Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

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attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

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ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/09/2007

3/15/2007 HB

384/aHAFC/aSEC/aSFC

SHORT TITLE

Higher Ed Accountability Report Faculty Info

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates: HB 572

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SFC Amendment

The Senate Finance Committee Amendment to House Bill 384 as amended clarifies that the pay

schedule for part-time faculty is “…subject to legislative appropriation."

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee Amendment to House Bill 384 as amended strikes HAFC

amendments 2, 3, and 4. The amendment modifies the information to be collected for the annual

accountability report by focusing on compensation and benefit data and excluding information

regarding:

1.

faculty diversity, orientation and evaluation;

2.

faculty ethnicity and gender;

3.

number of vacant positions posted and percentage of applicants interviewed;

4.

percent of faulty receiving an annual performance evaluation that includes a peer

review and meeting with supervisor; and,

5.

dates and locations of formal orientation sessions.

House Bill 384/aHAFC/aSEC/aSFC – Page

2

Additionally, the Amendment establishes a requirement for HED to work with the public post-

secondary educational institutions to establish a pay schedule for part-time faculty.

Synopsis of HAFC Amendment

The House Appropriations and Finance Committee Amendment to House Bill 384 removes the

appropriation assigned to this Bill and inserts as required information in its annual accountability

report to the governor and the Legislature a “plan and budget for salaries, benefits and career

track for part-time faculty at public post-secondary educational institutions."

The Amendment is incorrect in citing line 12 on page 1 for removal of a semi-colon. The

reference should be line 13.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 384 makes amendment changes relating to higher education to include faculty

information in the annual New Mexico Higher Education (NMHED) accountability report and

appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund to NMHED for expenditures in FY08 for part-

time faculty salary increases and to initiate group insurance benefits for thee individuals.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $5,000,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

general fund.

HED points out that it is unsure of the total fiscal impact for part-time faculty salary increases

and for the inclusion of group insurance benefits for part-time faculty. HED additionally

indicates that $5,000,000 may not cover the actual costs initially or in future years as costs

continue to escalate.

HED would be the administrator for these funds and indicates that additional staffing, not

provided for in this bill, may be required to support additional data collection and analysis for

this request.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HED indicates that its annual accountability report, The Condition of Higher Education, requires

all public post-secondary institutions to report information on student progress and success;

student access and diversity; affordability and costs of educational services; and public and

community service by the institution.

HB384 proposes to change Section 1. Section 21-1-26.7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1990 (1st

S.S.), Chapter 4, Section 2, as amended) to establishing faculty information reporting

requirements for all public post-secondary institutions. The amendment proposes the following

information be reported to HED annually for inclusion in the report:

Faculty diversity, orientation, evaluation, compensation, and benefits practices, including:

House Bill 384/aHAFC/aSEC/aSFC – Page

3

•

number and percentage of part-time and full-time faculty by ethnicity and gender

•

number of vacant positions posted, average number of applicants for each position and

percentage of applicants interviewed for full-time and part-time faculty positions

percentage of full-time and percentage of part-time faculty receiving an annual

performance evaluation that includes peer review and a meeting with a supervisor

•

list of dates and locations for formal orientation sessions for full-time faculty and a list of

dates and locations for formal orientation sessions for part-time faculty

•

per-credit-hour pay rate for full-time instructors or lecturers and per-credit-hour pay rate

for part-time faculty

•

percent salary increase for full-time faculty and percent salary increase for part-time

faculty

•

description of the institution's policy for offering benefits to full-time faculty and to part-

time faculty.

This data is necessary in order to conduct any analysis of the salary increases necessary for part-

time faculty and to assess the financial impact of providing benefits to these individuals.

HED indicates that $3,000,000 would be distributed to the public post-secondary educational

institutions so that the institutions may begin to phase in part-time faculty compensation rates

that on a per-credit-hour basis equal those of full-time instructors or lecturers.

The remaining $2,000,000 would be distributed to the public post-secondary educational

institutions so that the institutions may begin to phase in the provision of group insurance

benefits for part-time faculty.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Why should appropriations be given to fund compensation increases and insurance benefits for

part-time faculty prior to knowing how much is needed to fully fund this need.

GM/nt