$350,000 approved for struggling UNM Press
School also reviewing athletic dept. deficit
University of New Mexico regents took a step toward alleviating one of their perennial budgetary headaches by approving a one-time $350,000 allocation to the UNM Press.
And interim President Chaouki Abdallah said Tuesday that they should make progress toward addressing another — the deficitprone athletic department — over the next month.
Together, athletics and the UNM Press have accumulated nearly $12million in debt to the university, which consistently has tapped its reserves to cover their year-end shortfalls.
Abdallah told the Board of Regents that the press — which has in recent years finished more than $600,000 in the red — is streamlining but needs $350,000 to break even this year. That’s in addition to the $350,000 in money he already dedicated from discretionary presidential funds.
UNM has the extra funds due to higher-than-expected interest earnings, according to Executive Vice President for Administration David Harris.
UNM rarely has budgeted a subsidy for the UNM Press, opting instead to cover its deficits. But Abdallah said the press would be a priority during fiscal year 2019 budget planning, noting most every academic press requires some university subsidy. UNM aims to keep it around $350,000 per year moving forward.
As for athletics, Abdallah said staff would have a “financial plan” for the department by next month’s regents’ meeting, including how it would address its mounting deficit to the university.
The debt stands at $4.7 million, but regents already have approved another $1.3 million in reserves to plug the department’s projected current year hole. With the $1.3 million, athletics’ accumulated deficit will have more than doubled in three years’ time.
The problems prompted New Mexico Higher Education Secretary Barbara Damron to put UNM under enhanced oversight last year. A financial plan was
expected — but did not materialize — by the end of 2017.
Abdallah said planning is underway, noting that athletics’ new chief financial officer, Rob Robinson, officially joined the staff last week.
“I think we have right now the team in place; we’re getting all the data and everybody together to solve the problem of the debt, of the current deficit and ... what we’re going to do going forward,” Abdallah said.
Some details, however, may be limited, Abdallah warned, especially regarding any potential long-term cuts that would require additional discussion.
Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez said in an interview the planning will address not just deficit repayment and future budget modeling, but also possible solutions to keep this year’s shortfall from hitting that $1.3million. It could lessen depending on factors such as basketball ticket sales, he said.