by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
UNM fared well during the legislative session, said Carlos Romero, associate vice president for Government and Community Relations at UNM.
UNM received about $200 million from the Legislature, which adjourned March 8.
One of UNM's biggest victories was a $37.5 million appropriation to the Health Sciences Center in recurring and nonrecurring funds. The center has been the University's top priority for the past two years, Romero said.
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Recurring means funding will continue every year until it is cut by the governor.
Among other things, there are two important aspects the money will go to.
"It will be the first time in a number of years that the faculty at the School of Medicine will receive a raise, and the immediate crisis at the hospital will be diminished," he said.
The Health Sciences Center funding proposal was drawn up at a health summit held Dec. 5 at UNM to address problems with the New Mexico health care system and UNM Hospital.
One of the issues with the hospital was the lack of interpretive services available to bilingual patients. Another issue surrounded a policy requiring patients to pay money up front before some procedures could be done.
Romero said he is happy about a $50,000 appropriation to the planning of the Native Living and Learning Community. The community will consist of a dormitory and learning center for students from rural New Mexico, he said.
Many rural students have a hard time adjusting to the University, he said, and the community would create a learning environment with tutors and classrooms.
"It would be a great place to live," he said.
The Native Living and Learning Community will be among UNM's top priorities for next year's legislative session, he said.
Though there were major victories, there were also losses, Romero said.
Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed a total of $4.6 million anticipated for other University projects and programs.
Romero said UNM's biggest loss was vetoed funding for African American Studies, Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies and Native American Studies. The governor vetoed $255,000 from the programs.
"They were large losses, but the programs are supported by this institution, and we will work toward those in the future," Romero said.
Finnie Coleman, director of African American Studies, said though the program did not receive recurring funding, the program did get $35,000 in nonrecurring funds.
Coleman was happy about that, he said.
"Something is better than nothing," he said.
The money appropriated to African American Studies came from capital outlay funds, which will go toward equipment and facilities.
Romero said the ethnic programs were hoping for recurring funding, because they would be able to pay for more faculty.
The University was not singled out during the cuts, he said.
UNM's losses were proportionate to other New Mexico higher education institutions, he said.
"There was a lot of money available this year, but the requests statewide were overwhelming," he said.
Romero said UNM received more money than any other institution in the state. He said the University received about 25 percent of the funds appropriated to New Mexico higher education.
The Legislature also set the tuition credit at 3 percent. The Legislature formulates a tuition credit into the budget, which is an expected increase in tuition that will fully fund the University's budget.
Historically, Romero said, the University has increased tuition every time the state imposes a tuition credit.
He said it doesn't necessarily mean the University will raise tuition, but if the University does not increase tuition, it will lose millions of dollars.
Last year, the Legislature imposed a 4.5 percent tuition credit, and the University's tuition went up by 10 percent.
University budget scenarios based on funding from the state will be presented at the Budget Summit on March 31 in the SUB.
