Silver City, NM - The Board of Regents at Western New Mexico University met on Monday, September 14, at the main campus in Silver City.

The five-member board introduced a new member, Dr. Carl Foster, recently appointed by Governor Susana Martinez. Foster resides in Albuquerque, NM. His career in higher education includes being a faculty member at New Mexico Highlands University. He has held leadership positions at New Mexico Tech and is currently a commissioner with the New Mexico Public Schools Capital Outlay Advisory Board.

The board unanimously approved several items including updates to the Staff Senate Handbook and the Staff Senate Constitution and Bylaws. Both documents were presented to the board, for with minor changes in language.

The university's Master Plan document, previously presented to the board on several occasions, was also approved unanimously. The document lays out a map of potential campus infrastructure and landscape changes from 2014-2029. The Master Plan can be viewed online here: http://wnmu.edu/construction.

Regent members also approved an updated version of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new agreement, which affects about for 40 university employees, allows members of the bargaining unit to benefit from future salary raises enacted by the University President, without waiting for negotiations by the unit. Additionally, the agreement now allows unit members to benefit from any changes to the university's sick leave policy instead of waiting for negotiations by the unit.