Notes from the Feb. 19, 2008 Regents Meeting

New Mexico Tech is holding an emergency meeting of the Board of Regents, by telephone, in 217 Brown Hall, at 4:00 p.m. on February 21, 2008. The purpose of the meeting is for consideration of request for bids on the Jones-Kelly building remodeling project.

by Valerie Kimble

SOCORRO – Enrollment at New Mexico Tech reflects “a bright picture ahead,” President Daniel H. López told the university’s Board of Regents at its first meeting of the year on Tuesday.

Reports from the Office of Admission show a 3 percent increase in headcount, and modest growth in credit hours, said López, adding that 92 percent of Fall 2007 freshmen returned for the Spring 2008 semester, a boost of 2 percent over last year.

“All the numbers indicate a positive curve, which is very encouraging,” he said.

López credited Melissa Jaramillo-Fleming, Assistant Vice President for Student and University Relations, and Admission Director Michael Kloeppel for their efforts.

“We’re doing a lot of new things in recruiting, and in increasing our Hispanic student population,” Kloeppel said. The Rio Grande Valley of South Texas has been particularly fruitful, he added.

New Mexico Tech is “very, very close” to achieving status as an Hispanic-serving university, noted Dr. Ricardo Maestas, Vice President for Student and University Relations.

The designation requires that 25 percent of students at a university be of Hispanic ethnicity; currently, 23.9 percent of degree-seeking students; and, when non-degree seeking students are included in the tally, the Hispanic student population increases to 24.9 percent, or on-tenth of one percent short of the threshold for achieving the Hispanic-serving institution status.

López also cited a new “re-recruitment” program, whereby the university contacted students who did not return in the Fall of 2003 and asked them why they left.

“Their reasons were varied – some left for other universities, others joined the military,” he said. “It’s an interesting project, and the Admission staff has done a wonderful job on this report.”

In his Legislative update to the board, López said New Mexico Tech will receive $12 million in state funding over last year’s budget, with $8 million earmarked for capital outlay.

Appropriations to the university’s research divisions included budget boosts of:

• $284,000 for the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, including funds for a key mapping project;
• $400,000 for the Petroleum Recovery Research Center with matching funds;
• $300,000 in capital funds for the Institute for Complex Additive Systems Analysis, along with $100,000 for operations.

Entities such as the New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair and the MESA program also experienced modest growth to their operating budgets.

López said he is hoping that an additional $1 million to the university’s endowment fund will attract private contributions on a one-to-one match.

Legislative appropriations include a 2 percent raise for employees, to which the president plans to add an additional 1 percent.

“The compensation package does not recognize a series of costs,” López said, “and those costs have to be paid by the institutions.”

In an effort to boost university funds, the president said it may be necessary to raise tuition, and that he will meet next month with students to discuss the issue.

“If we want to be fair to our employees, unfortunately, there’s only one way to raise the money,” said Regent Richard Carpenter, board chairman.

Carpenter noted that the Legislative session that ended Feb. 14 was “extremely tight. …Public and higher education did not do as well as anticipated.”

He credited López and his legislative staff for doing “an excellent job,” adding, “New Mexico Tech benefits from your skills and leadership.”

Regents were told that the university’s Mechanical Engineering Department will be the first to benefit from a proposed academic and research partnership with Mu’Tah University in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan.

Dr. Van D. Romero, Vice President for Research and Economic Development, told Regents that New Mexico Tech is developing a program to build both an academic and test facility in Jordan that will address blast-resistant construction. Dr. John Meason, EMRTC director, noted that New Mexico Tech is working to develop a relationship with a university in Egypt to work on energy and water issues.

The university recently hosted a visiting group from Jordan to bring closure to the proposal, explained Dr. Peter F. Gerity, Vice President for Academic Affairs, who added that 40 Jordanian graduate students will enroll at Tech this fall, and others are expected to follow.

The board also was briefed on plans for campus safety, including a student survey on the best way for them to be notified in case of an emergency.

Dennise Trujillo, the board’s student representative, noted that students she has spoken with prefer text-messaging, rather than email. Trujillo was invited by president López to attend the next meeting of the Emergency Response Team.

Regents approved sabbatical leave requests for Dr. Steven Cather, Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources; and Dr. Oliver Wingenter, Department of Chemistry.

In other action, the board approved:

• The December 2007 list of graduates;
• A liquor license lease from the New Mexico Tech Foundation to the university itself, for its research facility at Playas;
• Emeritus status for Dr. Gillian Bond, who recently retired from the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering; and
• A list of excess property for disposal.

During the public comment period, the board listened to concerns voiced by residents opposed to plans that the EMRTC field laboratory be used as a drop zone for training C-130 pilots from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.

At the close of the lengthy discussion, Regent Ann Murphy Daily said she found the public session “incredibly productive.”

-- NMT --