ENMU tuition ranks amongst lowest in area

Tony Parra: PNT Staff Writer

Eastern New Mexico University is one of the most affordable four-year schools in the Southwest, according to the annual survey of tuition fees by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The annual cost of tuition is $2,784 for ENMU for undergraduates, which ranks second among 76 schools that offer a bachelor’s degree in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Utah.

“We want to be a bargain, but at the same time, we have to balance a budget,” ENMU President Steven Gamble said during Thursday’s ENMU Board of Regents meeting. “We intend to publicize this to legislature, state and our local community.”

New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas has the lowest annual tuition of $2,300.

Gamble said during Thursday’s ENMU Board of Regents meeting that tuition remains low despite the 6.4 percent increase for the fall semester. Gamble said 4.5 percent of increase goes to the state’s general fund. He said the other 1.9 percent will be used to balance the university’s budget.

Gamble said the 4.5 percent figure for the state fund is the highest since he took over as president in August 2001.

Board member Alva Carter said he would like to see the portion going back to the state’s general fund be eliminated.

Also at Thursday’s meeting:

l Gamble reported university directors, police officers and faculty members have been conducting campus safety workshops in the wake of a couple of alleged sexual assaults to ENMU students. Both of the reported sexual assaults occurred off-campus.

The workshops focus on giving tips to students on how to defend themselves and precautions to take to avoid assaults.

• The president updated the board members on how two recent bomb threats were handled by law enforcement personnel and faculty members.

“We did everything we were supposed to do by the checklist,” Gamble said. “We called the Cannon Air Force Base bomb squad (Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit) and evacuated the campus.”

• Regents approved Gamble’s recommendation to have only the Faculty Senate Administrator’s Evaluation Committee conduct evaluation of administrators.

• Regents approved Gamble’s recommendations to allow only tenured professors access to evaluations of administrators. The Faculty Senate Administrator’s Evaluation Committee members wanted to have faculty members view evaluations, which Gamble opposed. He said a faculty member seeking a promotion should not be involved in the critique of an immediate supervisor.

Gamble argued tenured professors are not subject to evaluations other than for salary. Faculty senate members argued faculty members aren’t able to evaluate the administrators in their field of study.

• Regents approved a $25 course fee for a digital photography class to help defray the cost of materials and equipment for student use.