Notes from the Apr. 18, 2006 Regents Meeting
by George Zamora
SOCORRO, N.M., April 19, 2006 – The New Mexico Tech Board of Regents has approved a nine percent tuition and fees increase for undergraduate and graduate students attending the state-supported research university, raising tuition costs for full-time resident undergrads from the current $1,578 per semester to $1,720 per semester.
Tuition for resident full-time graduate students at New Mexico Tech was increased from the current $1,648 per semester to $1,796 per semester.
The nine percent tuition increase, coupled with an average nine percent increase in various other fees students pay at New Mexico Tech, will be effective at the start of the upcoming 2006-2007 academic year.
Under the newly approved tuition and fees schedule, out-of-state students attending New Mexico Tech on a full-time basis also will pay nine percent more for tuition this coming fall semester (increased from $4,987 to $5,436 for undergraduates and from $5,300 to $5,777 for graduates).
During the board’s April 18 meeting, New Mexico Tech President Daniel H. López assured the regents that even with the tuition and fee increases they approved, costs associated with attending New Mexico Tech will continue to remain the lowest among the state’s three research universities.
In recommending that the board of regents approve the nine percent increase in tuition and fees, López said that additional revenues generated by the measure would be used in part to supplement faculty and staff salaries at the university, bringing next year’s salary increases for New Mexico Tech employees up to five percent.
In addition, revenues generated from the approved tuition and fees increase also will be used to support the New Mexico Tech Student Health Center, providing the center with a full-time nurse on staff, and to help pay for mounting costs associated with higher energy bills at the university.
López told the regents that a recent meeting held on campus to discuss the proposed increases with student representatives and other interested students showed that New Mexico Tech students were initially “generally not happy” about the tuition hike, but that most of those in attendance eventually “went along with it” after being informed of the specific plans for the additional revenues generated.
“After having to implement this latest tuition and fees increase, I can assure you that I will be concentrating my efforts on ensuring that future increases are limited, to the extent possible, to the tuition credit amount that is determined each year by the state legislature,” López said. “I’m hoping this will be the last painful tuition increase that will have to be implemented during my administration at this university.”
In other official actions taken by the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents, the regents voted to approve the following measures:
- appointment of Jay S. Naik to the full-time, tenure-track faculty position of assistant professor of biology;
- granting of academic tenures to and promotions of Rakhim Aitbayev to associate professor of mathematics, Ali Fakhimi to associate professor of mineral engineering, Alexander Kornienko to associate professor of chemistry, and Oliver Wingenter to associate professor of chemistry;
- granting academic promotions to Deidre A. Hirschfeld to professor of materials and metallurgical engineering, Anwar Hossain to professor of mathematics, Snezna Rogelj to professor of biology, and Donald H. Weinkauf to professor of chemical engineering;
- granting of emeritus status to retiring New Mexico Tech professors Lynn Deming, Timothy Hankins, and James A. Smoake;
- granting an honorary doctorate to State Senator Ben D. Altamirano;
- a 2005-2006 Fiscal Year Budget Adjustment Request;
- subscription renewals for journals and periodicals for the Joseph R. Skeen Library, totaling $448,510, awarded to EBSCO Subscription Services;
- a certification for the university to proceed with the acceptance of funds from the State of New Mexico Severance Tax Bonds, totaling $760,000 to be used for infrastructure improvements; and
- an official authorization for New Mexico Tech to join the Los Alamos Institute for Advance Studies, a newly established research and education entity comprised of the state’s three research universities, which is designed to bring university students, faculty, and researchers and Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists and engineers closer together on collaborative research and education projects.
In addition, after meeting in executive session to consider personnel matters, the New Mexico Tech Board of Regents unanimously approved a compensation package for the coming fiscal year for the university’s vice presidents, which collectively is not to exceed $100,000, and a compensation award of $10,000 for the New Mexico Tech President. The board also voted to adopt a new set of goals for the university president to accomplish during the next academic year.