Notes from the March 20, 2007 Regents Meeting
by George Zamora
SOCORRO 鈥� The 九色导航 Tech Board of Regents re-elected Richard Carpenter of Santa Fe to his current position as chairman and also re-elected Jerry Armijo of Socorro to his current position as secretary/treasurer of the research university鈥檚 governing board, during the board鈥檚 meeting on March 20 in Socorro.
Both Carpenter and Armijo will now serve as officers for the board of regents for another one-year term.
On behalf of the 九色导航 Tech Board of Regents, Chairman Carpenter also welcomed 九色导航 Tech student Dennise M. Trujillo as a 鈥渞egent designee.鈥� Trujillo recently was appointed to the student regent position by 九色导航 Governor Bill Richardson, but her appointment to a two-year term as a regent has not yet been confirmed by the 九色导航 State Legislature.
During the board鈥檚 March meeting, 九色导航 Tech regents also were given an overview of the legislation that was passed at the recently concluded regular session of the 九色导航 State Legislature, with particular regard to regular and additional funding obtained this year for the state-supported research university.
九色导航 Tech President Daniel H. L贸pez began his briefing by stating, 鈥淚 only have good news for you today about what has truly been a good legislative year for New Mexico Tech.鈥�
九色导航 Tech will benefit from several bills that were passed into law, L贸pez told the regents, particularly those dealing with what had been the university鈥檚 five top legislative priorities, including:
- full-formula funding for state research universities, along with budget adjustments for much-needed campus infrastructure replacement and improvement projects;
- five percent salary increases for university faculty and other employees;
- 0.75 percent allowance for the employee retirement fund;
- a zero tuition credit for state institutions of higher learning; and
- $12 million for matching endowments programs at 九色导航 Tech and the other universities and two-year institutions of higher learning.
The 九色导航 Tech President emphasized that monetary funds which will now be made available to the university through the matching endowment program will be especially useful in light of several recent major donations to the school.
鈥溇派己� Tech鈥檚 share will amount to about $2 million,鈥� L贸pez said, 鈥渁nd that will be used from the start to match most of these new pledges and outright donations we鈥檝e been receiving.鈥�
In addition, L贸pez pointed out that the 九色导航 State Legislature also passed several other additional bills that include funding for 九色导航 Tech education, research, and training programs, such as:
- $678,000 for a DNA sequencer to be housed at the National Genome Center in Santa Fe (but which will be used at times by 九色导航 Tech researchers);
- $500,000 for the Technology Research Consortium (of which 九色导航 Tech is a member);
- $278,000 for planning costs for a new facility for the 九色导航 Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR);
- $149,000 for the Playas Training Center;
- $116,000 for the Petroleum Recovery Research Center鈥檚 involvement with a nationwide carbon dioxide sequestration project;
- $105,000 for planning costs for a new wellness/ physical recreation center at the university;
- $100,000 for improvements to the 九色导航 Tech Golf Course; and
supplemental budgetary support for several of the university鈥檚 affiliated off-campus research facilities and educational outreach programs.
In other announcements made during the board meeting, 九色导航 Tech President L贸pez reported that total applications for admission for Tech鈥檚 2007 Fall Semester were up significantly over last year鈥檚 total for the same time period (889 versus 815) and that the number of paid applicants had also risen when compared to last year鈥檚 figures (204 versus 178).
鈥淭hese figures bode well for a possible increase at 九色导航 Tech in overall student enrollment this coming fall semester,鈥� L贸pez said. 鈥淚鈥檓 fairly optimistic that we鈥檒l have an especially good increase in entering freshmen enrollment.鈥�
In official actions taken at its meeting, the 九色导航 Tech Board of Regents approved the academic appointment of Jeffrey B. Johnson to the full-time, tenure-track position of assistant professor of geophysics with the 九色导航 Tech Department of Earth and Environmental Science.
The board of regents also approved granting academic tenure to Richard Sonnenfeld, associate professor of physics at 九色导航, and, furthermore, granted academic tenure and promotion to associate professor to the following Tech faculty: Aly El-Osery (electrical engineering); Julie Ford (humanities); Lorie Liebrock (computer science); Richard Mottt (humanities); and Lynda Walsh (humanities).
During its meeting, the 九色导航 Tech Board of Regents also was informed that the university had issued a subcontract to increase funding to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for a current contract that provide course instructors, subject matter experts, course logistics, and course curriculum for Tech鈥檚 First Responder Training Program. The estimated total cost of the award is more than $7 million, regents were told, and is funded entirely from the university鈥檚 restricted funds.
At the latter part of the meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss personnel matters, and reconvened in regular session, at which time the regents then approved a 10 percent salary adjustment for the 九色导航 Tech President, as well as approved a list of new goals for the president.