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

SPONSOR McSorley

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/24/08

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Student Engagement & Success Program

SB 119

ANALYST Escudero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$1,009.5

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

University of New Mexico (UNM)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 119 appropriates $1,009.475 from the general fund to the local government division

of the Department of Finance and Administration for expenditure in fiscal year 2009 to provide

The Board of Regents of the University of New Mexico for expenditure in fiscal year 2009 to

strengthen the success of all student groups by providing them the chance to pursue their educa-

tions in three major extra-campus setting: international, professional, and community.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1,009.475 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 was submitted by UNM in the amount of $1,453,685 to increase the base funding of

$330,000 by an additional amount of $1,123,685. The executive funding recommendation for

FY09 is a continuance of FY08 recurring base funding in the amount of $330,000. The base

funding is comprised of appropriations in Laws 2007. HB2 included $280,000 for international

education initiatives, and SB611 included.

Senate Bill 119 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to UNM and HED, the Student Engagement and Success initiative has three major

objectives:

•

To double the percentage of UNM students engaging in international study each year

•

To significantly increase participation in professional conferences and presentations for

students from underrepresented minority groups; and

•

To place 1,500 undergraduates in research service learning settings in Albuquerque and

other New Mexico communities.

"Student engagement," in a wide variety of forms, is positively correlated with increased rates of

persistence and success in college. Engagement in the form of curricular or co-curricular activity

improves the quality of students' educations, increases the likelihood that they will persist and

graduate, and allows them to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world needs at the same

time they are earning their degrees. Fiscal pressures, however, both personal and institutional,

work against this kind of engagement. Working students often lack the resources to take advan-

tage of professional or study abroad opportunities; and from the university's perspective, large

classes held on campus are often the only way to hold down tuition costs. A dedicated, funding

stream is required to overcome these economic obstacles to student engagement and success.

SB119 does not indicate performance measures. However, UNM did provide performance in-

formation on FY07's Research and Service Learning Program (RSLP). Operating with a combi-

nation of university, private, and foundation funds, the (RSLP) was launched in FY07. Over 800

students enrolled in 52 class sections and devoted 26,500 hours to research on community issues

and service to community partners.

As stated by UNM, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) participat-

ing in activities such as study abroad or other cross-cultural experiences are natural venues that

increase the likelihood that students will experience diversity through contact with people who

are different than themselves. But so are learning communities, courses that feature service

learning, internships, and field placements. These experiences often challenge students to de-

velop new ways of thinking about and responding immediately to novel circumstances as they

work side-by-side with peers on intellectual and practical tasks, inside and outside the classroom,

on and off campus.

PME/yr