ASUNM and GPSA share a few initiatives they hope the Board of Regents will fund during the budget summit today.
Tuition, scholarships and searching for alternative sources to fund University Libraries and bus passes are four issues the student governments addressed in their budget recommendations to the Board of Regents.
The University is considering a tuition increase for in-state students, and Christopher Ramirez, GPSA president, said this will take a toll on students who are suffering from the economic downturn.
"There's the tuition increase - the 5.5 (percent) in-state and 10 percent out-of-state - represents a really substantial increase for this year in a time when, for a lot of people, money is exceptionally tight," he said. "The concern is that the tuition increase comes at a time where students are going to find it difficult to potentially fund the increase in tuition at the individual level."
ASUNM and GPSA want to ensure the regents will allocate enough funding for undergraduate and graduate scholarships.
However, ASUNM wants the proposed funding to be put toward merit scholarships, while GPSA would like graduate students to be included.
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"It's our job to ensure that the University continues to maintain the thought that students are the priority here, and that it's our responsibility to ensure that the University put their money where their mouth is, so to speak," said Ashley Fate, ASUNM president.
Student Alexis Ball said funding to make scholarships available is a priority for her.
"Scholarships really help students pay for tuition, and if there isn't as many scholarships present, then tuition should be maybe a little bit lower," Ball said. "Tuition and scholarships (are crucial), because they kind of fall into the same category."
Finding alternate sources of funding for University Libraries is also a priority for ASUNM and GPSA. A $5 per-credit-hour student fee increase is in the works to create financial support.
GPSA supports the possibility of a phased-in fee attached to tuition as funding. According to its budget recommendations letter, ASUNM wants to explore alternative funding before a fee increase is implemented.
"We believe there must be a direct correlation between library utilization by various groups and departments and the amount of funding these sources are contributing," Budget Summit Committee members said in the recommendation letter.
Student Jennafer Shurter said the libraries need attention because she finds outdated information in the library when doing research for class papers.
"I definitely agree with the libraries having more funding," Shurter said. "It's always good to get more up-to-date technology in there, more material, but I think technology is a big thing."
Keeping bus passes for students, faculty and staff is also a target in ASUNM and GPSA suggestions.
"The statistics of ridership of the buses, based off of students, has more than doubled," Fate said. "There has been more than 500,000 rides by UNM students alone in the last semester, so that means that there's a huge success for this program, and when you consider that there are 20,000 students on this campus and that there are more than 500,000 rides being given to students, it really has been a successful program."
ASUNM proposed the Student Fee Review Board give funds to the bus pass program in a one-time expense to support it, but other sources would need to be looked into for the future.
GPSA recommends extending the bus pass program to faculty and staff.
