Santa Fe, NM - The Western New Mexico University Board of Regents met for its first meeting of 2017 on Thursday, February 2, in Santa Fe.

The Board heard from state leaders including State Senator John Arthur Smith, Chair of the State Finance Committee, who briefed the Regents members on the current economic outlook.

Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez detailed the efforts of the Governor's office to balance the budget and applauded WNMU's recent work to create relationships with education partners throughout Mexico and Latin America.

"The world is becoming smaller and one of the things that I have always appreciated about working with Latin America has been the idea that we have these shared values," Sanchez said. "Western has really blazed the trail."

David Abbey, Director of the Legislative Finance Committee, provided a recap of economic indicators over the last year including the current state of wages, jobs and revenues. Abbey spoke to increasing oil and gas revenues and a recent uptick in gross receipts tax revenues.

State Senator Howie Morales, representing Grant, Socorro and Catron counties, spoke to his concern on proposed cuts to state agencies including higher education.

"I know you took a big hit in the special session," Morales said. "I want to focus in on Western's approach thinking outside the box attracting students that are coming outside the country."

Morales expressed his appreciation that WNMU was looking for other ways to create revenue outside of the state government. Morales is a member of the State Finance Committee and a WNMU alum.

"We can't cut our way out this recession, we can't tax our way out of it," Morales said. "It has to be a balanced approach."

Morales sponsored a bill to introduce Arlean Murillo as the new student regent member of the Board and also sponsored a memorial to declare WNMU as the public applied liberal arts university for the state.

"Western was known for it's teacher college and this is another way for Western to find that niche. It's a great way to go forward," Morales said.

Marc Saavedra, Executive Director of the Council of University Presidents, presented the budget impact to higher education institutions in the state. He detailed the organization's view of the Lottery Scholarship, which is funding less than 70% of full tuition rates.

"We suggest the higher education institutions work with the Secretary of Higher Education over the next year to put together a proposal for solvency," Saavedra said.

The Lottery Scholarship is a legislatively created scholarship funded through the state's lottery sales and designated to college students that graduated from a New Mexico high school.

Saavedra congratulated WNMU for having the largest percentage growth of bachelor degree graduates in the state over the last five years, and a large percentage growth in master degree graduates.

Barbara Damron, New Mexico Higher Education Secretary, commended WNMU for making strides to increase graduation rates and the University's involvement in developing general education reforms.

The Board of Regents approved the state's 2015-2016 fiscal audit report of WNMU. The report was determined as unmodified with fewer findings than reported in the previous year's audit. No findings were considered major or significant.

The Board also approved a biennial review of the university's Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program.

 

 

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.