DAILY LOBO new mexico
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wednesday November 28, 2012
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
‘It’s just not going to be sustainable’ Students, speakers discuss future of Lottery Scholarship by Svetlana Ozden news@dailylobo.com
The New Mexico Legislative Lottery Success Scholarship is expected to run out by Fiscal Year 2014, and members of the University said changes should be made to the program to ensure scholarship funding remains available. At a scholarship town hall on Tuesday, more than 40 University community members sat in on an information session about the Lottery Scholarship. After the session, audience members were able to provide input as to what changes should be made to ensure the scholarship remains available. Members of the audience addressed New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Deputy Director Charles Sallee, New Mexico Higher Education Department Cabinet Secretary Jose Garcia, state Rep. Rick Miera (D-Bernalillo) and state Sen. Michael Sanchez (D-Valencia), who were panelists at the meeting. After the end of the town hall, audience members were able to participate in an online survey to share their recommendations for how the scholarship program should change. Sallee said about 50 percent of New Mexico high school graduates went on to higher education in 1992, before the scholarship was created in 1996. The state ranked 37th in the nation in terms of the number of high school graduates who went to
Aaron Sweet / Daily Lobo ASUNM Executive Director of Governmental Affairs Cindy Nava asks panelists if it’s possible to change the New Mexico Legislative Success Scholarship’s minimum requirement of 12 credit hours per semester. She asked if it’s also possible to change eligibility requirements depending on the type of institution a scholarship recipient attends, such as a community college or four-year institution. At a Lottery Scholarship town hall on Tuesday, panelists and audience members discussed the solvency of the Lottery Success Scholarship, the funds for which could be in the red by Fiscal Year 2015. college. He said that by 2006, about 70 percent of New Mexico high school graduates went to college, the sixth highest such
rate in the nation. “That’s a tremendous success story that we should all be proud of in terms of getting more students
that are graduating from our high schools to go on to college,” he said. “The challenge now is how to get more students to complete
college and to complete on time and the Lottery Scholarship can play a role in that.” Salle said expenses for the Lottery Scholarship have increased by about 48 percent, or $18.7 million, in the past five years. Of that $18.7 million, $15 million was allocated to research institutions in New Mexico, including UNM. The rest went to other New Mexico institutions. “That’s pretty much in line with the projections we’ve been making for a number of years,” he said. “What happens when the fund balance is depleted?” Sallee said that if no changes are made the program, current state regulations for the scholarship could implement across-the-board reductions in the proportion of tuition costs funded by the scholarship for FY 2014. He said that in FY 2015, the fund balance could be in the negative, so there would be further reductions. “If you are increasing spending on this program of over 50 percent in a short of amount of time, it’s hard to see how revenue could ever keep up with this program’s expenses,” he said. “So we need to look at how to ratchet down, frankly, some of the expenses. We need to do so quickly.” Sallee said the Legislative Finance Committee recommended this year that the Department of Higher Education analyze how different options to reduce scholarship expenses would affect the
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Only SUB-provided food allowed in SUB meeting rooms by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
Student organizations that host events in the SUB cannot bring in their own food. According to the SUB’s Room Reservation Policy for chartered on-campus organizations, only Chartwells Catering and Campus Dining Services can provide food for events held in the building’s meeting rooms. Organizations can select from a menu prepared by the SUB, with prices that range from about $8 to $21 per person. Associate Vice President for Student Life Walter Miller said other companies can’t provide food services in the SUB because Chartwells is the only company licensed by the state for food operations in the SUB. He said Chartwells is also liable for any food-related accidents that occur in the SUB. Miller said the policy only applies in the SUB because the University’s contract with Chartwells authorizes only the company to provide food for social events in the meeting
Inside the
rooms in the building. He said the contract does not apply to academic halls or to classrooms on campus because catering is not used in other buildings. Miller said the policy makes it safer for students who eat food in the SUB because the food is certified to meet state health standards. “The main reason … is that the current food provider is licensed to do it,” he said. “They are certified by the Department of Health in the state. If anything goes wrong, the state department will have to go after that organization.” Miller said that because the SUB aims to uphold its health standards, there is no possibility that the building will allow student organizations to bring their own food to events in the future. “It’s protection to the students as well as the whole student community,” he said. “Health comes before policy. We are a licensed facility and we maintain health standards, and so we’re going to protect that.”
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“It’s protection to the students as well as the whole student community.” ~Walter Miller associate vice president for student life Miller said organizations that disobey the policy for the first time receive verbal warnings. But he said that if an organization repeatedly disregards the policy, it will be barred from renting rooms in the SUB. Miller said the catering menu is priced fairly, providing students with price-sensitive options and a
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Miller said the SUB rarely encounters problems with student groups not following the policy and that problems usually occur in the beginning of the semester because students are not used to the policy.
simple menu. He said fundraisers hosted in the SUB, such as bake sales, are exceptions to the policy because the SUB wants to help organizations raise money without asking them to pay more. The SUB is still accountable for any trouble that may be caused by food sold at fundraisers. He said the SUB only allows baked goods to be sold at fundraisers because baked goods are cooked in advance and don’t need special care, such as refrigeration or heating. He said they have not encountered foodrelated problems with studentorganized fundraisers in the past. But Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) Council Chair Kris Miranda said that because the policy prohibits organizations from bringing their own food, the policy makes it hard to organize events in the SUB. Miranda said GPSA hosts most of its meetings in the morning, which would require the organization to purchase a breakfast catering option from
Chartwells. He said this option is too expensive. “I would like to do more GPSA Council meetings in the SUB because it’s more convenient,” he said. “But I can’t do many of that because our budget is pretty tight.” Miranda said that although the policy sometimes benefits students, the policy puts newer student organizations with small budgets at a disadvantage. “I understand the reasoning,” he said. “But I think starting organizations are hit. Student organizations use the SUB because it is free and they don’t have huge budgets.” Miranda said that although the SUB should not eliminate the catering menu, allowing students to choose to bring their own food or buy from the SUB would give organizations more flexibility. “The convenient thing for us is just not to have those restrictions,” he said. “I like having the option, but those sorts of things would cost a lot less
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