Regent Melissa Henry, a former student regent, asked the Board of Regents Ad Hoc Governance Committee on Aug. 10 to consider policies that would provide a financial backbone for the unpaid student regent position after experiencing a lot of financial and academic distress during her past term. Ad Hoc Governance Chair and Regent Rob Schwartz hopes to bring this issue to the full Board of Regents at their next business meeting in October.
“It was very naive of me to take this position not knowing how it would impact my career and work opportunities at the University and off campus, and not only did I face the consequences of being in such a politicized, public position but my work and time to contribute to my academic program suffered,” Henry said. “It is for these reasons that I ask the Board to consider protecting the most vulnerable position on the Board, which is the student regent, and consider policies that financially support this position.”
Henry, who served a two-year term starting in the fall of 2019, recalled various issues that stemmed from serving as a student regent, many having to do with employment conflicts of interest as well as staying financially secure. Henry explained one conflict of interest case in connection to UNM during her position as a clinician; in this case, she had to use her personal liability insurance to seek independent counsel due to connections with the University.
On the academic side of things, Henry was removed from the teaching schedule in her academic department for the first time in three years with no explanation. However, Henry said her students often brought up her involvement with University business and her decisions as a student regent during her classes. In addition, during the same semester, Henry said her $20,000 scholarship through the College of Education was “mysteriously relocated to a different student.”
Eventually, after her first semester as the student regent, Henry transferred to a 0.5 Full-Time Employment (half the amount of hours of full-time employment) position at the University that was “mostly independent from University decisions and policies;” this was a downgrade in hours from the 0.75 FTE she was getting while working as a graduate teaching assistant previously. Schwartz brought up that if a student is giving up employment for the student regent position, they should at least be compensated as a University employee.
Randy Ko, the current student regent, said the student regent position is one of the most at-risk positions on the Board for conflicts of interest. He also mentioned that only financially stable students are able to serve this position.
“This public service should ultimately not be a financial burden to those who want to serve in such a capacity,” Ko said.
ASUNM President Greg Romero agreed that the unpaid position limits which students are able to serve, and said students from lower income backgrounds should be able to have these kinds of opportunities.
“I cannot imagine going through my year with the time it takes to be on the Board of Regents and not having any compensation for it, and also going to school and also making a livable wage at another place,” Romero said. “The time is just simply not there. So I would just really advocate for the student regent to have some compensation so they can be their best selves on this board and dedicate even more time to it.”
University counsel Loretta Martinez brought up that many student regents are paid at other universities, and there was a general consensus among the committee that the same should apply to UNM. Henry cited New Mexico State University’s policy, which recently started paying student regents. Still, Henry didn’t deny that it would be a complicated task that is also dependent on what student is serving in the position.
Schwartz suggested that a proposed resolution could be a stipend equal to the amount of tuition for the student (who must be a resident of New Mexico), which would vary from undergraduate to graduate to medical students. This would also ensure that graduate students are not losing benefits like healthcare, since a stipend would guarantee University employee status whereas a scholarship would not.
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However, Provost James Holloway said making the pay a fixed amount rather than varying it would make more sense since student tuition can differ by term, and also made note that this would be taxable. Holloway recommended Martinez’s team research compensation for this position based on other models, and Schwartz agreed.
Schwartz encouraged Martinez to draft up a legal analysis on restructuring the currently unpaid position during the next month so they can discuss it again and be ready to take it to the full Board of Regents in October. Other suggestions for the analysis by the committee included looking at any overall structural issues in the student regent position and potential conflicts of interests if the position is paid, since regents aren’t supposed to financially benefit from their service.
Megan Gleason is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @fabflutist2716
