{"id":189263,"date":"2016-09-25T17:08:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-25T23:08:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=189263"},"modified":"2016-09-25T17:11:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-25T23:11:58","slug":"the-unm-lobos-sing-the-budget-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/09\/the-unm-lobos-sing-the-budget-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"The UNM Lobos sing the budget blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

There have been happier times at the University of New Mexico. Packed into the Student Union Ballroom on Thursday, hundreds of people heard UNM\u2019s three top administrative officials outline the increasingly negative financial outlook for New Mexico\u2019s flagship institution of higher learning.<\/p>\n

\"Jackson

UNM photo<\/p>

The Jackson Student Center at the UNM Anderson School of Management.<\/p><\/div>\n

Prompting an informal town hall meeting UNM President Robert Frank likened to a \u201ccrisis drill\u201d was the recent notice of\u00a05\u00a0percent budget cuts to some state institutions by the administration of N.M. Gov.\u00a0Susana Martinez.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2016, the Santa Fe budget axe swings big even as longer-range financial challenges confront UNM due to statewide population loss, lagging economic growth, declining numbers of students of traditional college age, and lawmakers grasping tight purse strings.<\/p>\n

Standing below a Power Point\u00a0presentation\u00a0that showed New Mexico\u2019s mammoth state budget deficit climbing towards the billion dollar mark by next fiscal year, UNM Executive Vice President David Harris spoke about the need for contingency planning by university departments in light of a possible $14.2 million budget cut to UNM\u2019s main Albuquerque campus and $22.2 million system-wide in the current fiscal year alone.<\/p>\n

Frank elaborated on the bind the university finds itself in as it enters the fourth month of the fiscal year, with lawmakers having conversations \u201cbehind closed doors\u201d regarding possible cuts — without the participation of the UNM community or the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know what is going on,\u201d Frank said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to take it out of a budget we\u2019re already in.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a readjustment to a new budget reality, UNM announced last\u00a0week it was freezing temporary and permanent staff hiring for at least the next six months. Under the new policy, waivers will be considered as long as they are \u201cmission critical positions\u201d for which \u201cno restructuring opportunities\u201d exist. In a memo, Frank wrote that he expected faculty hiring would be \u201csignificantly curtailed.\u201d<\/p>\n