The Board of Regents of New Mexico State University met on April 6, 2018, where The Round Up was able to cover the meeting in which topics such as increases in tuition rates and parking permit rates were discussed.

The meeting began with the information items on the agenda, which included a presentation from the interim director of the advising center, Dr. Jennifer Hodges, where she explained her goal to pursue a growth in synergy between academic advising and faculty mentoring.

Dr. Hodges then explained how she also wanted to improve the culture of advising at NMSU, for students to avoid feeling unsupported in terms of advising matters. Dr. Hodges said that this improvement is hopefully to be made through strategies such as the creation of advising documents that students will be able to follow with more ease.

Following the information section of the meeting were the action items, which included the proposed budget guidelines for the 2018 to 2019 school year, and were presented by the Vice President of Administration and Finance for NMSU, Mr. Andrew Burke. Mr. Burke and his team proposed to the board a 3% increase in the flat tuition rate of 15 credit hours for in state students enrolled in the university. Students with other designations, such as out-of-state or part-time, will also face a 3% increase in the amount of money they pay per credit hour.

The action item relating to university finances continued with a proposed increase of parking permit rates that would apply to all types of permits. This entails a $7.50 increase across all options of parking permits for the next academic school year. Mr. Burke also hinted at the possibility of the university moving to using a zoning style of parking as a new parking system for the university. Once the presentation concluded, the board of regents voted and approved the proposal for the parking permit rates price increase.

NMSU’s graduate school also had a representative during the action items section of the meeting, to present the proposal for a new Masters in Computational Data Analytics. Though the degree had possible benefits to those seeking a specialization in the Latin American community, and its possibility to be offered completely online, it was not approved by the board at the meeting, due to the board’s belief that there was not enough information provided about the online aspect. 

The next Board of Regents meeting is Friday, May 11. Continue to stay updated on the administrative actions of the Board of Regents and other governmental entities of NMSU through The Round Up.