Editor,
There is a movement spreading across America. People from completely different political ideologies are coming together to stop the thievery and piracy of the wealthiest 1 percent.
The financial lords are destroying our economy, political system and democracy. One of the direct results of this is the destruction of our public education system.
Across the nation people are demanding a clear separation between corporations and elected officials. Accountability is at the top of the list because people are tired of politicians asking for votes during campaigns but responding only to the needs of the wealthiest few once they are elected.
Americans have realized that stepping back and letting politicians figure out our future presents a great risk, and it can no longer be the modus operandi. If they are not going to ask what we want, we have to be loud. Very loud.
The same lack of accountability occurs in our University. There is a growing demand for more openness and participation in the decision-making process from those working and studying at UNM and those in charge of managing it.
Similar to Puerto Rico in the national congress, we have a voice but no vote on what the institution does. Even though it is public and it belongs to all the taxpayers of New Mexico, it is up to the governor to appoint regents and up to the regents to pick a UNM president. Furthermore, regents decide when and how we suffer the consequences of budget cuts, but we cannot vote to give less of our money.
Following the national trend in universities, UNM is run more and more like a corporation, where the board of directors sees us as clients instead of stakeholders. This lack of effective public participation must end.
There is an ongoing, long-term erosion of faculty and staff benefits. The enormous dimension of the erosion is hard to see because it has been happening for many years and most people spend only a few years at the institution.
However, it takes a little research to realize that, bit by bit, the University has lowered the quality of education for students and reduced the benefits and increased the workload for faculty and staff.
The financial crisis leads to fewer tax revenues and therefore a budget crisis at UNM. So, yes, the national economic crisis is to blame, however the mismanagement and greed of our administrators is putting the entire burden on the students and employees and not on the administration itself. There is also clear stagnation in benefits for graduate students, yet their workload has increased.
There is no parity in financial resources and benefits between departments. The number of tenure-track faculty has been stagnant for 10 years. There has been an increase in flex-track and part-time faculty; a cutback on retirement benefits; no wage growth for faculty, staff, and grads; and cuts in subsidized loans.
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Tuition is three times as high as it was 30 years ago (taking inflation into account): $30/credit hour in 1981 versus $242-265 in 2011, depending on whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student. Thus, the quality of education is suffering, working conditions are growing worse and the top administration is enjoying fat salaries and zero accountability.
We’ve seen institutions across the nation cut costs by slashing funds for everyone except those at the top. We demand accountably.
We demand the elite tighten their belts. We are reaching our limits; public administrators are our employees and must serve us or step down.
Sebastian Pais
UNM alumnus
