UNM President Louis Caldera revised the four scenarios presented at the budget summit regarding tuition and made a different recommendation to the Board of Regents - a 12.8 percent tuition increase.
In the past, the Finance and Facilities Committee, a subcommittee of the regents, has approved the president's recommendation before they met to set the budget for the fiscal year.
The committee met Monday to discuss the recommendation, but Regent Sandra Begay-Campbell said they did not take any action, nor did they hear any reports.
"It is highly unusual," she said. "It is a change of business that I disagree with."
Regent Jamie Koch said that approval would be dealt with before the regents meet Tuesday.
A majority of the regents attended the summit and have seen all of the budget details.
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After the summit, two more budget scenarios were drafted based on feedback and presentations from delegate groups.
"We're not ending up at any of those," Caldera said.
A 12.8 percent tuition increase would still leave UNM ranking at the bottom compared to its peer institution, and would be something that would continuously need to be addressed, Caldera said. The increase would not be able to meet all of the proposals drafted in scenario C on how to improve instruction and support for students.
"We've been losing ground relative to our peer competitors," Caldera said. "One way to look at it is that we're the most affordable - another way is to say UNM students invest the least in their own education."
He said at the April 1 summit, students recognized the importance tuition plays in the quality of education that UNM can offer them.
A document from the office of the president indicated a strong preference for scenario C, which would have increased tuition by 15.1 percent. Scenario C was the first choice of the students and alumni, but deans, faculty and staff selected scenario D most often.
"I didn't expect people's recommendations to come back double-digits, but expected that the regents would seriously be looking at that," said Regent Maria Griego-Raby.
She said she was very impressed with the organization and participation in the summit and was surprised with the support each of the scenarios received.
"Students showed real maturity in what they valued in their proposal," Griego-Raby said.
The summit showed there are numerous ways to put the budget together that would affect students and faculty in different ways, Begay-Campbell said. She added that the budget is not as simple as a tuition increase.
"I don't think it is a pitting of the faculty versus the students," Begay-Campbell said. "Simplifying it too much is a disservice to the students, faculty and staff because it is very complicated."
Caldera said getting the issues on the table really helped people understand what the challenges of the budget are, and there are sets of responsible actions that can be taken in the face of those challenges. One of them, he said, would be setting tuition at a realistic rate.
"I think it will be something that the regents will support," Caldera said. "It is what I expect."
