Moving New Mexico Higher Education to the Next Level

Gov. Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Legislature have done much to improve the quality of and access to public higher education in the state. As we look ahead, we know there is more to be done to ensure a truly outstanding 21st century higher education system.

First and foremost, all of our institutions have different missions and thus require different treatment. Community colleges, for example, play four primary roles. They provide locally oriented continuing education programs, work force development, associate and technical degrees and two-year programs leading to bachelor’s degrees.

These are important educational contributions, but different from the contributions made by the state’s three four-year universities, which are, in turn, different from the contributions of the state’s three research universities.

For example, in addition to offering a wide range of undergraduate majors, New Mexico State University ? the state’s land-grant institution ? offers graduate and professional degrees, conducts groundbreaking research and delivers Extension programs in every New Mexico county.

Yet the funding system does not take this into account and assumes all institutions are the same. It would be much more efficient to fund colleges and universities according to their different missions and services.

It also might be time to recognize that in the aggregate New Mexico has surplus higher education capacity. Even so, this doesn’t mean that every community and student is being appropriately served. The system needs to be “right-sized” and some parts of it redeployed.

The current move by the University of New Mexico, with support from NMSU and Central New Mexico Community College, to expand service to Rio Rancho represents redeployment, but could also represent a reallocation of resources rather than simply a net increase. Moreover, the state may soon see that some programs and institutions should be merged, restructured or even closed.

To continue to spread scarce resources across undersubscribed institutions is ineffective from an access or quality perspective. Repairing this situation will take careful analysis, wisdom and courage.

Another concern is the apparent shift in the needs of students today. New Mexico has a declining number of high school graduates, too many high school graduates not ready for college, too many college-ready graduates seeking higher education outside the state, and an increasing number of nontraditional students.

All this means is that a one-size (or even a three-size) approach will not fit all. Through clear mission differentiation and inter-institutional collaborations, programs will emerge to address this concern. For example, a planned five-year bachelor’s degree should be developed at several institutions. Currently, we admit students intellectually capable but marginally prepared for four-year degrees, and it often takes them six or seven years to graduate.

Degrees that build on a strong first-two-years program would give these students the opportunity to succeed in their upper-division and major-required coursework.

Course schedules and delivery approaches should adapt to life constraints by integrating distance education, face-to-face classes and project oriented and experiential learning techniques.

Additionally, “articulation agreements” allowing students to move between institutions should give way to a more collaborative method for pursuing joint-degree programs.

For instance, suppose NMSU decides to offer its Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management degree at Rio Rancho. A student would take all 100 and 200 level classes from Central New Mexico Community College. The student would then take upper division, non-major specific courses from UNM. The major-specific courses would be taught by NMSU. Upon completion, all courses would appear on a final transcript as NMSU’s. Both CNMCC and UNM would receive the tuition revenue and state formula funding for their courses in this curriculum, and of course, NMSU would receive both for the major-specific courses.

Rather than put the burden on the student to transfer credits, this would be an automatic, fully integrated degree pathway.

Finally, but no less important, we are in a global marketplace. The state’s colleges and universities are a bridge to the national and international economy, providing students with tools to compete in those arenas. The institutions themselves must compete nationally and globally.

In many disciplines, salaries and benefit packages are set in a highly competitive market. Particularly in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the demand is increasing faster than supply. If New Mexico’s universities are to attract and retain the best students, we should prepare ourselves to do what it takes, no matter how uncomfortable. As the baby-boom generation of faculty retires, an aggressive and competitive approach to replacing them is urgently needed. Failure to do so will condemn our universities to mediocrity for decades and future students will ultimately pay.

Recent bold and innovative initiatives coming from Santa Fe have created the structure and forum for change. Using them to move forward to set a new, 21st century course for higher education in New Mexico is now the immediate order of business.

Michael V. Martin is president of New Mexico State University. He received a bachelor's degree in business and economics and a master's degree in economics at Mankato State College (Minnesota State University) in Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1977. His areas of specialization include international trade and public policy.