A special meeting of the University of New Mexico Board of Regents on Thursday Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. will involve discussion surrounding many pressing issues facing the University. It will be the first meeting with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s five new appointees, who were approved by the New Mexico State Senate on Feb. 16.
According to the official agenda, the meeting will involve interim Provost Richard Wood informing the Board about the upcoming Higher Learning Commission (HLC) site visit on March 4. The HLC is the body in charge of the accreditation process for the whole of UNM.
Previous Daily Lobo reports have revealed that the HLC will focus on the UNM Athletics Department, which has recently faced criticism from regents, legislators and the public for its various financial scandals. State governance and advisement will also be points of focus for the HLC.
The meeting will also include a briefing by UNM Chief Legal Counsel Loretta Martinez on a petition signed by over 1,600 UNM faculty members in support of a faculty union at the University.
The petition was delivered to President Garnett Stokes, who told the Daily Lobo that her office is looking at what New Mexico state law says before reaching an official decision.
“We’re still evaluating what those steps would be,” Stokes said.
The regents will then move into a closed session in order to discuss “threatened or pending litigation.”
Kyle Land is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted by email at editorinchief@dailylobo.com.
