With 25,634 students enrolled at UNM, Provost Brian Foster said faculty will feel stretched this semester.
Faculty Senate covered a long agenda, hearing reports from Foster and President Louis Caldera at a meeting Tuesday.
Foster told members there were several initiatives the administration was looking into, including attracting more high-achieving students and trying to connect the University Honors program with disciplinary programs.
They are also taking a look at the core curriculum.
"We need to have a core with educational outcomes in mind as opposed to content overage," Foster said.
Faculty Senate established a core curriculum overview committee, a project that is expected to take around a year and a half to complete.
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Foster said the Academic Affairs Office is looking into centralizing the way graduate students are attracted to the University.
He said faculty recruitment and retainment holds high importance and needs more creative ideas for compensation.
Executive Vice President David Harris told members he was working on getting money for maintenance projects around campus that have been deferred.
He also said the funding formula needs to be revisited, because as it stands, he estimated the University loses more than $90 million because of the two-year lag in enrollment.
Beverly Burris, member of the operations committee who has been working on finding a space for a faculty club, reported it should be open in October or by the end of the semester at the latest.
The house at 1923 Los Lomas Blvd. is undergoing minor renovations before it will open for the club. She suggested it serve pre-prepared food and Starbuck's coffee. It will also have wireless Internet access.
Barry Kues from the library committee spoke to Senate members about the inflation publishers charge for the subscription to their journals.
He said this causes libraries to dig into funds that would be used for books to pay for these subscriptions.
He recommended the use of open-access electronic publications. He also suggested the University libraries cancel subscriptions to Elsevier journals and said tenured faculty should submit papers to other journals.
Faculty members approved a proposal from the English department for a master's of fine arts in creative writing, instead of simply a master's degree.
The Senate approved revisions in early childhood multicultural education classes offered at UNM branch campuses.
Faculty Senate also voted to accept the summer 2004 degree candidate list, which is the list of all students up for graduation.
