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With funds for the Lottery Scholarship dwindling to near exhaustion, the New Mexico Legislature and various universities in the state, including UNM, have been working to find a long-term solution to preserve it. While legislators were able to find funds to support the Lottery for another year from the state’s Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund and postpone its insolvency until fiscal year 2014, the scholarship’s future remains uncertain.
The Daily Lobo spoke with UNM President Robert Frank on Friday about the conversation between legislators and University administrators with regard to finding a long-term solution for the Lottery.
Daily Lobo: What are the latest updates about the talks that are going on between legislators and UNM regarding the Lottery Scholarship?
Robert Frank: There was a Legislative Lottery Scholarship Work Group that was developed in the last legislative session. That worked through the summer, and Isaac Romero, our (Associated Students of the University of New Mexico) president, participated in that group for several months … They had a number of working groups that met in that group, and they produced a number of ideas on how the Lottery might be addressed. At the current rate, the Lottery will face challenges by 2014. We’re spending $27 million more per year than what the Lottery brings in. It’s a matter that needs to be addressed immediately.
DL: What are the various solutions discussed in this work group?
RF: There’s only a couple of ways you can address this. One, you either cut down how much each student in the Lottery get, you take some students out and you say they’re not eligible anymore, or you’re going to say we’re going to do it by merit or need, or a combination of those. All these solutions came up, and at the end of the debate, they had a number of solutions that they were close on, but in each one of the solutions, some significant stakeholders say, “Sorry, we can’t support that.” So they couldn’t reach a resolution at the end of their conversation. They walked out at the end with no universal solution that everyone could sign on to. So now, they’re going into the next legislative session with no solution to solve problems.
They’ll probably find some part of all of these things. They’ll probably have to find some additional money. They’ll probably have to then say that they have to increase the standards of performance. They may say that you have to prove that you have some need. They can do a combination of that … We hope that sausage factory comes together and grinds it all up, and that all comes together in that process.
DL: Which solution does UNM, or at least the UNM administration, advocate?
RF: A lot of people say that (the Lottery) is one of the last things the middle class gets to go as an advantage from all the tax dollars paid in New Mexico. Even though it comes from the Lottery and it’s not a tax thing per se, it’s still a middle class break, so to speak. So there’s a chance that needs might not come into the equation.
At UNM, what we want to make sure happens is that … whatever solution comes forward is equitable and remembers that the University of New Mexico gives 50 percent of all baccalaureate degrees in the state. There’s not a solution that allocates by the location as opposed to by the number of students going through the system. That’s a really important principle to us. We want to make sure that all our students are considered. We want to make sure that it is recognized that all UNM students are equal.
DL: The last time we spoke, you told me that the Legislature might probably have to raise GPA requirements as a solution –
RF: I think that as a person who has been following the discussion, if I have to bet, I’d bet on that as one likely solution.
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DL: And why is that?
RF: Just because it seems like a fair-minded way to solve the problem, and if you followed all the discussions, that solution keeps coming up.
DL: Do you think that’s going to be the most beneficial solution to UNM in the long run?
RF: Our students are probably better served by that solution. Our students will probably be more able to compete through that.
DL: What do you think of the other solutions discussed — for example, having the Lottery given to you fully in your first year at UNM and decreasing the amount, and vice versa?
RF: I don’t think they’re quite as good for UNM students, myself. I’d much rather see it spread equally in all the semesters. I think (having it spread equally) is better to keep students engaged in school, which is most likely to lead to student success.
DL: So are you saying that UNM is advocating for raising the GPA requirements?
RF: We’re not necessarily advocating for anything at this point of the conversation. We haven’t taken a stance in anything yet.
Our student government might come up with a stance. But I guess if we’re going to have to advocate for anything out of all the variables on the table, we would advocate for slightly raising the GPA among all of the many different variables possible.
DL: Why do you think there is not a consensus among the legislators? What do you think is the biggest issue?
RF: Nobody has had to put their foot down yet. They still have time. It’s just at the start of the conversation. Nobody has had to make that decision yet.
DL: But if you would think about it, they only have less than a year to come up with a solution.
RF: You know, they will when they’re forced to. It’s a tough decision. When they make a decision, somebody’s going to be unhappy. So, why make people unhappy now? In politics, you don’t want people unhappy with you any more than they have to be.
There’s just no premium in making that kind of decision now.
DL: The next legislative session is in two months. What do you expect to see in the next legislative session regarding the Lottery?
RF: I think it would be a lively debate, as I described before.
People who believe that access is more important than everything else would argue for keeping need the primary variable. People who believe that student success is the most important thing would believe that we should drive the Lottery to students who show student success. We’re on that camp. We want to see the dollars go to students who are best prepared to go to the University.
If I would predict, I want those Lottery dollars spent on students who show that they are best prepared to graduate. To me, while my heart wants to give everybody an equal chance, my mind says, “Let’s put those Lottery dollars on those students who could come here and succeed and get a University degree.” We don’t have enough dollars to give everybody an equal chance.
DL: Are you optimistic that the legislators would come up with a consensus during this legislative session?
RF: I think it’s likely, but I’m not sure. There are a lot of ways to procrastinate. They can find funding for another year with some short-term dollars and come back to it in the future. So, I’m not sure how close they are to an actual solution.
