SENATE MEMORIAL 23

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

John Pinto

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT EXAMINE STATE PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THE LEGISLATIVE LOTTERY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND ACCOMPANYING BUDGET AND FUNDING PROCESSES, TO IDENTIFY WHERE TRIBAL COLLEGES ARE EXCLUDED.

     WHEREAS, there are four tribal colleges in New Mexico that serve Pueblo, Apache, Navajo and other American Indian students and serve as valuable institutions of higher learning in the effort by the state to deliver high-quality education to the state's residents; and

     WHEREAS, the four tribal colleges are public institutions of higher education designated as 1994 land grant institutions on par with New Mexico's 1862 state land grant public institutions of higher education; and

     WHEREAS, tribal college students graduate, transfer to New Mexico institutions of higher education, find employment and seek graduate degrees at a higher rate than American Indian students who attend nontribal institutions of higher learning; and

     WHEREAS, tribal college students have a graduation rate of seventy percent or better; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is a leader in ensuring higher education access and equity for American Indian students through a series of legislative acts, most notably the American Indian Post-Secondary Education Act, the College Affordability Act, the State-Tribal Collaboration Act and the tribal college dual credit program fund; and

     WHEREAS, the four tribal colleges have statutory access to state budgetary processes, including capital outlay, operational funding, grants, severance tax bond funding and similar programs and funding sources, on par with New Mexico institutions of higher learning;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the higher education department be requested to examine, during the 2014 interim, state programs, policies and procedures and accompanying budget and funding processes, including the legislative lottery scholarship program, to identify where tribal colleges are excluded; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the higher education department draft a report with findings and recommendations to address how tribal colleges shall be included in state programs, policies, procedures, regulations and accompanying annual budgets and funding processes to strengthen New Mexico's effort to develop a highly educated, professional American Indian citizenry; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a draft of the higher education department final report be available for comment by interested parties, including Indian nations, tribes and pueblos, ninety days before the 2015 regular legislative session; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the resulting final report of the higher education department identify the manner in which the legislature and state agencies use statute and rule, respectively, to achieve and implement the report's recommendations and submit the final report to the interim Indian affairs committee and the legislative education study committee for further action as necessary; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor of the state of New Mexico, the governors of each of New Mexico's nineteen pueblos, the president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, the president of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, the chair of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, the president of the Navajo Nation, the speaker of the Navajo Nation council, the chair of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, the legislative standing senate Indian and cultural affairs and education committees, the legislative standing house health, government and Indian affairs and education committees, the secretary of higher education, the secretary of public education, the secretary of Indian affairs and the presidents of the four tribal colleges in New Mexico.

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