DAILY LOBO new mexico
Soaring swine
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October 19, 2011
The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
South campus employees “lived in fear” by Luke Holmen holmen@unm.edu
Workers question mass transfers South campus staff members are beginning to speak out about what they call mistreatment of employees by a former UNM vice president on a massive scale.
“I haven’t heard of any sweeping policy changes being handed out from his office, good, bad or indifferent.” ~Luke Shipers enrollment coordinator “We lived in a state of constant fear and paranoia,” said Luke Shipers, coordinator for enrollment at the south campus Office of Records and Registration. “A good friend of mine likened it
to Nazi Germany, complete with secret police,” he said. “That may sound like an extreme comparison, but it was surprisingly accurate.” In 2009, the administration, under the leadership of Carmen Alvarez Brown, vice president for Enrollment Management, created the student service center One-Stop in Mesa Vista Hall. She then transferred most of the staff from Admissions and Recruitment Services, the Communication Center, financial aid and scholarships and the registrar’s office to south campus. The few staff members she kept on main campus were all put into the One-Stop center. Terry Babbitt, associate vice president of general admissions, who replaced Brown in August after she left UNM to work at Cleveland State University, said her goal was to streamline operations to provide more effective service to students. “The Student Support and Services Center is a wonderful facility that provides a state-ofthe-art reception area for visiting prospective students and families with convenient parking,” he said. “We often receive comments on how favorable it compares to our competitors,”
Division of Enrollment Management Compared to UNM Average
Summary of fiscal years 2008 to 2011 Enrollment mgmt. Avg.
UNM Avg.
#
%
#
%
External Separations
22
19.4%
757
14.5%
Promotions
13
11.5%
265
5.1%
Temporary or Regular Faculty
5
3.9%
104
2.1%
Enrollment Management had higher separation rates than the University as a whole from 2008-2011, but had nearly twice the university average in number of promotions and temporary to regular hires, according to UNM Human Resources metric reports. Shipers said that although leadership has changed, Brown’s restrictive policies remain in place. “I think we’re all still so relieved that she’s gone that we haven’t figured out where we stand with the new boss yet,” he said. “I haven’t heard of any sweeping policy changes being handed out from his office, good, bad or indifferent.” Staff members said the move to south campus resulted in terrible morale. Several employees quit, he said. “I remember that the first time I heard about a walk-in ‘One-Stop Shop,’ it was in the context of a satellite office down at south campus,” he said. “A little three-man outpost, with one person from each department
out there to help athletes get things taken care of without the need to trek all the way back to campus. (When) I heard that the entire division was moving down there, my jaw nearly hit the floor.” Sarah May Marinelli, who left the Enrollment Management Division for a job with the political science department, said the move did not improve service. “One of the goals stated was ‘Speedier, more efficient, businesslike merging of back-office processing operations to speed up (service),” she said. “I believe (the move) not only undermined this goal, but it has created an environment where a large group of knowledgeable, hardworking employees are isolated from
the UNM community, placing many of the benefits of being located on main campus out of their reach.” She said employees rarely see main campus anymore. But Babbitt said this improves efficiency. “Most employees at the OneStop location on Main Campus are placed there permanently because of their emphasis and skills related to customer service to the student,” he said. “Processing of documents is also a valued skill that greatly impacts the timelines of students receiving financial aid or transcripts, for example, and all of that work is done at the Student Support and Services Center.”
month, the highest level since May 2010. But any reading below 50 reflects overall pessimism. Building company stocks jumped on the news. D.R. Horton Inc. and PulteGroup, Inc. soared 11 percent. Lennar Corp. jumped 9 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16, or 1.4 percent, to 1,217. The Nasdaq composite rose 23, or 0.8 percent, to 2,638. Markets wavered in early morning trading after some disappointing corporate earnings reports and concerns that France and Germany may not reach an agreement on additional support for Greece.
The ratings agency Moody’s also said late Monday that the stable outlook for France’s topnotch credit rating is under pressure. On Tuesday, the country’s finance minister said that the economy will likely grow a rate of less than 1.5 percent next year. France is Europe’s second-largest economy. Investors were troubled by reports that France and Germany remain divided on a plan to provide more support for Greece. An agreement between the two countries is seen as the bedrock for a rescue package that can pass all 17 countries that share the euro. The Greek government is wide-
ly expected to go through some kind of default or restructuring of its debt. If that process becomes disorderly, European banks could suffer big losses on Greek government bonds and that could spread overseas, jolting global credit markets. Tuesday brought full day of corporate earnings reports in the United States. UnitedHealth Group Inc. fell 5 percent after its third-quarter profits dipped. The country’s largest health insurer by sales said medical costs climbed and more patients visited their doctors’
see Employees PAGE 3
Quarterly reports give stock market a boost by David K. Randall and Matthew Craft The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Banks and homebuilders pulled the stock market higher Tuesday, overriding early jitters about a potential stalemate in efforts to stem the European debt crisis. Bank of America Corp. rose 8 percent in afternoon trading after it beat earnings expectations for the third quarter thanks to accounting gains and the sale of a stake in a Chinese bank. Goldman Sachs rose 4 percent, even after reporting just its second quarterly loss since going public in 1999.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 125 points, or 1 percent, to 11,521 at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. International Business Machines (IBM) tugged on the Dow average, falling 4 percent, the most of any Dow stock by far. IBM reported quarterly revenues that fell short of Wall Street estimates. There was also better news from the housing market, which has rattled banks since the real estate collapse. A survey of U.S. homebuilders showed they are less pessimistic about the struggling market. The National Association of Home Builders said its index of builder sentiment rose from 14 to 18 this
by Stephanie Hoover
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo Sarah Womack, 24 (left), a nurse in the neonatal ICU at UNMH, stands with Courtney Bryan, 24, a tech in the ER. Both believe that the new uniform regulations will stifle nurses’ expression of individuality.
Daily Lobo volume 116
issue 41
Street PAGE 3
New uniforms perturb some nurses stephchoover@gmail.com
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Nurses at UNM Hospital will soon be required to wear all-black uniforms to allow for quick identification of hospital staff, but some nurses say the color conjures associations of death and despair. Hospital department heads decided uniforms should be color-coded across the hospital so patients can easily differentiate between professions. Sheena Ferguson, the administrative chief nursing officer, said staff can currently wear whatever color uniforms they prefer, which may cause confusion for patients. She said staff had the chance to vote on five color choices, and nurses chose black. “The overwhelming choice, by two-toone margin, even combining the other options, was black.” Ferguson said. “It seemed to be a professional color, it was formallooking and they needed a color that was suitable for both men and women. There were limited color choices so they could
provide a variety of sizes and styles.” But some nurses said they aren’t happy with the change. Sarah Womack, a pediatric nurse, said she understands the push for uniformity, but said she doesn’t want to wear black.
“We’re not trying to impede people’s styles, we’re just trying to make everyone identifiable” ~Katherine Otero nurse supervisor “I think from the management point of view I can understand why they’re doing it,” she said, “But if nurses were more proactive about introducing themselves, it (would be) a better environment, especially for the
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pediatric units, to have colorful tops and let nurses express themselves. I think black is a depressing color choice for a hospital.” Nurses in UNMH’s emergency department switched to all-black uniforms about a year ago, but said they were not allowed to talk to the media. The switch for other UNMH nurses was planned for Nov. 15, but it has been postponed due to complications finalizing a purchasing contract, hospital officials said. They said once the contract is finalized, they will make the switch. Three sets of uniforms, totaling $125, will be provided to each employee to aid with the switch. Nurse Supervisor Katherine Otero said she thinks the switch is a good idea because it will allow for a more professionallooking and easily identifiable staff. “We’re not trying to impede people’s styles, we’re just trying to make everyone identifiable,” she said. “Overall, I think it’s going to be more satisfying for patients once they get into it.”
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