Editor,
On March 14, during spring break for many UNM Health Sciences Center students and with insufficient notice, the UNM Board of Regents voted 4-2 to restructure the UNM HSC Governance. Among other changes, the HSC Board, previously comprised of seven voting members (five Regents and two community members), was reduced to a three member board solely comprised of Regents. For a comprehensive list of changes, see the full agenda from the Board of Regents meeting.
At this meeting, in an outstanding display of student participation, the UNM SUB Ballroom C was so crowded that the meeting was expanded to include an additional ballroom. In addition to faculty, staff and community members, numerous students spoke, adding their voice to the growing multitude, appealing for a delay in voting to allow for public feedback. Likewise, a petition signed by more than 450 professional health students from PharmD, MD, PA, Undergraduate Nursing, Graduate Nursing, PT, MPH, and BSGP programs was read aloud to the Board of Regents.
“We have numerous questions and concerns regarding how these actions may alter our future endeavors as students, scientists, and healthcare providers for the state of New Mexico. We feel that matters of this magnitude necessitate transparency and collaboration. To this end, students need time and information to appropriately formulate questions and opinions regarding these important issues.” - HSC Student Petition
The effect of this change, both immediate and long term, remains to be seen. While HSC students came together with one purpose and one voice to express concern over the lack of public discourse and collaboration, the results of this decision have left many students with concern about the unity of the student voice at UNM and the ability for that voice to be heard.
In order to address these concerns, student leaders from multiple HSC programs, the Health Sciences Student Council, the Graduate Professional Student Association, and the Associated Students of University of New Mexico met in the spirit of collaboration and communication. Student leaders met with HSC students during tours of academic and clinical learning environments. A key goal of these meetings was to increase the clarity and impact of the student voice on the decisions and decision making processes that affect our ability to pursue our educational and professional goals.
During these meetings communication has been improved among GPSA, ASUNM and the HSSC, and we are looking into ways to continue to develop this relationship. Furthermore, a platform is being arranged to openly clarify the revisions to the HSC structure and develop an open dialogue around the process by which these revisions were ratified. It is our goal that this discussion will continue engaging students to channel our energy and involvement into meaningful change for the future.
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
-Arthur Ashe
Sincerely,
Kyle Leggott & Janie Byrum
UNM students
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