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

SPONSOR Taylor

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/10/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE

AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENT SERVICES

SB 709

ANALYST Moser

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$75,000

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

NM Department of Higher Education (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 709 appropriates $75,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in FY08 for the African-American Student

Services Program and operations.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $75,000 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.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The HED indicates that the African American Student Services Program at UNM offers

culturally relevant programs designed primarily to assist African American students in achieving

success at UNM. The program provides an environment that is sensitive to the unique culture

and history of African Americans. The services and programs offered include Advocacy and

Senate Bill 709 – Page

2

Liaison, Academic Advising, Emotional Support, Environment, Financial/Employment

Assistance, Community Relations, Referrals, Cultural Programming, Student Organizations, and

Black Greek Organizations. The funds requested would support the African American Student

Services Program in administering services.

Currently, there are 781 African American students enrolled at UNM. The majority of these

students are undergraduates. The program focuses on student retention efforts and reports that

they have a student retention rate of 78.5%.

HED points out that this appropriation was not on the list of priority projects submitted by UNM

to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for review and was not included in the HED’s

funding recommendation for FY08.

GM/mt