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

SPONSOR Robinson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/1/07

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Latin American Student Recruitment

SB 386

ANALYST A. Guambaña

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$150.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 386 appropriates $150,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico (UNM) for Latin American Student (LAS) Recruitment Programs.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 08 shall revert to the

General Fund.

HED states that this request was not submitted by UNM to the Department for review. However,

HED recommends a continuation of FY07 recurring funding in the amount of $247,000.

Senate Bill 386– Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to HED, Senate Bill 386 would enable the LAS program to:

•

Increase connections as well as promote close ties and economic development efforts

with Mexico and Latin American countries;

•

Establish a Fulbright Scholar program at UNM for Mexican and Latin American students

to come to UNM and study;

•

Support international college preparatory programs that occur periodically during the

school year including the summer;

•

Support visiting professor and student exchange programs; and

•

Recruit students for the Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII) at UNM.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The LAS program is an interdisciplinary program that grants B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. In

addition to the M.A. in Latin American Studies, the program has established dual degree options

with five professional schools (Business Administration, Community and Regional Planning,

Education, Law, and Nursing).

AG/nt