NM Daily Lobo 10 22 2014

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DAILY LOBO new mexico

WEDNESDAY October 22, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 46

The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

Liberal arts report grades University with ‘D’ By Daniel Montaño UNM does not make the grade when it comes to liberal arts offerings, according to one nonprofit educational institution, but some say that grading criteria is broken. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni released the 2014-15 edition of their annual “What Will They Learn?” report and UNM received an overall grade of “D,” according to the report. However, UNM Provost Chaouki Abdallah said the grading criteria, which is based on whether or not a school requires seven different liberal arts courses, is misguided and simply incorrect in UNM’s case. “The ACTA has come up with a list of the specific courses that they believe are the essential ones for students to take, and they use narrow criteria to measure institutions,” Abdallah said in an email to the Daily Lobo. “While not necessarily a bad selection, it is an incomplete one as they leave out American studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology and so on.”

The ACTA grades schools based on whether they require students to take courses in literature, composition, economics, math, intermediate level foreign language, science and American government or history, according to an ACTA press release. According to the new report, because UNM only requires math and science, the institution received a low grade. However, UNM does require composition, which was not recognized by the ACTA. “They just get this one wrong,” Abdallah said, “English composition courses are required for all UNM students.” UNM was just one of almost 1,100 schools graded in this year’s report, and ranked lower than 67 percent of all schools graded; however, Abdallah pointed out that several other prestigious institutions received low grades as well. According to the report, both Yale and Harvard universities also received grades of a D from the ACTA. Abdallah also said using a single report to determine whether a college is good or bad is perhaps not the best strategy.

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Grades page 3

New Mexico schools’ ‘What Will They Learn?’ ratings

University of New Mexico

New Mexico State University

Eastern New Mexico University

Western New Mexico University

Grade: D Requires: Mathematics, Science Missing: Composition*, Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics, Mathematics Tuition: $6,846 (In State) $20,688 (Out of State) 4 Year Grad rate: 15 percent Grade: D Requires: Composition, Science Missing: Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics, Mathematics Tuition: $4,558 (In State) $10,069 (Out of State) 4 Year Grad rate: 12 percent

St. John’s College

Grade: A Requires: Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics, Mathematics, Science Missing: Composition Tuition: $46,286 4 Year Grad rate: 45 percent Source: ACTA What WIll They Learn? 2014-2015 report * — ACTA has incorrect information regarding UNM’s composition requirements. See story for more details.

Grade: C Requires: Composition, Mathematics,Science Missing: Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics Tuition: $6.220 (In State) $19,644 (Out of State) 4 Year Grad rate: 16 percent Grade: F Requires: Science Missing: Composition, Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics, Mathematics Tuition: $4,723 (In State) $12,763 (Out of State) 4 Year Grad rate: 12 percent

New Mexico Highlands University

Grade: F Requires: Science Missing: Composition, Literature, Foreign Language, U.S. History, Economics, Mathematics Tuition: $4,000 (In State) $6,382 (Out of State) 4 Year Grad rate: 9 percent

Budget planning getting a head start Nobel By Marielle Dent

UNM is getting a jump-start on its budget planning process this year in order to make it more

responsive and efficient, according to a recent press release. Normally this work is done in the weeks between the end of the legislative session and the date

for budget approval. Beginning the process earlier will give the university community more time to discuss priorities and give feedback on the decisions being

made. Priorities of investments in student success initiatives and in faculty and staff compensa-

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Budget page 3

TAKING PRECAUTIONS FOR FLU SEASON

laureate to speak on campus By Matthew Reisen

Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo / @SXfoto Cindy Hart, a nurse at UNM Student Health & Counseling (SHAC) draws the flu vaccine into a syringe during a Flu Shot Clinic on Tuesday. The clinics are put on by SHAC and UNM Hospitals to get students, faculty and staff vaccinated against the influenza virus and provide immunity to the community before the flu season peaks between December and February. The Flu Shot Clinics are dedicated to Raymond Plotkin, a UNM student who passed away from the H1N1 virus in 2009. The next Flu Shot Clinic is being held today at the UNM SUB Atrium with flu shots free for anyone 18 years old or older.

A Nobel laureate is coming to main campus to speak today. John C. Mather, an American astrophysicist and cosmologist known particularly for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, is doing a free public talk tonight at 7 p.m. in Keller Hall, according to a UNM press release. The Department of Physics and Astronomy, in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences, has organized the event. The event will be hosted by Tony Hull, adjunct professor and manager of Business Development: Astronomy. Mather will discuss the history of the universe and, in particular, the James Webb Space Telescope, the press release said. Mather, whose work helped solidify the Big Bang Theory of how the universe came to be, is currently a senior physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. He will speak on what he has been learned so far and what can be expected from the JWST. He plans to give two talks: one for the general public and one specifically for scientists and engineers interested in the JWST, he said.

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Laureate page 3


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