The recent loss of the journalism department's accreditation became a major topic of discussion at the Board of Regents' Academic/Student Affairs Committee meeting Tuesday.
The committee also listened to presentations about the pros and cons of retirement-age employees and efforts being made to prevent students from dropping out.
A last-minute amendment to an information item on the agenda, introduced by UNM Provost for Academic Affairs Brian Foster, spoke about the loss of accreditation at the journalism department. The amendment was intended to provide the regents with clarification on what he calls a "complicated" area that has led to an "unfortunate" event.
"An accreditation program represents professional standards, and we think it is important that our students are trained to those standards," said Foster, speaking on the importance of program accreditation.
Foster said the site team, which visited UNM last week to determine the level of compliance with program standards, discovered "significant problems," saying that the deficiencies were in operations and development and had nothing to do with curriculum or faculty.
Reed Dasenbrock, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, which oversees the Communication and Journalism program, described the situation as similar to leaving an exam three-quarters of the way through.
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"It was pretty clear that we were not going to pass, so we felt it better to withdraw than be denied," he said.
Foster stressed that this was "not the end of the world," saying that losing accreditation does not mean that the journalism program is sub-par or that students will not receive a quality education.
When asked whether or not he believed accreditation was a beneficial component to the department's success, he said "probably."
However, he added that UNM is "not absolutely certain" whether or not the journalism program will seek re-accreditation once the problems brought forth by the site team are addressed.
Another issue addressed at the meeting was that of UNM employees who have reached or surpassed retirement age.
Patrick Kiska, Staff Council advisor to the regents, said there is a problem with University employees that have reached retirement age but are "hanging on" to take advantage of benefits provided to their families by UNM.
Kiska suggested getting rid of the "moss" in favor of new employees that can be retained at a lower salary. Kiska suggested the committee further examine the issue at a future meeting.
Also on the agenda was an update on the Graduation Project by David Stuart, associate provost for Academic Affairs.
Started in 1997, the project is designed to help college dropouts complete their degrees.
"This is a really successful program," Stuart said.
But, he said, social and economic conditions in the state still make it hard to retain students.
Stuart added that the program has helped more than 1,000 students return to school, with 800 having already completed the program and received their degree.
Stuart also reported an update on the 2002 summer school session. He said some "substantial changes" have been made.
Those changes include a shift in University focus from courses meant to help students finish their degrees to a program meant to draw new students to UNM.
"Summer in the Southwest," a program that includes special projects relating to southwestern culture theme, is designed to attract new students that will replace the upper-classmen who are not taking as many summer school courses as in the past.
