Good morning.

The entire process following last week’s faculty meeting has given me a far greater appreciation of the urgent need for dialogue with the University community and increased involvement of faculty, staff and students in the decision-making processes. I’m committed to making it happen, and I want to use this opportunity to discuss some of the specific issues that emerged on Wednesday.

Governance Issues…

While governance issues have been problematic at UNM for some time, there’s no doubt that the need for quick decisions in light of the economic meltdown has put shared governance under even greater stress not just here at UNM but across the country. In this regard, I commend to you the recent article by Robin Wilson in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled “Downturn Threatens the Faculty’s Role in Running Colleges,” http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i22/22a00102.htm. The problem has become so significant that the Association of Governing Boards is doing a study of best practices of faculty governance in this new era.

I’m hopeful that the upcoming AGB study will give UNM a better perspective on many of the governance and communication issues that we will address in the coming days. I believe we’re long overdue for a serious consideration of the many concerns we all have about administrative leadership and communication.

An Independent Review of our Finances…

As you may know, the faculty approved a resolution on Wednesday calling for an independent audit of the University’s finances. Some background on independent audits is in order. The University of New Mexico, by law, submits to such an independent audit each year, performed by an independent auditor certified by the State Auditor and approved by that office to perform the work.

The State Auditor, in turn, also reviews the draft audit and approves the final version for publication. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse submits this audit to the U.S. Department of Education, which reviews and relies upon the audit for federal funding formulas and the grant of research awards.

Our most recent audit, by the Seattle-based firm of Moss Adams, cost the University more than $900,000 and was published just a few weeks ago, on January 23. The complete document is available online, together with the independent audits for each of the three preceding years, at http://www.unm.edu/~conweb/finrep.html.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the thought that has gone into many of the questions that have been raised by the faculty (both in the meeting Wednesday and in my private conversations with faculty), and I believe that the sooner we clear the air about these issues, the sooner we’ll begin restoring trust here at UNM.

I also happen to believe that if we work together, we can accomplish an independent review of our finances to answer those concerns without spending a lot of money or time. I look forward to working with the Regents and with faculty representatives to find ways to do so in the days ahead.

Faculty Governance and Decision-Making…

We all understand the critical roles of the Provost, Deans and department chairs, and from my conversations with many of you, there’s no question that we’ve had a breakdown in trust and communication along that chain.

Provost Ortega and I have already had several productive conversations about the problem, and we’re both committed to making improvements. The Provost has in turn raised this issue with the Deans, seeking their ideas on how best to improve the communication flow back and forth to the department heads and faculty.

Besides encouraging the Deans to consider more frequent all-faculty meetings, she has already formed a number of working groups, most of them co-chaired by two Deans and involving department chairs, faculty, Faculty Senate representatives and student participants. The working groups are charged with coming up with specific and concrete recommendations within the next four to six weeks.

One working group is focused on budget planning and will be developing rules to guide us in resource allocations. Another is involved in issues of graduate enrollment and retention and has been asked to develop short-, mid- and long-term strategies to increase graduate enrollment and make improvements in the general UNM graduate experience.

I’m impressed with Dr. Ortega’s progress and will keep you posted on developments. We both welcome your suggestions.

Keeping You Informed About A Challenging Budget Ahead…

Our current budget was heavily focused on academics, including 43 new faculty positions, all of which we were able to preserve even through the mid-year budget rescission. I believe our next budget, for FY 2010, can make a similarly strong commitment to improving the academic future of this University, but we’ll need your help to do so.

Toward that end, University Marketing Director Cinnamon Blair is working to establish an interactive section on our website to keep each of you informed on developments concerning the 2009-2010 budget and give you plenty of opportunity to comment on developments.

The budget website will also include a Water Cooler area, where you can get confirmation or denial of the rumors that inevitably spread in a University with tens of thousands of employees and students.

A Chance to Help…

Nawid Farhad of the Afghan Student Association tells me that one of our physical therapy students is in need of a bone marrow transplant, and I hope you’ll join me in trying to find a suitable donor for her or for some other person in need.

To that end, the Afghan Student Association will host a Marrow Donor Drive on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SUB Ballrooms B and C. All you need to do is submit to a cheek swab, and you’ll be listed in the registry of potential donors. The chances of a match are, as Nawid points out, almost as unlikely as winning the lottery, but it could mean all the difference to our own student or someone like her. Please join me in showing your support.

Listening…

I’ve learned much from the visits I’ve had these past few weeks with faculty leaders who were brought together by my Chief of Staff, Dr. Breda Bova, and I want to thank all who participated. Thelma Domenici put it very well when she said that there’s been a lot of talking at UNM, but not enough listening. Listening should begin at the top, and thanks to each of you for reminding me of that.

Have a good week.

David J. Schmidly

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