UNM will approve budget at summit

The UNM Board of Regents may give a new meaning to cutting classes at today’s budget summit.
Administrators will meet with several UNM departments in SUB Ballroom C to discuss and approve a final budget for the 2011 fiscal year.
Raymond Sanchez, president of the Board of Regents, said that though UNM is facing a 7.7 percent reduction in state funding, he is confident the University is braced to handle it.

“It has been a rough year financially and otherwise,” he said. “But we have been preparing for this for a year and a half now.”
Sanchez said the board will look at each department to determine where cuts can be made.
“All the way up the chain, we will find out what everybody needs and where we can have some cost savings,” he said. “Last year, I think everybody agreed that we did the budget fairly.”

Provost Suzanne Ortega submitted seven recommendations for consideration. If implemented, they could result in an estimated $5.3 million in savings.

The recommendations include increasing class sizes, rotating the classes offered and an adherence to the minimum-class-size policy. This provision alone could save an estimated $792,000.

Regents will also be looking at recommendations from the deans, administrators and the President’s Strategic Advisory Team.
“Hopefully we can find something there so we can avoid any layoffs, furloughs, cuts or anything of that nature,” Sanchez said.
The PSAT also made short-term recommendations that, if approved, could save an estimated $5.8 million. These recommendations include negotiating Dell contract pricing, shifting printing from desktop printers to copier fleets and reducing the frequency of office cleaning.
Most of the PSAT short-term recommendations would save money in the Instructional and General budget, which comes from the legislature, for years to come.

University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said in an e-mail that the severity of cuts to departments is determined by the amount of the tuition increase.

“We will learn the level of tuition increase today,” she said. “Keeping in mind the N.M. Legislature has already approved a legislative tuition tax of 5 percent that will mean a $5 million impact on our students.”

Regents will also consider about 24 amendments to UNM policies that the Student Fee Review Board submitted in March.
ASUNM President Monika Roberts said the amendments try to give future SFRBs more options in how to use student fees.
“Before, it was kind of restricted, and we wanted to make it more open,” she said. “Because we were limited in some of the reductions we may or may not have wanted to make.”

The amendments included increase the amount by which the SFRB is allowed to cut an organization, as well as allowing the board to demote an organization — like Athletics or Student Health and Counseling — off recurring-funding status.
Jake Wellman, an undergraduate member of the SFRB, said that as the policies stand, students have to pay $450 a year in student fees, and the board would like more flexibility in its recommendations.

“There may be a time when the board may feel that some of the services we are paying for may not be necessary,” he said.
The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. and will consist of a vetting of all main campus departments and expenditures.
Sanchez said that though it may look bad, UNM is still going strong in the midst of hard economic times.
“It will be a difficult time,” he said. “But we at UNM are in a much better position than most other universities throughout the nation.”

*UNM Budget Summit
SUB Ballroom C
Today
1 p.m.*