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

SPONSOR Powdrell-Culbert

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/23/08

HB 149

SHORT TITLE Minority Student Math & Science Skills

SB

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$200.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 149 appropriates $200.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the

University of New Mexico to enhance Pre-College Minority Students' Mathematics and Science

Skills and conduct a summer mathematics and science camp for minority students through the

University’s College of Engineering special program.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $200.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall revert to the

general fund.

This request was not submitted by UNM to the New Mexico Higher Education Department for

review. The Departments funding recommendation for FY09 is a continuance of FY08 recurring

funding in the amount of $315,800

House Bill 149 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

As stated by HED, funds will be used for weekend camps, weekday activities (including tutoring

programs), summer programs and travel to national and regional conferences for students to

participate in competitions, including robotics.

The purpose of HB149 is to increase interest in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

(STEM) fields. It is also designed to help retain and graduate students in these fields once they

attend a university. UNMS goals are to:

.

recruit students to the School of Engineering;

.

provide other support through scholarships and mentoring;

.

increase the number of students majoring in the STEM fields;

.

retain students once they get to UNM by showing them how to look for the proper

resources; and

.

graduate students (either to an immediate job or to graduate school).

According to the UNM School of Engineering Student Services website, the Minority

Engineering Program was created in April 1990 to establish a retention and recruitment program

for minority students. In 2001, the program was renamed Diversity Programs in the School of

Engineering and in 2004 the program was renamed the Multicultural Engineering Program. Its

primary focus is to emphasize community building among students by implementing the

following:

.

Clustering minority students into common courses

.

Creating structured study groups for clustered minority students

.

Providing students with an engineering orientation course

.

Developing a student study center

According to PED, numerous studies show “...that traditionally underserved students are less

likely to attend, to persist and to graduate from college than other, more fortunate students."

This report indicates that three factors bear on access to and success in college: predisposition to

college, access to academic experiences of high quality and postsecondary opportunity.

Programs that provide enrichment experiences or support services can... help fill the gaps where

the system fails." (Swail, 2001)

•

This program has been in operation since 1988, serves 200 students with educational

enrichment in a 6-week summer camp where students are inspired by expert speakers, are

motivated to participate in fairs, conferences and competitions and are mentored by

graduate students in the fields of math and science.

•

This program was funded by the New Mexico Legislature in FY 2008 through $145.0 in

SB 611, on page 55, lines 6-10. The appropriation was to prepare minority children in

kindergarten through grade 12 for college studies through Saturday educational

enrichment and a 6-week summer camp for science and math.

House Bill 149 – Page

3

Swail, W. S. (2001). The College Board outreach program handbook, New York: The

College Board

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