Meetings watch — Feb. 24

ENMU Board of Regents

The following took place at the Eastern New Mexico University Board of Regents meeting Friday:

• ENMU President Steven Gamble started off his report by saying the semester was going well and that he will be visiting the Roswell and Ruidoso campuses in the following week to discuss the changes brought forth by the legislative session.

Gamble reported that ENMU funds were cut about 2.3 percent overall and that ENMU was one of the lowest budget cuts overall; ENMU’s Instructional and General state appropriation will decline by $750,000 and that there could be an additional decline of up to $385,000, according to Gamble.

The 2017 state budget will contain the following permanent reductions according to Gamble:

— $640,000 reduction in the instructional and general funding.

— $110,000 reduction in research and public service funding such as KENW, athletics, nursing enhancement, at-risk student tutoring, allied health enhancement, student success program, and Blackwater Draw. Half of this reduction, $55,000, will be in athletics, according to Gamble.

The legislative session did hold some good news for ENMU, such as placement of $11,000,000 for ENMU’s Golden Student Success Center (Phase 2) on the 2016 general obligation bond to be voted on in November, according to Gamble.

“This is not a crisis, just a bad budget year,” Gamble explained, “The concern is if this becomes a trend. We will continue to budget conservatively.”

There is also a proposed 6.5 percent tuition and fees increase which has not gone before the Student Senate yet according to Gamble.

“The increase is simply to balance the budget… Getting through (the bad budget year) without compromising quality is the goal,” said Gamble.

• Dr. Clayton Alred from ENMU Ruidoso echoed Gamble’s sentiments that this is not a budget crisis.

Alred also reported that the successful bond election for Ruidoso Public School’s $18,000,000 will allow White Mountain Annex, which houses ENMU Ruidoso, to be demolished. ENMU Ruidoso will have until December to move out of the building according to Alred.

The property ENMU Ruidoso is looking to purchase to house the campus has been appraised at $900,000, according to Alred. The inspections of the building have shown no asbestos and a minimal amount of mold, which will be a minor issue, according to Alred.

The assessment of the property by the structural engineer reported the building is built better than ENMU Ruidoso’s current building, according to Alred. There have been concerns about the retaining wall which is about 50 feet behind the building.

“The retaining wall is similar to the west wall that collapsed on our current campus… when it collapsed it folded like a piece of paper. We had to repair the wall and the roof,” said Alred.

Alred is not sure what the solution for the wall will be. The building also has only two restrooms, so more will have to be added as part of the renovations, according to Alred.

The Board of Regents approved the property acquisition unanimously.

• Scott Smart of ENMU presented a proposal for an investment grade audit. The audit would look for renovations on campus that would save ENMU 20 percent on their utility costs. The estimated cost of renovations is a little more than $350,000, according to Smart.

TME Bernhard Energy would audit the campus and attempt to build a project that is cost efficient. If the project is not cost efficient, the partnership with TME Bernhard Energy and ENMU would dissolve at no cost to the school. If the proposed project is cost efficient, ENMU would either pay the $350,000 fee or do the project, according to Smart.

Smart compared the long term investment in the project to paying off a house mortgage. As ENMU saved money on the utilities it would eventually pay for the renovations. The payback would take roughly 15 to 20 years because of the size of the project, according to Smart.

ENMU Regent Dr. Dan Patterson thought the audit was too much to risk on a budget year when cutbacks are being made.

Regent Terry Othick also voiced concerns about the budget situation and that ENMU would be on the hook for $350,000.

“We are committing a lot up front,” said Othick.

The Board of Regents decided not to vote on the measure until more information was available.

— Compiled by

Correspondent Rae Arnett