by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
UNM will ask New Mexico for more than $140 million next spring.
The University lobbies the Legislature every year for funding through bonds, which are paid off by state taxes.
The Board of Regents approved the 2008 legislative priorities Tuesday.
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The priorities include more than $6 million for the Film and Digital Media Program, $17 million to continue renovation of the College of Education and $17 million to renovate athletics facilities.
The Legislature will choose bonds and recommend them for voter approval in the 2008 general election, said Marc Saavedra, UNM's government relations director.
Saavedra said UNM President David Schmidly changed the University's approach to lobbying for state money.
"He is proposing large strategic initiatives," he said. "Instead of like in the past where you have a bunch of little projects, we're approaching the Legislature with larger requests that tie into the mission of the University."
Schmidly said UNM and New Mexico will benefit from the initiatives, which include improving energy use and economic development.
"There is a lot that we're looking to do," he said. "We took a very strategic view looking at the strategic goals that the regents set and how we could position our requests to address our goals."
Schmidly said many of the projects aim to increase student success.
He said the most important goal of the legislative session is preventing the state from increasing tuition.
The zero-tuition credit is a goal that will be pursued by the seven four-year universities in New Mexico.
The universities share several goals for the legislative session, including a 5 percent raise for faculty and building maintenance and renovation.
UNM, NMSU and New Mexico Tech will request funding to increase faculty diversity, but the amount hasn't been determined, Saavedra said.
UNM and NMSU are teaming up to request funding on three other projects, Saavedra said.
The universities are working on joint programs to improve health care in rural parts of New Mexico, graduate more students in speech and language pathology and offer a Ph.D. program in nursing.
Saavedra said it's not easy to develop the legislative priorities.
They need to be debated and reviewed before the University goes to the Legislature, he said.
"There's a very involved process of approval," he said. "They get a lot of scrutiny."
Regent Mel Eaves said the priorities are important for moving UNM forward.
"It's a product of a lot of effort, and I fully support them," he said. "They're all projects that require emphasis from the University."
Saavedra said UNM won't get everything it asks for, but the Legislature is generous in the funding it provides.
"We'd like to get all of it," he said. "We're not going to get that much money. We know that."
