by Katy Knapp
Daily Lobo
Rumors have been flying around campus and the city over UNM President Louis Caldera's fate at the University. There has been some speculation his days as head of state might be numbered.
A regents meeting is being held Wednesday to discuss personnel matters, but officials remain tight-lipped on what is on the agenda.
Susan McKinsey, a spokeswoman for UNM, said Caldera would not comment on the rumors or the meeting Wednesday because it's a personnel issue.
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Jamie Koch, president of the UNM Board of Regents, called the meeting over the weekend, but only said it is to discuss personnel matters.
Regent Mel Eaves said he knew what the meeting was regarding, but there was nothing he could say about it.
Speculation about tension between the Board of Regents and Caldera has been gaining momentum in the past year.
The regents publicly showed concern over several initiatives offered by Caldera, including an admissions policy that could have potentially reduced minority enrollment at UNM, raising tuition rates and giving some upper administration bonuses.
The regents rejected or delayed all of those proposals.
In July, Koch told a roomful of administrators during a leadership retreat he was concerned about finances at UNM, citing the executive bonus plan implemented by Caldera.
The plan, which Caldera called a pilot project, would have given top administrators up to 20 percent of their salaries for high achievements.
"There are good reasons for creating a bonus program, but the timing might be bad," Caldera said at the time.
Last April, Caldera proposed a 12 percent tuition increase and the regents demanded it be under 10 percent. The final tuition increase was 9.9 percent.
In May, Caldera came under fire again from the regents and the UNM community when he suggested an admissions policy that would not allow students who were deficient in math, English or reading on the ACT or SAT into the University until they improved in those areas.
Critics of the proposal said it could potentially cut minority enrollment at UNM, since statistics show they have lower scores in those areas. The regents delayed voting on the policy, and Caldera said he was going to revise the proposal.
Regent Ray Sanchez said he agreed standards at UNM needed to be raised, but did not agree with the specific policy.
"We should really raise the bar, but we need to look at other ways of doing that," he said at the time.
The meeting will be held in the Roberts Room of Scholes Hall at 1 p.m. An agenda will be available through the president's office on Tuesday.
- Christopher Sanchez contributed to this report.
