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Although the UNM Parent Association bylaws state that electing board members is the responsibility of the association’s board of directors, the University has made an effort to re-form the association.
Following a mass exodus of Parent Association board members last month, the UNM provost’s Chief of Staff Melissa Vargas sent out an email to the association’s Listserv in a search for parents who were willing to volunteer to be members of the new board.
According to UNM Today, she received 14 responses.
But Parent Association board member William Hauenstein said that, according to the association’s bylaws, board members are responsible for electing new board members.
The association’s bylaws contain language that states candidates should be chosen by a “Nominating Committee, consisting of five members; one from the Board, three from the Association membership and the immediate past President.”
The bylaws never state that the University can elect members, although it does state that bylaws “may be altered, amended or repealed…” and that the amendment “shall be made effective upon approval of the UNM Board of Regents.”
Members of the board of directors resigned Aug. 20 and an emergency meeting followed on Aug. 21, but the meeting was not official because the association did not have a quorum. Since then, the association has not held a meeting and a formal amendment to the bylaws has yet to be made by the association or the UNM Board of Regents.
Hauenstein said that although he decided not to resign from his post, as the majority of the association did last month, he was never notified of the University’s attempt to re-form the association.
“I haven’t talked to anybody from the Provost’s office. They haven’t contacted me. I wasn’t aware of the situation,” he said. “It’s sort of disenfranchising me as a part of the board.”
Hauenstein said past members quit because the University has been imposing on the association too much, even though the association is a self-governing body affiliated with UNM. He said the University has not met the association’s demands, which include better advisement and a decrease in the fees that go to funding Athletics.
“There’s a disconnect in the interests of the Parent Association and the University,” he said. “The University basically wants to have more control over certain things and the Parent Association doesn’t think that should have occurred.”
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Hauenstein said that in light of the controversy surrounding the association and the University, he is skeptical about whether the association will stay together.
“It all depends on if it actually happens or not, and if there’s such a bad taste on people’s mouths about what happened and why.”
But Parent Association Executive Director and Associate Provost for Curriculum Greg Heileman said that in searching for Parent Association volunteers, the University did not infringe on the association’s bylaws.
“We are not choosing new members for the PA board. We have only asked for volunteers willing to serve on that board,” he said.
He said that the association will go through the necessary election process after the University puts together a group of people willing to serve on the board.
“The PA membership will need to reconstitute their board according to their own bylaws,” he said.
Heileman said the association has been in turmoil since May, when Suzanna Ausborn was elected president.
Ausborn quit shortly after she was elected, and former president David Garrett replaced her in June 2012. Subsequently, Garrett, along with the vice president and the majority of the association’s board members, resigned before the fall 2012 semester started.
Heileman said the University tried to hold an emergency meeting on Aug. 17, following the resignations of some of the board members, but the association denied the request.
“The UNM administration requested a special meeting for the process of discussing the future role of and support for the PA,” he said. “The PA did not honor this request.”
Heileman said that Parent Association Treasurer Francis Page organized a separate meeting on Aug. 17 in which the association discussed the possibility of disbanding, but the members chose to elect a new association board that would work closely with the University.
Page resigned shortly before the Aug. 17 meeting was held.
Heileman said the association has not formally disbanded, and that the memorandum of agreement between the University and the association is still active.
“The agreement is still in effect, and the University has been operating to the best of our abilities according to that agreement,” he said.
The Memorandum of Understanding states that the University “will not interfere with issues and operations of the Association…” and that the agreement is “not intended to compromise the independence of the Association.”
Heileman said the University will work very closely to mend the existing association and the administration does not plan to establish a new association in the future.
“I don’t think there will be a new PA,” he said. “Hopefully the existing PA will reconstitute a board that will allow them to work with UNM. No new money is being allocated to this effort.”
Heileman said the association has helped students in the past by providing about $40,000 in scholarships last year and establishing a framework that guides parents, especially those of first-generation college students. He said he hopes that these successes will continue, despite the problems surrounding the association.
“I would like to see a functioning PA that works closely with the University faculty and staff in order to improve the success of UNM students,” he said.
