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The number of students enrolled in UNM’s Honors College has been increasing since its founding last academic year.
Kate Krause, dean of the Honors and University Colleges, presented an update to the Board of Regents on the growth of the new college at a meeting Tuesday.
The Honors College saw an increase in out-of-state student attendance, Krause said.
“We have 20 percent of our students from out of state this year, primarily California, Colorado and Texas,” she said. “In past years, we’ve had about 10 percent out-of-state, so we’ve had more out-of-state students.”
According to a handout distributed at the meeting, the Honors College enrolled almost 600 freshmen this year, up from 353 last fall. The college now offers 59 classes, compared to approximately 40 classes last semester, according to the document.
Dianne Anderson, director of communication at UNM, said the Honors College saw a 14 percent increase in attendance of New Mexico students with ACT scores of 26 or higher.
Krause said the college experienced growth in student enrollment, faculty and curriculum offerings this semester.
She said four members of faculty were tenured during the last year in order to accommodate the increase in freshman enrollment.
“Two were promotions from within, two were brand new, but we had one retirement, so we’re up one faculty member,” she said
Academic Leave For Principal Lecturers
At the same meeting, regents also approved a policy that would allow certain University lecturers to apply for academic leave.
Richard Holder, president of the Faculty Senate, presented Policy C250, which makes principal lecturers at UNM eligible for academic leave.
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According to the policy, academic leave is “a professional development teaching release with pay to pursue other academic and/or professional opportunity activities.”
Holder said that out of 922 main campus faculty members, 15 are principal lecturers, which are at the highest level among lecturers at UNM. He said the policy would have the lecturers apply for opportunities to use academic leave.
“The approval process involves usually a departmental committee who would vote on the plan,” he said. “The chair will make a recommendation to the dean. The dean will look at the plan as well.”
According to the policy, non-Health and Sciences Center members would send the recommendation to the provost or to the executive vice president for Academic Affairs, who would then verify the eligibility of the applicant. If the provost approves, the application would be sent to the University president, who would make the final decision.
Holder said that if the lecturer was allowed to leave, they would be contractually obligated to return and work at the University for at least as long as their academic leave period.
“If they don’t come back, they need to pay back the salary that they earned,” he said.
UNM President Robert Frank said this policy does not make academic leave for the lecturers mandatory, but rather provides an opportunity to award faculty members.
“If this person is performing at a high level, this is an opportunity to reward (them),” he said. “This is not something that is automatic by any means.”
While the measure passed unanimously, Regent Conrad James said he wants updates on the financial aspect of the policy.
“I would like to ask for a little bit more information on what the fiscal impact would be for this program,” he said.
