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Prospective candidates for student regent said graduate-student employment would be a priority if they are selected for the position.
At a GPSA meeting Saturday, two of the three graduate-student finalists, Athanasios Manole and Alejandro Mendiaz-Rivera, addressed making paid work experience part of the curriculum for graduate students. Heidi Overton, the third finalist, did not attend the meeting. GPSA President Marisa Silva said Overton had a medical emergency.
ASUNM selected a set of undergraduate students to be considered for the student regent position.
Manole, a medical student at UNM, said graduate students who help with research as part of their degree requirements are not compensated for their work.
“The school might say that learning is part of your curriculum, but at that point, you’re pretty much working for free,” he said. “I share your financial pain. You need to be paid for your hard work.”
Manole said one of his priorities is to provide more paid positions to graduate students, such as teacher and graduate assistantships. He said the University should increase funding for scholarships and grants for graduate programs, which would help students resolve future financial burdens, such as student loans.
“We really don’t get our dues,” he said. “We’re not looked at as much as we should. I think we deserve more funding and I think we deserve better pay.”
During his undergraduate study at UNM, Manole participated in the University’s Diversity Council and ASUNM. He said he has research experience, specifically involving biophysics.
Manole said he aims to bridge the information gap between the administration and the student body.
“I want to be that liaison between the students and the regents,” he said. “At the same time, I want to be able to accurately report what’s going on in the administration.”
If appointed as student regent, Manole said he would make communication between the administration and student body more immediate through phone calls instead of emails to ensure that direct responses are more readily available to students. He said he advocates the town hall format for meetings, in which people can raise questions directly.
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“I’m not worried to give my cell phone number to anyone who has questions,” he said. “I love to talk to people who have questions for me. I think that’s part of really being responsible.”
Mendiaz-Rivera, who is working toward a master’s degree in public administration, said assistantships make it easier for students to pay for their education. Raised by a single mother, he said that not everybody can afford higher education and that the University should look after students who need financial aid.
“I think it’s sad,” he said. “Not only should there be better pay, which would be hard to achieve, but I also think there should be more TA-ships and GA-ships.”
But Mendiaz-Rivera said his focus would be to uphold the Lottery Success Scholarship, which he said helped him finish his undergraduate studies at UNM. He said the University should act to find concrete solutions to keep the scholarship.
“I’ll be honest that I would not have graduated in five years, or even not at all, if it weren’t for the Lottery Scholarship,” he said. “And people say, ‘Keep the Lottery, keep the Lottery,” but they won’t do anything.”
Mendiaz-Rivera said one solution may be to increase the eligibility requirements for the scholarship. He said the 2.5 grade point average requirement should be increased to a 3.0 GPA and that students’ scores on standardized tests, such as the ACT, should be considered as a requirement.
Mendiaz-Rivera said increasing the requirements will boost the reputation of the scholarship because legislators will better understand the value of the scholarship and will continue to sustain it, although the number of students eligible for it may decrease.
“If we ask for a little bit more, students can get a little bit more,” he said.
But he said there’s an argument that students, especially those who just graduated from high school, are not yet prepared to attain relatively high academic requirements at the University. He said that in order to improve student success, more volunteer programs for students should be made available so students can become more engaged in the University, which will allow students to feel “more at home,” and encourage them to perform better as students.
A new student regent will be selected in January. Finalists selected by ASUNM and GPSA will be submitted to UNM President Robert Frank, who will review the nominations and submit recommendations to Gov. Susana Martinez, who will then select the next student regent.
