Notes from January 1998 Regents Meeting

TESUQUE, N.M. -- The New Mexico Tech Board of Regents convened this past Tuesday just up the road from "the Roundhouse"--the state capitol building where the 1998 state legislative session was getting underway--and legislative matters concerning higher education issues also were very much on the minds of the university's regents and administrators.

New Mexico Tech President Daniel H. López told the Board of Regents that he shared the sentiments of other state university presidents in their plans to emphasize to legislators that higher education's three major priorities this year are: "Compensation, compensation, and compensation."

López related that a proposed funding recommendation of a five percent across-the-board salary increase for faculty and staff at New Mexico universities, along with a two percent supplemental salary increase to make up for past years without raises, is uppermost on higher education's "legislative wish list," especially to counter lagging morale among underpaid university employees.

López informed the regents that he was "optimistic" about the prospect of state legislation being passed which would allow the requested salary increases, since, " . . . there's actually some money available this year."

In support of the proposed measure, the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents gave approval for President López to circulate a presidential memorandum to Tech faculty and senior staff members, which would make them aware of the opportunity to personally contact New Mexico legislators during this session and voice their support for compensation and other issues concerning higher education.

The regents also were told at their meeting that New Mexico Tech's highest legislative priority in terms of capital outlay would be the proposed addition to Jones Hall, with the Weir and Cramer halls renovation projects coming in at a close second.

In other business conducted at Wednesday's meeting, the Board of Regents approved a name change for the Department of Business Administration to the Department of Management to better reflect the current academic emphasis within the department.

A new degree program--an Associate of Science Degree in Business Administration--offered by the newly renamed Department of Management also was approved by the regents.

The two-year program will not require the addition of any new courses or faculty members, and will allow local students, interested Tech employees, and others to pursue a degree at Tech which may be useful in job placement or enable them to transfer to a four-year program, reported Carl J. Popp, Tech's vice president for academic affairs.

W. Dennis "Denny" Peterson, Tech's vice president for administration and finance, told regents that possibly as many as 20 new students may be drawn into the new program by the fall semester, when the associate degree program is implemented. Peterson also serves as department chairman of Tech's Department of Management.

The regents also were given a summary of ongoing efforts to increase student enrollment at New Mexico Tech, which President Ląpez characterized as being, "most encouraging at this point, with much more applications being received this year than last year and a slight increase in the number of paid deposits."

Herb Fernandez, Tech's vice president for institutional development, related that New Mexico Tech billboards had gone up near high schools in Albuquerque and other major New Mexico cities and that Tech again was sponsoring a program on KNME, Albuquerque's Public Broadcasting System (PBS) affiliate.

Fernandez also mentioned that Tech recently spearheaded a joint advertising campaign with the state's other four-year institutions, which currently is being run on several television stations throughout the state.

The City of Socorro and New Mexico Tech also are working toward co-sponsoring a billboard in Albuquerque, touting both entities, Fernandez added.

In addition, the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents approved a new capital project at the university--an $855,000 building addition to the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC), which will allow the research center and the university to engage in research projects requiring top-security clearances.

An outline of major research projects currently underway at New Mexico Tech was presented to the regents by Van Romero, Tech's vice president for research.

Romero made mention of several New Mexico Tech research projects which are already being funded or about to be funded, including: a multi-million-dollar task order contract that Georgia Tech currently is doing for Eglin Air Force Base, which will require the use of Tech's field laboratories; a counter- terrorism training program for first responders to unanticipated terrorist-caused disasters, being done in conjunction with Louisiana State University (LSU); and a $5 million start-up program for expansion of EMRTC research projects, being done in conjunction with Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Romero added that New Mexico Tech still is being considered a prime contender for the IRIS seismic and geophysics research center and that there a few other major research projects and facilities which may be in the works for the university, dependent on whether or not funds are obtained for them, including a contract in conjunction with LSU for providing "border patrol" training for Middle East countries and a proposed state-of-the-art optical telescope facility atop the Magdalena Mountains.

The regents also were informed that Jose Luis M. Cortez had been appointed as the new director of EMRTC, effective Jan. 5.

Other matters considered and actions taken by the Board of Regents at their meeting included:

• approval of a security clearance exclusion resolution which excludes board members from rights of access to projects involving security clearances;
• approval of a set of admission requirements for home- schooled students;
• approval for emerita status for retiring Tech Library director Betty Reynolds;
• an update on recommendations being formulated by a tenure policy review committee;
• a status report on the New Mexico Tech Research Foundation; and
• A detailed report submitted of 1997 Annual Financial and Compliance Audits independently conducted last year by Arthur Andersen, a public accounting firm, of New Mexico Tech's financial books, accounts, and other records, which found "no material errors, irregularities, or weaknesses."

-NMT-

(George Zamora)