UNM's Sustainability Studies program might not be around in the fall.
Last year, the program received $207,000 from the state Legislature.
But this year, Sustainability Studies only got $15,000, Interim Provost Viola Florez said
Florez said the program is not part of UNM's budget and is not guaranteed money from the College of Arts and Sciences.
"They asked for the money they needed to keep it, but that is what happens with soft-funded programs," she said. "Right now, it is a program that is funded by outside money, but what we need to do is figure out how to build it within the Arts and Sciences budget."
Bruce Milne, the program's coordinator, said he'll have to look to outside sources to keep Sustainability Studies afloat.
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"We didn't have any opportunity to obtain additional funding for the next fiscal year. The last two years, we have been funded thanks to Rep. Mimi Stewart," he said. "The way that it works is that the University takes to the legislators every year and asks for funding, and sustainability was not on that list."
Rep. Stewart said UNM lobbyists did not try hard enough to find funding for the program.
"UNM did not come and ask me for help with that funding this year, which I'm really not happy about," she said. "The lobbyists did not come and warn me that there was not enough money in the budget for the sustainability minors program."
Stewart said the program should have been incorporated into the University's budget.
Dan Young, director of Research Service Learning Program, said he will look for an alternative source of funding for the program.
"We have got to at least show some support for (Milne), because it is essential that this program continue," he said. "It would be detrimental to lose this type of a program - especially now when it is such a vital area of study."
Milne has spent the last four years working with department chairpersons and college deans to develop the interdisciplinary program.
Milne said 80 students have enrolled in Sustainability Studies through 21 other programs.
Students have created a huge demand for the program since it began in fall 2007, he said.
"In fact, we have had more people that want to take them than could actually take them," he said.
Student Moanna Wright said she was upset the program's funding had been cut.
"Everybody knows about it but to not have an avenue for it in education is sad," she said. "It is the most important thing facing us as a species and to not fund it at a university level is incomprehensible."
