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Thursday, O c tober 18, 2018 | Vo l u m e 1 2 3 | I s s u e 1 9
NMAG seizes Paul Krebs’ bank records By Cameron Goeldner @goeldfinger
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office has seized the credit card records of former UNM Athletic Director Paul Krebs in search of evidence of money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. The news was first reported by Jessica Dyer of the Albuquerque Journal. This is part of an ongoing investigation into finances at UNM that was started by Attorney General Hector Balderas last year. The search warrant, a copy of which has been obtained by the Daily Lobo, was served in an attempt to confirm that a $25,000 dollar payment that was made to the UNM Foundation in May was made by Krebs himself and not an anonymous donor, as Krebs announced at the time of the donation. The donation came following public backlash after it was revealed that the Athletic Department had used the same amount to cover the expenses of private donors on a 2015 Scotland golf trip. Vice President for Development Larry Ryan and Foundation General Counsel Pat Allen previously refused to identify the donor, but after a search warrant of Foundation offices was conducted, an employee identified as Annette Hazen confirmed
By Danielle Prokop @ProkopDani
Courtesy Photo
Photo courtesy of golobos.com
that she remembered the donation and named the donor as Paul Krebs. Hazen is listed on the foundation website as the Associate Vice President of Development and Campaign Services. She also said that she completed a donation acknowledgment letter for Krebs for tax purposes. The report also states that Krebs signed the contract with Anthony Travel for the golf trip on behalf of the University of New Mexico, despite only being authorized to sign agreements for game contracts and the rental athletic facilities. The
University paid for 24 packages for the trip but was unable to fill them all. In addition, all of the payments to Anthony Travel were made with a UNM purchasing card, which has a set limit of $10,000 dollars. “Rita Chavez, administrative assistant to Paul Krebs, and Paul Krebs were both aware of the purchasing card restrictions and appear to have structured the payments to Anthony Travel in a manner that suggests they were trying to avoid needing higher approval from the University.” The warrant, which was filed
on Sept. 24, was returned by Chase Bank on Oct. 16. In order to avoid requiring approval from higher-ups, the trip was listed as out-of-state travel instead of foreign, which would have required approval from Krebs’ boss. The $25,000 donated to the Foundation by Krebs was transferred from the Foundation to the Athletic Department and placed in a contingency fund he controlled. Balderas released the following statement through his office:
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Krebs page 2
Falling enrollment dominates BOR discussion By Kyle Land
@kyleoftheland The University of New Mexico’s lowering enrollment and the impact it will have dominated discussion during the Board of Regents meeting on Tuesday. Whether the conversation focused on faculty retention or withering revenue, the University’s dip in student population — especially among incoming freshman — seemed to be on the minds of every speaker. The most startling moments of the nearly three-hour-long meeting came during Interim Provost Richard Wood’s presentation before the regents. He outlined what the losses of the enrollment drop would be, and the possible ramifications that could come from it. According to the Official Enrollment Reporter for UNM, enrollment dropped a total of 7.17 percent from 2017. In the past five years, enrollment has dropped a total of 12.54 percent. Wood said the decreased amount of students has led to a $7.6 million shortfall in tuition collected, coinciding with a $2.1 million shortfall in student fees, which will have a direct impact on organizations that rely on student fees for funding. He added that these organizations would face budget cuts up to 12 percent if they were fully implemented.
New Title IX Coordinator returns to UNM
Wood said many academic departments at UNM could not handle further cuts, adding that many are spending around 90 percent of their budgets on salaries. Regent Michael Brasher asked Wood if departments have been cut beyond functionability.
how lowering enrollment may affect the University in future years. “Fewer freshmen does mean fewer sophomores next year,” Wood said. “We have to build that into our modeling.” Terry Babbitt, the associate vice president of Enrollment Manage-
Danielle Prokop/ @ProkopDani/ Daily Lobo
Regent Michael Brasher (right) speaks with interim Provost Richard Wood after the Oct. 16, 2018 Board of Regents meeting.
“Indeed, we are at risk of being exactly there,” Wood said. “We are not currently eliminating departments. If we had to impose these full cuts, and a further round of cuts next year if tuition fell again, we could well be at that point.” Wood also discussed the need for future financial planning and
ment, spoke to the regents about his department’s efforts to prevent enrollment rates from continuing to drop. He said one way is by addressing campus safety. “It comes up every day on our campus tours,” Babbitt said. When Regent Suzanne Quillen asked if the new freshman living
requirement — which requires incoming freshmen 30 miles outside of UNM to live on campus — is negatively affecting enrollment, Babbitt said its impact was very minimal. “That came up as not an issue,” Babbitt said. Campus safety was also addressed by President Garnett Stokes during her Administrative Report, during which she referenced the two recent carjackings that occurred on UNM’s main campus. Stokes said the University is tackling the problem by adding more UNM Police Department officers on an overtime basis and the proposed installation of 235 cameras in 39 parking lots around campus. She said the cameras will be installed to combat UNM’s notorious auto theft problem and will be funded using capital outlay. Stokes mentioned possible future ideas to tackle on-campus crime, including the creation of campus accessibility hours for visitors. “This is something we’re going to have to carefully examine,” Stokes said. One topic that came up repeatedly was faculty retention and compensation. Currently, UNM’s faculty pay falls behind most other competitors as reported by the Albuquerque Journal, leading many professors to leave before they reach tenure.
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BOR page 2
For the new University of New Mexico Title IX Coordinator, her time on campus is coming full circle. Angela Catena will assume her new position for UNM’s Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) in December, after she finishes up her semester teaching as a clinical associate professor at Arizona State University. However, this is not her first stint at UNM. Catena moved to Albuquerque in 2012 to get her doctoral degree in counseling. She graduated in 2016 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona where she teaches counseling and counseling psychology. She said she heard about the open position from friends whom she had worked with before at UNM. “I love faculty life, but there’s something that’s missing,” Catena said. “What used to pull on my heartstrings was a lot of the stuff I did here before. So, I applied.” Born and raised in Chicago, Catena went to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. for her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s in community counseling at Argosy University in Chicago. Heather Cowan was the Title IX coordinator since 2015 and resigned in August for a position at the University of Michigan. OEO Compliance Manager Sara Cliffe was appointed in the interim. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Title IX is a federal statute protecting individuals from discrimination on the basis of sex in education or activities that receive federal funds. Catena said she sees her role as working with investigators to ensure Title IX compliance, provide resources and support individuals in understanding the statute. According to their website, OEO investigates complaints of discrimination — including sexual harassment — age, religion and disability among others. The OEO also ensures the University is compliant with federal laws that require equal treatment. OEO has five investigators that talk with individuals who bring complaints regarding discrimination. OEO Director Francie Cordova said the committee to hire a new coordinator unanimously voted to hire Catena. She said Catena’s unique skill set in making connections and her vision for building advocacy skills for students, faculty and staff.
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Title IX page 2
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