President David Schmidly has outlined an economic plan for the fiscal year 2009-10 that relies heavily on halting all increases in compensation.
Schmidly briefly described the economic plan in an e-mail sent to the UNM community on Monday. He said the context of his plan was in keeping with mid-year revenue adjustments, which he expects to be included in the state's solvency plan.
The plan has had several days of rough polishing and is the first step in the creation of a "comprehensive, University-wide policy on deferred compensation," Schmidly said in the letter.
"Through the end of fiscal year 2009-10, we will freeze all increases in compensation for all Main Campus nonacademic administrative staff earning more than $125,000 annually," he said.
The plan also calls for a 15 percent reduction on nonacademic Main Campus administrative spending over the next three years.
Schmidly said this sort of reallocation is necessary so that the University can direct its funds to teaching and research missions.
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The plan also places a cap on the amount of money vice presidents are paid.
"We will indefinitely freeze executive compensation of the president, executive vice presidents and Main Campus vice presidents, including salaries, allowances and deferred compensation," Schmidly said.
Schmidly said all of these cuts combined will successfully reorganize the University's finances and "accomplish a net increase of at least 10 new full-time Main Campus tenure-track faculty positions."
Howard Snell, president of the Faculty Senate, said he was pleased with the steps that Schmidly has taken in his effort to maintain the University's finances while increasing its number of tenure-track professors.
"We have to put the faculty positions in perspective, but it's certainly good to see that we'll be able to hire some faculty next year," Snell said.
Snell said the Senate would welcome the opportunity to work with Schmidly on implementing his plan and working out the details. However, there is a lot of research and work to be done before the depleted tenure-track staff can be compensated for, he said.
"What I think might be important to do . is to look at how many faculty we might have lost in the last couple of years and devise a plan for replacing those faculty," Snell said. "Now, 10 faculty members certainly is a good step in doing that, and with the current financial situation that might be the best we can do, but we ought to be working toward replacing the total number of faculty that has been lost."
Schmidly said the University administration must cautiously move forward on a fiscal level while maintaining its focus on the needs of its student body.
"What is most important now is that all of us in the University community redouble our efforts on behalf of our students and that we join together, as one, to communicate the vital importance and contributions of the University of New Mexico in this increasingly difficult economic climate," he said.
