The Board of Regents Wednesday approved a plan to increase the University's operating budget by 10 percent with much of the monetary augmentation going to areas such as research.
The 2003-04 fiscal year budget, which accounts for all consolidated expenditures for main campus, the Health Sciences Center and all four UNM branch campuses, is $1.4 billion, up from last year's $1.26 billion.
"If you look at it, this is one-third the size of the state budget," Reg. President Larry Willard said during the board's monthly meeting at Scholes Hall. "It's big business."
During the last 20 years, the health center and University Hospital have experienced massive growth in both physical space and total expenditures, Vice President for Business and Finance Julie Weaks Gutierrez said.
Budget costs at the Health Sciences Center and hospital combined make up about 54 percent of the University's total budget. The main campus budget makes up about 34 percent of the $1.4 billion.
The Health Sciences Center also receives 41 percent of all contracts and grants at UNM and accounts for 85 percent of the University's sales and services.
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Total expenditures for the UNM Taos Branch will increase to more than $5 million - a 16 percent jump from last fiscal year's number. A 3 percent compensation increase for faculty and a 2.5 percent raise in staff pay also contribute to the overall budget increase.
Compensation increase mandates begin in the budget office, go through University vice presidents and are finally allocated by various departments, Weaks Gutierrez said.
"Most of the decisions about salary increases are made at the academic level" by people such as department chairpersons, she added.
Students also will feel the effects of a larger budget, as tuition and fees are going up by more than 9 percent. About 6 percent of UNM's consolidated revenues come from students paying for education.
Weaks Gutierrez said a study conducted by the budget office showed that only about one-third of the money collected for tuition and fees comes directly from students' pockets. The rest, she said, is paid with some sort of assistance such as financial aid.
With approval from the regents, UNM will send its budget proposal to the Commission on Higher Education, Weaks Gutierrez said.
Attending his last Board of Regents meeting as UNM president, Chris Garcia said he plans to return to the classroom as a professor, and said his next transition will be the fourth time he has gone from an administration position back to the faculty.
"Surely this will go into some sort of book of records as the craziest academic career in history," he said.
