and Lottery Scholarship funds could be depleted as soon as 2014. Whether legislators are in favor of it, adjustments are needed to ensure the program remains solvent, she said. Sanchez said the State Legislature isn’t looking at other ways to fund the scholarship. “We have to look for other revenue sources,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. Or, if people want to talk about making the Lottery Scholarship stricter, more requirements on it, then I will push it to be a need-based scholarship. I guarantee that’s what I’ll do if they try putting more requirements on it.”
SUMMER OASIS
Dylan Smith / Daily Lobo Blakey Ross IV plays at the Rio Grande Pool on June 17th. Temperatures rose into the mid 90s last week sending droves of over-heated New Mexicans to public pools.
Less unsatisfied than before by Chelsea Erven
news@dailylobo.com A recent survey of UNM faculty and staff showed a slight increase in satisfaction with University administration, but there’s still room for improvement. The number of faculty and staff “dissatisfied” with University governance dropped by almost 6 percent, and UNM President David Schmidly said the change is a step in the right direction. “I am pleased that the survey shows incremental progress has been made, even though there is still a long way to go,” he said in a June 6 email. “The recent budget process created a lot of positive momentum, and I am committed to seeing that forward progress continues.” Still, the majority of faculty and staff remain displeased. Sixty percent of faculty and 48 percent of staff responded either “somewhat dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” when asked to rate their overall satisfaction with their role in shared governance. An unnamed faculty member wrote in the survey, “My perception is that ‘shared governance’ is an empty phrase at UNM. Faculty continue to have little substantive input on important concerns regarding academic programs, the proper functions of a research university and budgetary matters. Lip service is given to the idea by the
Inside the
Construction
Daily Lobo volume 115
issue 157
See page 2
Caught with pants down See page 9
Central Administration, but faculty views are rarely considered seriously or implemented.” Many faculty comments referenced dissatisfaction with the Board of Regents. One comment read, “Removal of the regent system would be a good first step.”
“There’s still too much of a disconnect between senior administration and staff, and by that I mean I’m not sure your average staff person knows who is in charge...” ~Mary Clark, Staff Council President According to the survey, just 7 percent of faculty members agree that an atmosphere of trust exists between the faculty and Central Administration. Faculty Senate President-elect Tim Ross said he took the survey and thought the results accurately reflected a small improvement. “Any time there’s an improvement, whether it’s small or large,
it’s positive,” he said. Staff Council President Mary Clark said any improvements were a result of efforts by the Staff Council, not UNM’s administration. “I think it’s entirely to do with Staff Council’s communication with staff because communication from Scholes Hall didn’t change,” she said. “It’s also been a very difficult year because President Schmidly’s illness took him away from campus, so any opportunity for increased communication from Scholes Hall was hindered.” An unnamed staff member wrote in the survey, “With the events of the past few years, it seems that staff members are the first to be sacrificed. We are not getting raises, but we are taking on additional duties.” Clark said staff members have serious concerns about changes to their retirement and benefit plans, and most don’t even know who University administration is. “There’s still too much of a disconnect between senior administration and staff, and by that I mean I’m not sure your average staff person knows who is in charge of the University and what the regents do,” she said. The survey was conducted by the Higher Learning Commission as a follow-up to a survey conducted in 2010 in the wake of 2009’s “no confidence” votes. More than 2,000 faculty and staff members participated in the online survey.
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