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

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/09/07

HB 572

SHORT TITLE

Higher Ed Accountability Report Faculty Info

SB

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$5,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates: HB 384

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 572 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 these 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.

House Bill 572 – Page

2

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:

•

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/mt