I am saddened by the current state of UNM for many reasons, not the least of which is that our upper administration and regents have provided clear evidence in the press that they have no idea what the faculty, staff and students have experienced over the past six years and what our issues are. I believe it is clear to most faculty and staff that President David Schmidly alone is not responsible for the problems at UNM, but he and others seem not to have listened to anyone knowledgeable about the significant, ongoing issues that concern faculty and staff.
Over the past six years and three presidents or interim presidents, there has been an increasing movement toward corporatization of UNM. This meant that political people were hired, often without direct experience in higher education or advanced degrees, to work at UNM. Of course, this is New Mexico, and I guess everyone expects some of that, but there are smart people in the trenches here who are too busy to do much in politics and who could get the job done better and for less money. Seeing it get worse and worse, especially not being able to hire faculty where they are desperately needed and having our resources depleted due to debt incurred by the administration, is heartbreaking. It has always seemed to me that the heart and soul of a university are in the faculty-student interaction in the classroom and research laboratory. These activities are made possible by competent and caring staff. However, by their remarks to the press, it is clear that our current leadership is not in touch with either of these constituencies.
In the student program I run (in addition to teaching and having a lab), we work very hard with the students to develop leaders. We identify when the students are starting to "own" leadership, when the students - who often enter the program feeling depleted or unsupported - begin to ask other people how they are doing, show gratitude especially to staff, and exhibit increased generosity and volunteerism. I don't think any of my students, when told that staff morale was low, would respond with something like, "Well, my morale is low, too," as our president responded in December. We all know that many staff members do not earn in an entire year what these administrators earn in a month. My students would have empathized with this issue and promised, out of respect for all levels of work, to do their best to make it better.
In the past six years, life in the departments at UNM has become more difficult because of hiring "pauses" felt only at the departmental level, increasing pressure to service upper-administration debt and increasing bureaucracy. This pain is exacerbated by the almost weekly announcements of hires in the upper administration. This has made it more difficult to teach our students, do our research, and find time, whether evenings or even weekends, when we don't have to be doing something to try to catch up with work. As someone who has managed labs, National Science Foundation programs and large student programs, I know it is possible to change things so that all of these systems would work better, more efficiently and more professionally.
The issues the faculty and staff have are serious and well-documented but should not have come out in the press or even a set of petitions. We need face-to-face conversations, involving mutual respect and an understanding at every level. For the University to succeed and prosper, faculty, staff and students have to be supported not just in word, but in deed. We, faculty and staff, are not "whiners," as stated in the Daily Lobo last week; We are the engine and the heart of this place. Every student succeeds or fails based on what we do. We know this and take our obligation seriously. But as faculty and staff, we are reminded constantly that we are looked upon as workers whose job it is to provide more income to the administration. That is not the basis for a university; it is a foundation for a kingdom.
To all the students and parents for whom this turmoil raises great concern, I would say that in my 21 years at UNM, I, like most of us, have seen this job as an honor. I am so in love with New Mexico it makes me cry to think of it. We know everyone from small towns, pueblos, cities and reservations sends us their best students and asks us to lift them to the next level. I have faith that the faculty and staff will continue to do our best for the students. I encourage all of the students and parents of students whom we have helped over these years to stand up for us when you hear people slandering the work that faculty and staff have done to provide new teachers, doctors, businessmen and women and even politicians for New Mexico. UNM needs your help and leadership now. If the regents don't work for the faculty, as Jamie Koch stated last week, they need to work for you.
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UNM can do so much for New Mexico, but UNM needs a new management model, a leaner administration, and representation at every level that understands what it takes to make a university work. Most, if not all, faculty and staff do not want UNM to be about money and big salaries. We want UNM to be about lifting New Mexico up, helping people make a living in small towns, cities and pueblos, providing a great education while supporting the students to play a significant role in their communities and providing the educated, compassionate and visionary leaders that all of us so desperately desire and deserve.
We are survivors here in New Mexico, and we are dreamers. UNM was born from that vision. If we can come together for UNM, these dreams can become reality.
Maggie Werner-Washburne is a professor of biology at UNM and a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring.
