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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Garcia
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/01/06
HB
SHORT TITLE
NMSU Minority & Women Faculty Recruitment
SB 101
ANALYST Moser
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY06
FY07
$800
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
New Mexico State University (NMSU)
New Mexico Department of Higher Education (NMHED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 101, NMSU Minority & Women Faculty Recruitment, appropriates $800,000 from
the General Fund to the Board of Regents at New Mexico State University (NMSU) to recruit
and retain minority and women faculty.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall revert to the gen-
eral fund.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $800,000 contained in this bill is a RECURRING expense to the
GENERAL FUND. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of 2007
shall revert to the GENERAL FUND.
NMSU indicates that it seeks legislative funding to continue the development and maintenance
of an important program which is no longer being funded through the National Science Founda-
tion.
pg_0002
Senate Bill 101 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
NMSU indicates that this bill appropriates $800,000 from the General Fund to NMSU Board of
Regents for the purpose of improving recruitment and retention of diverse, high-demand faculty
in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) disciplines which reflect our
state’s diversity and extending this information to other institutions of higher education in NM.
A diverse faculty in New Mexico’s institutions of higher education is needed to advance New
Mexicans currently underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce and improve our
state’s competitiveness for the 21
st
Century. The bill does not limit this funding to these disci-
plines.
NMSU indicates that a previous grant to NMSU from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
has already initiated programs to improve recruitment and retention of female faculty in STEM.
These same initiatives are needed for other underrepresented groups so that faculty composition
reflects our state’s diverse population. This diversity will attract greater numbers of New Mex-
ico students into Science and Technology fields.
According to NMSU ethnic minority Ph.D.s are scarce across most academic fields. The repre-
sentation of women among doctoral recipients varies greatly across fields from those with pro-
portionately many women (like the humanities and psychology) to those with far fewer women
(like engineering and computer science). The nationwide concern with diversity in the profes-
soriate combined with these different levels of "candidate availability" means that NMSU must
compete with every other institution for those excellent women and minority candidates. It is the
positioin of NMSU that providing attractive incentives is essential in the natural and physical
sciences and engineering to win this nationwide competition for the best talent. Efforts in reten-
tion are needed to protect the investment NMSU has made in these candidates.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
NMSU further points out that because a diverse faculty in New Mexico’s institutions of higher
education will improve our state’s high-technology competitiveness for the 21
st
Century, we
need to build upon the successful efforts already initiated by the NMSU ADVANCE program
and sustain the following ‘Best Practices’:
- Competitive hiring packages to attract excellent, high-demand diverse faculty for
world-class research
- Increased faculty diversity through intensive training of recruitment committees
- Improved effectiveness for diversity through training programs for department heads
and administrators
- Training of ‘Equity Advisors’ throughout campus to foster an understanding and a
value of diversity
- Family-friendly work environment to foster the work-life balance demanded by today’s
professional work force
- Enhanced retention and protection of the hiring investment through mentoring
- Technology and research centers linkage through travel awards for faculty
pg_0003
Senate Bill 101 – Page
3
- Economic development and national recognition fostered by research awards for
faculty
- Leadership development program to build faculty leaders
- Disseminate these best practices to other institutions of higher education in NM.
GM/mt