Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

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

SPONSOR M.H. Garcia

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/25/08

HB 300

SHORT TITLE NMSU Student Athlete Support Programs

SB

ANALYST Haug

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$50.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 300 appropriates $50.0 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New Mexico

State University to pay for athletic student academic support programs and services.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $50.0 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.

A request for $40,000 was submitted by NMSU to the New Mexico Higher Education

Department during the RPSP process but is not included in the Department's funding

recommendations for FY09. According to NMSU's Associate Athletics Director, this amount

was increased to $50,000 to attract a better pool of candidates. Beginning with FY08, the

program received a $20,000 recurring appropriation from the General Fund.

The HED’s evaluation table of FY09 Research and Public Service Projects provided to the LFC

classifies this project as a “does not fit within HED priorities for Higher Education" project.

House Bill 300 – Page

2

Reasons for this classification decision are not provided. (LFC Report 07-20, Higher Education

Department Review of Selected Research and Public Service Projects, January 12, 2008, Table

4, p75.)

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to NMSU, under the strategy of Academic Support, the appropriation in House Bill

300 will provide student-athletes with additional support staff to help achieve academic success

and stated 925+ Academic Performance Ratio (APR) score. This position is needed to assist the

Athletic Department in improving graduation rates of student-athletes and meeting NCAA APR

requirements (925 minimum APR score for each NMSU athletic team). The additional staffing

will help the Athletic Department minimize the impact of student-athletes doing poorly (or being

ruled in-eligible) and caught early (not just midterm but a more aggressive approach and not just

at the end of each semester). The new advisor will allow the Athletics Department’s Eligibility

Specialist to spend more time on monitoring and providing more frequent updates (at least

monthly) regarding academic status of student-athletes. Also, NMSU’s success in athletics

proves we are on our way to being one of the best mid-major athletic programs with a good

balance in and out of the classroom. However, new NCAA mandates and more student-athletes

needing assistance puts NMSU in an understaffed situation in reaching academic and NCAA

requirements

According to the HED, the appropriation would be used to hire a full-time Academic Support

Program and Services Center advisor to further implement the existing program and take on

tasks currently performed by the eligibility specialist already on staff.

The program is designed to assist all NMSU athletes to improve their academic scores and

qualify for the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR). The APR awards points to athletes to

measure academic eligibility standards. A team's cumulative score of 925 is considered a cut-

off point, and any teams falling below this score are subject to contemporaneous penalties that

take effect the following academic year. The Academic Support Programs and Services Center

serves approximately 350 students annually and 120 students daily.

GH/mt