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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Faculty Petition: UNM in 'Crisis'
By Martin Salazar
Copyright © 2009 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
Faculty members at the University of New Mexico have set the stage for a no-confidence vote against the university's leadership, gathering enough petition signatures to force a meeting on the issue.
The petition — signed by at least 233 voting faculty — cites a "crisis of confidence" in regents President Jamie Koch, UNM President David Schmidly and Executive Vice President for Administration David Harris. There are nearly 1,800 faculty members.
The petition also expresses "extreme concern about the diversion of instructional funds to pay excessive administrative compensation, as well as cronyism and other irregular hiring practices by the administration."
The petition comes as lawmakers are meeting in Santa Fe to set next year's budget and to determine cuts to current year budgets because of a $450 million state revenue shortfall. Also on the agenda for the state Senate is a confirmation hearing for Koch, who was reappointed to another six-year term by Gov. Bill Richardson.
Speaking for the administration, UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey called the petition unfortunate.
"With so much at stake for our university during this fiscal crisis, it's unfortunate that members of our faculty have chosen to take this route now," McKinsey said in a written statement. "In Santa Fe and in Washington, there is just too much at stake for the university community to be divided by this."
Schmidly on Monday announced a freeze in executive salaries, including his own, and cuts in administrative spending. For some faculty, however, the gesture was too little too late.
The petition states that faculty fear actions taken by Schmidly, Harris and Koch "are undermining public support for the University of New Mexico, and thus have negatively affected the state Legislature's view of the university."
Some lawmakers have raised concerns about UNM's executive compensation. Schmidly earns a yearly compensation package of $587,000. Harris, under a contract signed by Schmidly, has a $428,000 package for the current year that includes an extra $50,000 in deferred compensation.
Koch said he doesn't think the faculty's action will affect his confirmation. He said he thinks the petition was motivated by his push last year to bring the university in full compliance with state open record laws, a move unpopular with many faculty and staff members.
He also pointed to the Princeton Review, which for two years has ranked UNM No. 1 for inaccessible professors.
"That's fine," Koch said of the petitions. "I'm not going to any meeting on it. I'm not surprised. I think the faculty can sure do what they want to do, and I do think maybe the students need to take a look at the faculty and see how much confidence they have in the faculty."
Messages left late Friday for Faculty Senate President Howard Snell and several other faculty leaders weren't immediately returned.
A vote of no-confidence would largely be a symbolic gesture, having no legal impact on whether Schmidly, Harris and Koch remain at UNM.
University Secretary Vivian Valencia said 89 signatures — representing 5 percent of UNM faculty — are required to force a general faculty meeting. To proceed with the meeting, 10 percent of the UNM faculty, or 178 people, would have to show up. Those at the meeting would then vote on the no confidence issue. It's unclear when the meeting will be held.
Unrest over executive compensation at UNM has been brewing for months.
Due to faculty concerns, the university conducted a study last year that found that UNM is spending $4.1 million more on executive salaries than it did in 2002, a 71 percent increase.
Also last year, a whistle-blower complained about cronyism in the hiring and promotions of 21 employees. The UNM attorney assigned to review the allegations found no evidence to support them, though his probe focused largely on whether hiring, promotions and raises were properly documented in personnel files.
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