University of New Mexico Provost James Holloway addressed the possible restructuring of undergraduate tuition at the Associated Students of the University of New Mexico’s (ASUNM) full senate meeting last Wednesday night, Oct. 23.
In his weekly report to the senate, ASUNM President Adam Biederwolf also mentioned that the tuition and fee modeling committee is weighing a motion of raising tuition for in-state undergraduate students taking 15 to 18 credit hours while lowering tuition for those taking one to 14 hours.
The tuition and fee modeling committee is a sub-committee within UNM’s Budget Leadership Team (BLT). Their tasks include examining tuition, fees and enrollment, looking at tuition reorganization and setting enrollment goals among other responsibilities. The BLT is comprised of deans, administrators, chairs and other representatives that help advise the University on budget matters.
Holloway said to the senators that the way UNM is currently organizing fees does not make it clear to students how the actual cost of tuition works.
"One of my pet peeves is the way we talk about tuition at this University," said Holloway. "It’s extremely confusing."
Holloway did not address the discussions on tuition happening in these committee meetings and instead focused on the way tuition is presented to students.
"We present it more or less as three pieces: base tuition, differential tuition and fees," he continued. "That’s pretty unusual. If you look at most universities, you’ll see tuition and you’ll see fees."
Holloway indicated that the tuition committee is looking at ways to "simplify" tuition. He also proposed ideas of displaying tuition based upon major and college or structured as a tier-based tuition scheme.
Biederwolf shared with senators one of three scenarios that the committee is considering during his president's report.
"Right now, they are floating with the idea of increasing tuition for in-state undergraduates that take 15 to 18 credit hours," said Biederwolf. "Most undergraduates take 15 to 18 credit hours."
"This increase wouldn’t be a huge increase — it wouldn’t be drastic — but they are messing with the idea," he continued. "They’re crunching the numbers, and they would be decreasing tuition for those taking one to 14 credit hours for each semester."
Biederwolf later clarified that this is just one scenario committee members have been discussing and that "nothing is set in stone."
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Biederwolf is the undergraduate student representative on the tuition and fee modeling committee, along with Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) President Muhammad Afzaal as his graduate counterpart.
Appropriations
A total of $7,660 was appropriated to nine student groups Wednesday night, leaving ASUNM with only $7,840 in their budget as it currently stands.
The one-time funding of $500,000 from UNM is expected to be appropriated to ASUNM by the Student Fee Review Board at their Oct. 27 meeting.
The Navigators, an interdenominational Christian student organization, was appropriated $1,653 for travel expenses for a conference in Colorado.
The Bengal United Sports Club, a south-Asian sports club, was appropriated $955 to participate in a competition in Arizona and pay for a guest coach.
Deviate, a Christian group, was appropriated $2,155 for travel and conference fees.
The Pakistani Student Association was appropriated $302 for food and other meeting supplies.
Men’s water polo was appropriated $981 for competition travel fees and a new storage container for equipment.
The Asian American Student Association was appropriated $503 for supplies and food for events and meetings.
The Nepali Student Association was appropriated $674 for refreshments and an audio system for an upcoming event, Dussehra.
Antimicrobial Resistance Mediation Outreach was appropriated $252 for food, office supplies and copying services.
Best Buddies, a group that connects people with and without intellectual development disorders, was appropriated $85 for food and supplies for an upcoming match party.
Alex Hiett is a beat news reporter at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nmal1123
