Regents meeting promises deep cuts to UNM

Main campus will use hybrid teaching model in fall

ALBUQUERQUE — While the University of New Mexico’s Board of Regents approved the university’s adjusted budget Tuesday with a 6.5 percent overall reduction for the 202021 school year, it also got a sneak peek into what campus life may look like during the coronavirus pandemic.

James Holloway, the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, presented some details of the plan during President Garnett Stokes’ administrative report, noting UNM’s return will involve a hybrid instructional model that will use both virtual and in-person classroom settings for students. Holloway said fall schedules were completed based on instructor requests, but more adjustments are expected to further reduce in-person instruction.

He said he anticipated about 6.5 percent of classes will be in person, another 25 percent will meet at least once a week and the rest will be conducted remotely.

All classes at UNM this summer are remote. Paul Roth, executive vice president and chancellor for UNM Health Sciences, told the regents the school could not reopen right now based on the criteria the state uses.

Branch campuses probably will conduct classes online at a 90 percent rate, Holloway estimated, adding those in cities dealing with “hot spots” may do so more than others. He added all faculty and staff members plus students will self-screen daily.

Ultimately, Holloway anticipates no more than 2,200 students in classes at one time (at noon Tuesdays), but the number could be further reduced. He said the administration has slowly brought certain groups back on campus this summer, such as those for research studies, which was intentional.

“We wanted to make sure that we could see the processes and practices for COVID-safe operations were going to be working well and in place,” Holloway said. “Also, we’ve never reopened a campus before with 400 buildings, so we had to be mindful about the challenges of getting building, facilities and operations online.”

The university’s goal is to limit, not eliminate, in-person instruction, Holloway said. However, it will consistently monitor the same set of data that the state has used to determine its reopening phases. Classrooms were redesigned to accommodate social-distancing measures, and classes were spread out over the day for cleaning and sanitization.

As far as housing, Holloway said space is available for 2,200 students, but the rest of the student population is

mostly off campus.

Stokes said new student enrollment is improving compared to the past few years — a 3.73 percent jump of incoming freshmen six weeks prior to the start of the fall semester compared to 2019-20.

Overall, enrollment dropped by 4.29 percent, but Stokes said that could change based on how many out-of-state students return to campus amid the pandemic, especially international students.

“It could be a little tough,” Stokes said. “We have 18 percent of our students [that] are either international or from out of state. We hope that we’re not going to lose them all, but if we keep the in-state students, we’d be happy with that.”

The uncertainty of enrollment might have a trickle-down effect for UNM’s budget. Teresa Costantinidis, the senior vice president for finance and administration, indicated the potential for further reductions in the budget midyear exist depending on a variety of factors.

She said the current budget projected a 10 percent drop in tuition and student fees instead of a 6 percent or 7 percent drop in the one approved in May. The budget already took a hit when the state cut the school’s appropriations from $194.4 million to just under $186.2 million after the special legislative session in June.

Regents unanimously approved the main and branch campus budget, which projects to $483,341,210 — which is more than $33 million less than the one approved in May.

They also unanimously approved the Health Sciences Center’s revised budget, which took a 6 percent hit and came in at $98,347,100.