by Emily A. Williams
Daily Lobo
Since 1991, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded by UNM colleges and schools has fluctuated.
Each college's individual itinerary, funding and areas of focus have contributed to their graduation numbers.
Among the colleges on the rise are the Anderson School of Management and the College of Fine Arts, both having awarded more undergraduate degrees last year than in any of the past 10 years.
The College of Arts and Sciences, Education and the University College all awarded the lowest number of bachelor degrees in the 2001-2002 academic school year than in any of the past nine years.
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The College of Arts and Sciences awarded 955 bachelor degrees last year, the lowest number since it handed out 942 of the diplomas in 1992-93. That is a drop of more than 100 degrees since 1,098 were awarded in 2000.
In a rough analysis, Reed Dasenbrock, dean of arts and sciences, estimated that the decline in graduates might have occurred because of the decline in enrollment between 1991 and 1996.
"I expect those numbers to increase sharply given both the rise in new freshman and the rise in the retention rate," Dasenbrock said. "But we'll know more this time next year."
The College of University Studies awarded nearly 20 fewer bachelor degrees last year than in 2000-2001.
Tracy Skipp, supervisor for advisement for the University College, said that the decrease in main campus undergraduate degrees is due to the emphasis the college has placed on branch campuses.
The degree program is also growing by hundreds and there is not enough money or advisors to sustain them, Skipp said.
Starting this year, Skipp conducts seminars every other Friday to help assist students with their plans. This will help increase retention and ease the problem of not enough advisors, she said.
Skipp added that each freshman class is larger than the one before and the University College also has more non-traditional students than any other college or school.
The College of Education had an increase in bachelor degrees awarded during the late '90s but has been decreasing slowly during the past few years.
Breda Bova, dean of the College of Education, said the progam is actually getting larger because of the new post-baccalaureate program designed to give teacher certification rather than a bachelor degree.
Peter Winograd, director for teacher education, said that the changing economy has also affected the enrollment level.
"When there are lots of jobs people postpone college," Winograd said.
The number of degrees awarded by the College of Fine Arts has increased to 40 during the past 10 years.
Christopher Mead, interim dean of the College of Fine Arts, has been dean of the college since July 2001 and involved with the other components since 1980.
"We are getting more majors and working hard at retaining them," Mead said.
Since the addition of the media arts degree program in 1999, enrollment has been up and Mead said the college is making a "big push," to retain those students.
"The challenge is the freshman class," Mead said. He added that the college has been "active in freshman-learning communities and the University College is doing a better job at preparing students. It is a team-effort."
Mead said the College of Fine Arts is comparable to other colleges in the Southwest but is the best in the state and in some cases, the largest and only college of its kind.
The Anderson School of Management awarded 406 bachelor degrees in 2001-2002.
"It boils down to more students and more faculty," said Anderson's School of Management associate dean Kenneth Baker. "We haven't done any proactive recruitment."
He said the school cannot afford to get more recognition.
