NM Daily Lobo 020113 by UNM Student Publications

DAILY LOBO new mexico

Coming to America

friday

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February 1, 2013

UNM Confessions The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895

Students reveal their Lobo-related secrets via explosive, week-old Facebook page

by Nicole Perez

news@dailylobo.com Everything from on-campus defecation to a UNM professor’s porn stash is coming to light on Facebook. UNM Confessions, a Facebook page created on Saturday by sophomore biochemistry student Nathan Guerra had already garnered 7,409 likes as of Wednesday night. Anyone can anonymously submit confessions of what they’ve done on or around campus, and Guerra said he has received about 600 submissions per day so far. He reads all of them, and posts up to 80 each day. “It’s not only the raunchy things about certain fraternities or sororities — I try and do as many funny ones as I do sad ones as I do encouraging ones,” Guerra said. “There needs to be a place for students to unwind, and people do crazy things on campus and other people like to hear about it.” Guerra’s customized banner features the Lobo paw print, which the University said is trademarked. Administrators have asked him to remove it. “The use of UNM trademarks, such as the official logo, Lobo paw or athletic marks does violate Facebook community standards on intellectual property, and we are working through Facebook to

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230: Before UNM confessions, I seriously thought that I was the only person on campus that was going through a lot of problems. It feels good to have other people who understand what I am going through. Like

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255: I work in the SUB. The best compliment I ever received for my job was from a homeless woman in her seventies. She told me “I hope they pay you all real well because you all work real hard. I appreciate you.” She was eventually kicked out of the SUB for causing problems. I hope she’s okay. Our elderly shouldn’t be treated so terribly Like

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UNM Confessions

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217: Im an IT guy and there is a professor, in a department I cannot say, who has massive amounts of pornography on his laptop. Some of it is of female students.

228: I have a full scholarship to UNM. I got it through writing an essay about how I survived a rare disease and accomplished many great feats since. It was completely made up disease and all. Like

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UNM Confessions UNM Confessions

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131: I have a cat in Casas.... Come n ﬁnd meeeee ;) Like

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195: While I was at UNM getting my degree in Counseling, I called the AGORA Crisis Center to talk about the very thing that I was learning to save people from, suicide. They saved my life. Like

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UNM considers decentralized budget plan by Ardee Napolitano

Departments would receive funding based on profitability, merit

news@dailylobo.com

The University is seeking a new academic budgeting model after three years of unsuccessfully trying to manage the shrinking budget. UNM President Robert Frank said the model is called Responsibility Center Management, which would decentralize academic budget management. He said that through RCM, the University’s individual colleges will be able to manage their own revenues and expenses by themselves. This will make budgeting processes clearer, he said. “In general, RCM models are considered to be healthier models because they put more control at the operations level,” he said. “It allows the University to rebase its budget in a way that it clarifies expenses and costs as we go forward.” According to a video on the UNM website, RCM functions through performance-based budgeting, which gives incentives to departments that pull in the most revenue and exhibit more student success. Departments earn more revenue through research programs that obtain grants from outside sources and developing colleges that maintain high retention and graduation rates. Faculty members who are determined to be more efficient are also awarded higher salaries. But according to the video, UNM is still working on an objective method of assessing efficiency, which is an abstract concept. Frank said at the moment the University uses an Incremental Historic Budgeting model, which determines department funding based on what departments received in the past. He said that with this model, departments submit

Inside the

Daily Lobo volume 117

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requests for budget changes to the provost and in turn the University decides whether to approve the changes. Instead of rewarding efficient departments, the model simply maintains the current division of funds but with a smaller budget. “About three years ago, we had to make cuts,” he said. “Since then, all units have shrunk and each year that shrunken budget stayed in place.” On the other hand, Frank said the RCM model will make it clear for the University which departments bring in the most money. He said that the model may consequently bring more revenue into UNM. “When budgets line up with what you expect of your operations, it creates clarity of expectations,” he said. “Most universities that have switched to this have found that they find increases in revenues. All the boats rise because there is a common focus for the entire enterprise.” Frank said the Legislative Finance Committee evaluated UNM’s and NMSU’s budgeting models two years ago, and recommended that both universities use the RCM model of budgeting. Frank then assigned UNM Vice President David Harris and Provost Chaouki Abdallah to gather a work group to conduct the planning process for RCM. Abdallah said they assembled a planning committee in the fall, and the committee has been meeting regularly. It has been looking at how RCM has been implemented in other universities nationwide, such as in the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan. Abdallah said that because RCM provides an accurate picture of a university’s revenues and expenses, it will increase transparency throughout the institution. But he said the

Luz de la vejez

Knocked down, but up again

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model has given rise to problems in other universities, such as inefficient use of resources and weakened interdisciplinary programs. “Universities, such as the University of Michigan, have been able to weather downturns in their funding,” he said. “But I have to stress that any budget model, if not managed properly, will have drawbacks and become open to abuses.” Abdallah said that because he and his colleagues will still have to conduct further research on RCM, UNM will keep its current model for at least another year. In 2009, Frank helped implement the RCM budget model at Kent State University, where he previously served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Kent State is still using the model. According to an article published in the Daily Kent Stater on Oct. 22, RCM increased revenue brought in by the arts and sciences, business and technology departments in 2012. But the budget model critically decreased revenue brought in by departments such as public health and education, and health and human services. This decrease allegedly reflects the departments’ inefficiencies and where they need to improve. Kent State University Provost Todd Diacon told the Stater that RCM enabled colleges to manage their own revenue and expenses more freely. Diacon said the model has been warmly received by the departments and that RCM has been successfully implemented. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that would say, in central administration, that the colleges haven’t done a good job managing RCM,” Diacon told the Stater.

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